What is AmeriCorps at the University of Denver?
Who is eligible for the Campus Service Corps AmeriCorps program?
What organizations are eligible?
What do DU AmeriCorps members do?
What do DU AmeriCorps members receive?
How do I find out more?
What is AmeriCorps?
AmeriCorps is a national service program initiated by President Clinton, often referred to as the "domestic Peace Corps". AmeriCorps provides thousands of Americans of all ages and backgrounds with educational awards in exchange for their service to their community. Nationally, over 75,000 AmeriCorps Members annually help to meet the nation's most critical needs in the areas of economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, disaster preparedness, veterans and military families, and health futures. To learn more, visit the website at: www.americorps.gov
Why is AmeriCorps at the University of Denver?
DU is a member of the Compact Service Corps AmeriCorps program with Colorado Campus Compact, a regional effort to engage students in meaningful service with local communities. AmeriCorps terms of service differ from general volunteerism or required acadmic service in a couple of critical ways.
First, AmeriCorps participants must provide an additional value to community-based agencies where Members serve. AmeriCorps service projects have goals and outcomes that Members identify at the beginning of their term that provide a value-added to the organization and the individuals served.
Second, while volunteerism may include short-term participation at multiple service sites, AmeriCorps Members focus their hours to provide meaningful impact at a limited number of host sites.
Finally AmeriCorps projects are aligned with federal focus areas. For Compact Service Corps, these focus areas include: Education (tutoring and other education programs), Healthy Futures (primary and preventative health care) and Capacity Building (organizational infrastructure development).
To learn more, visit the website: www.coloradocampuscompact.org
Who is eligible for the Compact Service Corps AmeriCorps program?
Eligibility for AmeriCorps is not based on your income level, your GPA, or your student
status. In order to qualify, you must be doing unpaid service work in a nonprofit
or government agency. You must also be:
* A US citizen or permanent lawful resident
* 17 years or older
* A high school graduate
Students in the following DU departments are eligible to appl,y for the 2011-12 year: Graduate School of Social Work, Graduate School of Professional Psychology, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, Morgridge College of Education, Boettcher Teacher's Program, and CCESL's PA and Puksta Scholars programs.
What organizations are eligible?
Eligible organizations include those run by nonprofit organizations; institutions of higher education; school and police districts, local, state and federal governments; and Indian tribes.
To check if a site placement is a nonprofit, please visit http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/forwardToSearch.do. If the site is a government agency, it would not be listed on this website, but could still be an eligible placement.
Please note that for-profit hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, etc. are not eligible placements. You can search the "ownership type" of a healthcare facility at the following site: http://www.hfemsd1.dphe.state.co.us/hfd2003/facfind.aspx.
What do DU AmeriCorps members do?
Compact Service Corps AmeriCorps Members provide a diverse array of services in the following three focus areas:
1. Education
2. Healthy Futures
3. Capacity Building
Depending on your focus area, service project examples might include: tutoring and mentoring K-12 children and youth, recruiting and training volunteers or providing mental health services to community members. If you are involved in academic service, volunteerism, course-related fieldwork, clinical rotations or student teaching, the Compact Service Corps is a natural fit. As an additional benefit, CSC Members receive increased training and are eligible to receive additional scholarships to support professional development related to service projects.
What do AmeriCorps members receive?
In exchange for valuable community service, CSC Members receive an education award that can be applied to qualified school loans or to finance current education expenses. The award amount depends on the term of service completed. The following options are available for DU students, depending on department:
• 300 hours over 1 calendar year = $1,175
• 450 hours over 1 calendar year = $1,468
• 675 hours over 1 calendar year = $2,114
• 900 hours over 2 calendar years = $2,775
Beyond the education award, Members receive leadership training, gain practical experience in their future career field, become more civically engaged in the local community and boost their marketability for post-service job searches. For students eligible for Federal Work-Study, the hours you spend in the community as a community-based work-study student can be counted toward your AmeriCorps commitment, as long as the project meets the goals of Compact Service Corps. If approved, you will receive an education award in addition to your hourly work-study wage. All of these are benefits of joining the Compact Service Corps!
For more information contact:
DU AmeriCorps Coordinator
duamericorps@gmail.com
Center for Community Engagement & Service Learning
Driscoll South, Suite #6, 2050 E. Evans Ave.
Denver, CO, 80208-2604
303.871.3332
