Engaging Others through Doing

How do you engage others in the work that you are doing? How do you work to connect others to opportunities for impact? What connects your students to their local, national, and global communities? There are many answers to these questions, but one that resonates with each of us is the work that we do within our profession, and most importantly, in our own time.

“Allow the way to your great work to be guided by your service to others,” a quote from Mollie Marti, can be a defining way to look at the methods in how we engage our students in Volunteerism. There are many initiatives on our campuses that entice students through name appeal, travel, or monetary rewards, but how are we utilizing our own personal stories and modeling the way for the students with whom we work?

It’s not a unique concept to engage students by doing, but when looking at connection to students and engaging them in ongoing volunteerism, working side by side has been shown to increase a student’s retention in service based programming. Many staff evaluations within our work discuss modeling for those we supervise, but how often do we consider the way in which we model to the students who see us in a one-off experience with no context for the other offerings of our daily work? 

Astin et al., found that involvement in service and volunteering greatly affected retention as well as community service beyond graduation. If we were to look critically at the work we are doing, shouldn’t our main focus be engagement where the student currently is and engagement beyond graduation? Is there a better way to connect with students than through volunteering with them in various opportunities on campus, in your city, and around the world?

Our NYU Service staff has developed our most meaningful relationships with students by volunteering alongside them, not just offering opportunities for them to get involved. Whether it was in New York City, Ferguson, Nicaragua, or Ecuador, being willing to serve alongside students and the community members altered the way the students viewed us as student affairs professionals. This understanding of us as human beings allowed us the opportunity to share our stories and talk about the opportunities that are offered within our office in a way that encouraged ongoing involvement. 

Oftentimes we forget the times we were students and how we connected with the staff at our universities. For me, it wasn’t through one on ones or regular meetings, it was about getting to know a staff member on a personal level through sharing a common goal. I know, at times, that our day-to-day work can take us away from what made us passionate about this work. Let the common goal of serving a community important to you provide that connection to a student or group of students. Create a connection to all of the great work that you are doing by providing service to others. 

Astin, A., L. Sax, and J. Avalos, 1998, "Long-Term Effects of Volunteerism During the Undergraduate Years,"Review of Higher Education, in press.