Maryland Colleges Offer VISTA Opportunities
TAKOMA PARK (MONTGOMERY COLLEGE)
Jim Walters (240) 567-1490, james.walters@montgomerycollege.edu Takoma Park, MD 20912
Estimated Monthly pay - $949.00
Project Description: The AmeriCorps*VISTA member will be directly involved with the implementation of service-learning. He/she will help coordinate activities of the Tacoma Park Campus, Montgomery County Public Schools, and community sites. The AmeriCorps*VISTA member will identify and secure appropriate service learning sites, monitoring program and student progress, and provide follow-up and evaluation of the program and services. This project is focused on engaging first-generation, diverse college students in mentoring partnerships with local middle and high school immigrant youth who are in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs in the Montgomery County Public School system. It will create a cascading model of service engaging both college students and K-12 students in service-learning opportunities with local non-profits.
MOUNT ST. MARY’S COLLEGE
Melissa Main (301) 447-5820, main@msmary.edu Emmitsburg, MD 21727
Estimated Monthly pay - $949.00
Project Description: The AmeriCorps*VISTA member, with the help of community members and The Mount community, will reduce the effects of poverty by helping develop a culture of service on the campus and enhance community partnerships. In particular, the VISTA member’s activities will include 1) helping students actively work towards alleviating poverty, and 2) assisting faculty in recognizing the appropriateness and effectiveness of service-learning as a pedagogical tool. The AmeriCorps*VISTA member will strengthen the current relationships The Mount enjoys with various community partners, and will develop strategies to better inform and encourage current faculty to use service-learning with their students.
Finally, the VISTA member will investigate the goals and operational practices of some of the best service-learning centers in Higher Education, with the aim of designing a model that will work best for Mount St. Mary’s so that the Mount will enhance its long-term effectiveness as a community partner.
TOWSON UNIVERSITY
Darcy Accardi (410) 704-3921, daccardi@towson.edu Towson, MD 21252
Estimated Monthly pay - $909.00
Project Description: The AmeriCorps*VISTA member at Towson University will be responsible for establishing an institutional infrastructure to cultivate service-learning partnerships between the community and University. The VISTA member will connect community partners with faculty members and assist them in creating lasting service-learning projects designed to increase the capacity of the community partners while engaging more TU students in the community. The VISTA will create a database, recruit community partners, organize workshops and on-campus community “fairs” and ensure community needs are being met through evaluations and the assessment of project impact.
VILLA JULIE COLLEGE
Christine Noya, (443) 334-2224, dea-chri@mail.vjc.edu Baltimore, MD 21153
Estimated Monthly Pay - $949.00
Project Description: The AmeriCorps*VISTA member will work through the Experiential Learning Center at Villa Julie College to establish collaborative programs between Baltimore City Public Schools, particularly KIPP and ACCE, that will enhance academic student success through tutoring, workshops on decision making, career/college choices, and other important issues relevant to the students and their community. The AmeriCorps*VISTA member will work with Villa Julie students to enhance the communities in which they work through active participation in the schools and interaction with the students, their families, the faculty and staff at these schools. Increased academic success in the Baltimore City schools will decrease the issues of crime, drug use, and teen pregnancy prevalent in this age group.
The AmeriCorps*VISTA member will also support Freshmen Seminar classes at Villa Julie and engage with faculty at all levels to encourage more participation in service-learning across campus