Office of Community Service Learning Networking Seminar
Networking Seminar: Issues of Diversity in Community Service
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Networking Seminar
Join staff from other area community-based organizations to develop strategies for working with student volunteers around issues of diversity. Many times, UMass students engaging in community service find themselves working with people who differ from them in important ways—such as race and ethnicity, social class, gender, age, or many other elements of social identity. This seminar will explore what UMass and community agencies might do to effectively recruit students from a wide range of backgrounds and how to prepare those students for the challenges of working respectfully and effectively across differences—both before they start and while they’re engaged in their community service. Your experience with our students on these issues will be an important contribution to the seminar. You will have an opportunity to ask questions and share your own experiences, and we will conclude with a dialogue that identifies best practices for building relationships that work between community organizations and UMass faculty.
The event begins with a continental breakfast and an opportunity to network with other participants from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The program begins promptly at 9:00 a.m. in the Campus Center, Room 904-08 immediately before the Community Service Fair. In addition, each participating organization will receive a two-hour parking pass good for one vehicle at the Campus Center Parking Garage; participants should make arrangements to cover the parking costs of any additional vehicles. This location is wheelchair-accessible.