ASB Volunteer Coordinator Natalie Magnus believes any student who wants to take a service trip should be given the opportunity. That’s why, Magnus said, the ASB service trips had to be changed.
Every winter and spring break, students hop borders — city, state and national — to help those in need. Two winters ago students went to Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Peru and Ecuador, to tackle issues such us homelessness, housing, sustainability and education.
The application process to go on an ASB service trip has been the same since they began in 2001. Students filled out an application online, then waited until they were called for an interview. Selected students were then organized into groups and notified of their mission.
Not only were many students turned away during this process, Magnus said they had little say in where they went. The current process misses the point, she said — if a student is willing to do service, they should be given the opportunity — regardless of GPA, previous experience or even writing or interviewing abilities.
“If you’re willing to go on a service trip that you know is a sober experience and you know it’s about service, who are we to stop you?” Director of Student Involvement Colleen Quinn said. “We should be embracing students, lowering the costs and providing more slots, not turning people away.”
Magnus said that while online applications work well for universities with small programs, the UI ASB program has outgrown such a process. Once the people in the UI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action realized this, Magnus said they began looking at universities with programs of comparable size, and found that most institutions bypass an application process.
“The time lag is a deterrent,” Magnus said. “Especially because these breaks are important times and sometimes they fall over different holidays that family and friends make plans for, If you apply for something and don’t find out until four weeks later, it’s really hard to plan.”
That’s why, starting next year, the online application and interview process will be done away with completely and replaced by a one-day, first-come-first-serve event.
According to Quinn, tables for each destination will be set up so students can see where exactly they would go and exactly how they would be volunteering. Based on that information, they will be able to pay their deposit and sign up for their destination of choice at the table, so their position will be secured.
Quinn said she hopes this becomes a tradition on campus, with students camping out to secure the spots they want.
A signing day is not without potential kinks. One major concern is that, without a screening process, there’s nothing to stop an entire Greek house or a single group of friends from signing up to go on one trip together.
“There’s very much value in the aspect of ASB that you go into a trip not knowing your group,” Magnus said. “It can be a chance to learn from students who you wouldn’t necessarily interact with otherwise. We really value that diversity of the team, so that’s something we hope we don’t lose in a different sign-up.”
Even though students can expect the new process to start next year, Magnus said the restructuring of the ASB trips will be an ongoing process.
Currently, international ASB trips are coordinated by an agency called United Planet. Magnus said they are exploring the possibility of cutting out this middleman in hopes of saving several thousand dollars, which could then be reallocated to send students on more trips, or make more spots available on the existing ones. In all likelihood, Magnus said they will use United Planet again next year, but in future years they have high hopes of expanding the program.
“There are just so many reasons to become aware of other issues out there,” Magnus said. “You can probably relate any experience, international or national, to back home. Where maybe there are issues in Moscow we can work with that will look different in a different location — no problem is unique to one country. There’s so much opportunity to learn about different cultures, learn about the world … I see that as a huge value, and just as important, you learn from your peers, and generally become very close to them, and it can be really impactful and powerful, so I think it can create really powerful connections among students.”
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected]