University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 6, 2005

Mary Clare Fahey is community service-learning coordinator in the Leadership Development Center, Division of Student Affairs.

There now is a unit within Student Affairs focused on community service. Why was it created and what is its mission?
Community service became a specific part of the mission of the Leadership Development Center in June 2004 when I was hired to coordinate community service for the Division of Student Affairs. This position was created because research, particularly CIRP data, shows that most first-year college students participated in at least one community-service project during their senior year in high school. Community service has been a part of our students' lives since they entered kindergarten. Between 1984 and 1999, the number of high schools with community-service programs skyrocketed from 27 percent to 83 percent. For me, encouraging students to continue performing community service is akin to having them recycle or wear seatbelts; it is, and will continue to be, part of life as they know it. The community-service mission is to strive to connect students with direct service opportunities, provide outreach to student organizations, as well as faculty and staff seeking to participate in extracurricular or co-curricular community-service activities, assist with the planning and implementation of small- and large-scale community-service projects, and to build and develop respectful and sustainable relationships with community partners.

Why is the community service unit located within the Leadership Development Center?
Community service is part of the Leadership Development Center for a variety of reasons; perhaps the most important of these is because of how we define leadership. For the "Dynamics of Leadership" class I teach for Leadership House students, we use Susan Komives' book, "Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference." That book defines leadership as "a relational process of people working together, attempting to accomplish change or make a difference to benefit the common good." We believe that when a group of students performs a community-service activity, they are practicing leadership. Community-service projects, large or small, illustrate change for students-change that happened through their efforts. It is our goal to help students realize that the same motivation, teamwork and communication skills they use doing community service also will bring them success in their classes, clubs, off-campus activities and work. The Leadership Development Center offers programs, services and resources to help students become more effective at working with others so that they can not only be more successful in their future careers, but that they can continue to serve their communities after they graduate. Simply put, students learn about leadership by doing community service and they learn how to serve their community better by learning about leadership.

What is Leadership House?
Leadership House is a living-learning community made up of 30 students who reside together in Dewey Hall in the Governors complex on North Campus. They come from all over New York, as well as out of state and from countries across the globe. Their academic majors range from theatre and dance to aerospace engineering to English to undecided. In addition to taking my "Dynamics of Leadership" class together, they do community-service projects, attend social programs and have study groups together. But their strongest common bond is their desire to learn about leadership and become great leaders.

Why does UB include a community service project as part of Opening Weekend activities?
For the past couple of years, the university has included a community-service program as part of September Welcome during the opening weekend. This has been a great opportunity for new students to get involved doing community service right away. Surprisingly, some returning students have been frustrated by this because they are not back on campus yet and they don't get a chance to help. We want to be as inclusive as possible, so we are looking into doing a project a week or two later for September Welcome 2006. During Opening Weekend, the Leadership Development Center hosts a reception for new students who want to find out about community-service opportunities—helping them make strong connections as soon as they get to campus.

What about faculty and staff members?
It is not only our students who are involved in community service, but faculty and staff often call or stop by looking for suggestions, too. Sometimes it is someone looking for a project for his or her class, other times it's someone wanting to help out in her own spare time.

How can members of the UB community find out about community service opportunities?
I maintain a database, which we hope to post online later this semester, of approximately 100 local community agencies. All of these agencies need support in one way or another. Some need advocacy, some need fund raising and resource development, some have hands-on tasks, some need tutors, mentors and friends for their constituents. Anyone can help recruit donors for an on-campus blood mobile, make dinner for guests at Ronald McDonald House, teach someone to read, help build or rebuild a house and many things in between. Until we have the database online, anyone wanting information on ways to help serve the community can call me at 645-6469, email me at communityservice@vpsa. buffalo.edu, or stop by the Leadership Development Center in 235 Student Union, North Campus.