A survey of 49 volunteer leadership development programs (39% response) and 704 professional association members (46% response) identified the top volunteer trends: virtual volunteering, corporate/workplace volunteers, episodic volunteering, and changing demographics of volunteers. (JOW)

The Experience Corps for Independent Living is a volunteer service program designed to expand the independent living services available to frail elders and their families. Five first-year projects were able to serve a critical mass and promote community linkages. Three had active leadership development programs. (JOW)

Investigated the impact of a service learning experience on preservice teachers who received training in tutoring and tutored elementary students twice weekly over a semester. Data from participant essays and surveys indicated that respondents were significantly transformed by this experience, developing new perspectives in areas such as identity…

Developing and using volunteers in the admission process is an age-old topic for those in the admission field. A good volunteer program allows an institution to provide more audience-based marketing messages rather than institutional-based marketing messages. Such programs can mean a more engaged, supportive, and enthusiastic set of key…

Contains articles written by two former Frontiers of Justice participants about their experiences and reflections on the legacy message of the Church in El Salvador. Also includes a poem written by the Archbishop Oscar Romero, and an extensive bibliography of resources in English on the Church in El Salvador. (VWC)

Describes an alternative approach to a communication lab or speaking center known as the Speech Center, which serves the entire university community. Notes that the use of the center is based entirely on voluntary participation by faculty and staff. Reviews methods and operating procedures for this alternative program. (SG)

Voluntary work with local communities has been advocated as beneficial for geography students, higher education institutions and the public. In England, the Higher Education Active Community Fund (HEACF) has recently been established by the Government to encourage staff and students in higher education to undertake voluntary work in local…

In response to aging patient demographics and a call for increased formal geriatric training in medical schools, a community volunteer geriatric mentor program, Bridging Generations, was developed to shape attitudes of medical students caring for the elderly. The geriatric mentor experience provided students with unique insight into the challenges…

Volunteers' reasons for interest in and skills they could employ as resident advocates in nursing facilities under the auspices of an ombudsman program were obtained from applications of 778 individuals. A unique feature of the research was that interests and skills were assessed prior to volunteer participation. In contrast to motivations for…

College experience and volunteering are positively correlated. Measurable differences in civic activity exist between young people who attend college and young people who do not. This fact sheet explores volunteering as civic engagement among youth with college experience, ages 19-25, which was down for the second year in a row in 2006. The…

What are some ways in which to get parents meaningfully involved in their child's high school? According to the research, the most successful programs are those that provide a variety of ways in which parents can be actively engaged in their child's academic life. Joyce Epstein, Director of the National Network of Partnership Schools, out of Johns…

The National Household Education Survey, a nationally representative data set (N = 4,306 high school students and one parent of each), was analyzed to describe characteristics of adolescents, the nature of their service activities, and academic, behavioral and civic outcomes associated with service (voluntary compared to school-required and by…

For online mathematics instructors, synchronous communication can be a challenge due to the need for specialized symbols, graphics, or notations to explain key concepts. While software tools exist to support such communication, they can often be cumbersome and time-consuming for users to adopt in online exchanges. As one way of addressing this…

Two challenges facing nursing-home care today are understanding the concept of "quality of life" as it relates to cognitively impaired residents and finding effective ways to ensure that it is achieved. Canadian director Allan King's documentary, "Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company," filmed at Baycrest, captures a method…

This community-based participatory research (CBPR) project utilized a mixed-methods survey design to identify urban (Tulsa, OK) American Indian (AI) strengths and needs. Six hundred fifty AIs (550 adults and 100 youth) were surveyed regarding their attitudes and beliefs about their community. These results were used in conjunction with other…