November 18, 2003 - The Virginian-Pilot: Jody Olsen kicks-off new recruiting approach with community colleges
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November 18, 2003 - The Virginian-Pilot: Jody Olsen kicks-off new recruiting approach with community colleges
Jody Olsen kicks-off new recruiting approach with community colleges
Read and comment on this story from the Virginian-Pilot that Peace Corps Deputy Director Jody Olsen was at the Tidewater Community College to launch a nationwide effort to actively recruit volunteers from community colleges, signing a declaration that officials hope will serve as a model for other institutions. “There have been openings for community-college graduates, and we’ve always known it, and when a community-college graduate comes to us, we say, 'Great,’” Olsen said. “What we’re doing with this is saying we’re very eager, it’s very important, and we have openings a community-college student can best fill.” Read the story at:
Peace Corps kicks-off new recruiting approach*
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Peace Corps kicks-off new recruiting approach
Josephine K. Olsen, right, deputy director of the Peace Corps, and Deborah M. DiCroce, president of Tidewater Community College, announce Monday a partnership between their groups. HYUNSOO LEO KIM/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
By KRISTEN KING, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 18, 2003
NORFOLK — The Peace Corps on Monday launched a nationwide effort to actively recruit volunteers from community colleges, signing a declaration with Tidewater Community College that officials hope will serve as a model for other institutions.
The initiative marks a shift from simply accepting graduates with two-year degrees to actively recruiting them, said Josephine K. “Jody” Olsen, deputy director of the Peace Corps.
To date, the organization has focused most of its sign-up efforts on the campuses of four-year universities.
“There have been openings for community-college graduates, and we’ve always known it, and when a community-college graduate comes to us, we say, 'Great,’” Olsen said. “What we’re doing with this is saying we’re very eager, it’s very important, and we have openings a community-college student can best fill.”
Those include volunteer assignments in health care, agriculture and information technology, she said. Students who have taken classes but don’t have a degree can apply, but Olsen said their opportunities are limited. Some assignments still will require a bachelor’s degree.
The Peace Corps began in 1961, when John F. Kennedy, then a senator, challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country by living and working in developing countries.
Since then, more than 170,000 volunteers have spent two-year stints in 136 countries, working alongside local residents in areas from AIDS education to business development to environmental preservation. They then join other former volunteers to promote understanding of other cultures.
Monday’s declaration also was signed by the president of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hampton Roads and restates a commitment by that group to help educate TCC faculty and students on issues their members learned about while abroad.
For the Peace Corps, the new effort immediately will mean more of a recruiting presence at TCC specifically and at community colleges in general.
Down the road, it also could lead to the creation of new volunteer paths that tap the skills of community-college students, such as preschool education and nutrition, Olsen said.
She said the Peace Corps chose TCC to launch its initiative because of the school’s emphasis on international education. Already, she said, some of TCC’s health-care courses include a cultural component that will be valuable to volunteers.
TCC also offers a number of unusual foreign language courses, such as Tagalog and Japanese, as well as service learning and study-abroad programs in places such as Costa Rica and Vietnam.
“We invest in programs that offer our students the ability to expand their frame of reference, and, in so doing, ultimately deepen their experience and understanding as members of a regional, national and global community,” said TCC President Deborah M. DiCroce.
She said the partnership with the Peace Corps feeds into that mission but also highlights the importance of community colleges and the opportunities they offer.
“Who would have thought, even five or 10 years ago, that students in a community college could expect to have an experience abroad?” she said.
“As TCC’s president, I might have thought, as the quality of and access to higher education at community colleges have begun to take center stage.”
For Marti Alexander, a student in TCC’s dietetic technician program, the timing is ideal.
She attended Monday’s event to get more information about how to apply because, she said the Peace Corps would allow her to combine her area of study, desire to travel and a passion for volunteering that has already taken her to soup kitchens and the American Red Cross.
“I think this is a fabulous move,” she said of the Peace Corps’ outreach to community colleges.
“It really gets the word out and presents a lot of opportunity for people who want to move in that direction but don’t know where to begin.”
Reach Kristen King at 222-5104 or at kristen.king@piloton line.com
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Recruitment
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By Anonymous (205.127.246.107) on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 - 12:47 pm: Edit Post |
Maybe Judly Osen and recruitment can also emphasize the jobs at the United Nations through Peace Corps. Recruiters never seem to mention the United Nations work.
"We invest in programs that offer our students the ability to expand thier frame of reference, and, in so doing, ultimately deepen thier experience and understanding as members of a regional, national and global community."
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By speilling (vt-bennington2a-75.bur.adelphia.net - 24.48.245.75) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 6:38 am: Edit Post |
Learn to spell
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By Anomolus (205.127.246.186) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 12:10 pm: Edit Post |
I tried to get the quote right....