Oregon Campus Compact has partnered with CollegeServe to offer our member campuses access to the CollegeServe management software.  

ORCC members will receive the set-up and the first years' membership fees for free.  This set up fee is normally $2500 and the first years' fees are $5000, that's a $7500 benefit for being a Campus Compact member.

Because we believe in the power of college students to create a better world and the value of service on educational outcomes even non-members can benefit; by mentioning ORCC they can have their set up fees waived.

If any non member campus has been thinking about becoming an Oregon Campus Compact member, now is the time.  Joining ORCC will waive these first year fees and any campus under 7000 FTE will experience significant and continuing savings in the years after.

CollegeServe is an award-winning volunteer management tool that will organize volunteers and raise the profile of service on college campuses.  For more information, contact Josh Todd at 503.406.3575.

Become a Summer AmeriCorps VISTA Member and spend your summer continuing to serve while receiving some help paying for college and gaining experience in the education and nonprofit sectors!
 
What is the Summer AmeriCorps*VISTA Program and what do members do? 
AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. Summer VISTA Members will serve with community organizations or school districts in the Portland-area for 8 weeks. They'll prepare rising 9th graders for a successful transition to high school through tutoring, volunteer management, and program coordination.

When does the program take place?
VISTAs will serve with their site from Wed., June 18 - Fri., Aug 11th. They'll also attend a two-day orientation on June 16th and 17th. Hours vary by site. 

What are the benefits? Do I get paid? 
This is a great program that gives you the opportunity to spend your summer in service while gaining experience in the education and nonprofit sectors. VISTAs also receive a $450 living stipend every two weeks during service and a $1,174 education award that can help pay for school or your qualified education loans!

I want to apply or learn more! 
We are having two recruitment fairs and they are THE BEST way to get connected. Attending one of the two fairs will give you a chance to meet the sites, ask questions, and complete a first interview with Oregon Campus Compact. Fairs are held on Monday, April 14th at Concordia University from 5-6:30pm and Wednesday, April 16th at Warner Pacific College from 5-6:30pm. Click here to learn more and sign up! 

Oregon Campus Compact, in partnership with Washington Campus Compact is pleased to announce our newest grant proposal, the College Access Corps.

The College Access Corp is being submitted to the Corporation for National and Community Service and is pending CNCS approval.  This new program will focus on developing, implementing or expanding K-12 college access programs. 

12 Americorps members in Oregon will train and recruit college students from partner schools to act as college access coaches to economically disadvantaged (ED) youth.  ED youth is defined as youth who qualify for the free/reduced lunch program. 


Program goals include:

• To recruit and train 500 college students to act as college access coaches that provide at least 15 hours of college access intervention to 4,500 ED K-12 youth.
  
  
• To have at least 70% of participating ED K-12 youth report, through a pre- and post- survey, improvement in academic engagement, academic preparedness for post-secondary education, and knowledge about how to apply to and pay for post-secondary education.
  
  
• To recruit 1,080 volunteers for National Days of Service and other community service events.
  
  

All programs interested in doing college access programming are encouraged to submit a letter of intent to Josh Todd by Friday, May 02, 2014.

Member campuses, non-member campuses, nonprofits, and K-12 schools or districts can submit a LOI as long as they have an identified higher education partner

Campus Marketing Specialists have chosen to sponsor A Night in Serve-Landia, Oregon Campus Compact's annual fundraiser.

In addition to sponsoring A Night in Serve-Landia, Campus Marketing Specialists are offering a discount to ORCC's member campuses.  Our member campuses will get $50 off their orders of $400 or more.

To take advantage of this discount, send your orders through Jeff Czech, ORCC's Campus Marketing Specialist contact.  He can be reached at (312) 351-3722 or at jeff@campusmarketing.com.

We are excited for this new partnership with CMS. We believe that this partnership will deepen over time.  The more our members support CMS the more they will be able to support ORCC.

CMS is a local, Oregon based, company committed to sustainability and community service.  They have a wide variety of promotional materials, from bags and totes, to apparel, to pens, pencils and buttons, to games and puzzles.  They even have a full line of eco-friendly products.

We are happy to call Campus Marketing Specialists partners and we thank them for their sponsorship of A Night in Serve-Landia!

Oregon Campus Compact has partnered with Stylus Publishing to offer a discount that will benefit both ORCC campus members as well as ORCC itself.

Stylus has offered a discount of 20% on selected academic titles for Oregon Campus Compact members.  Additionally, Stylus will donate 20% of the price of the book to ORCC.  To get this discount, member campuses need to purchase their publications through the ORCC bookstore.

Stylus offers discounted titles on number of topics, such as:

• Teaching & Learning
• Assessment & Accreditation
• Service Learning
• Studying Abroad
• Online & Distance Learning
• Service Learning in the Disciplines
• Service Learning for Civic Engagement

Stylus Publishing is an independent publisher and distributor for other independent publishers and NGO's. Stylus' mission is to publish books for teachers, administrators and policy makers in higher education, to promote effective practice through access to research. 

Too often we are too deeply involved in our work to stop and reflect on the bigger picture.  Conferences are great opportunities to share insights, support colleagues, and strengthen our networks. The 17th Annual Continuums of Service Conference will be an insightful gathering of service learning professionals, community partners, and faculty.

1. The conference is being held in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii.  Attendees will gather at the Waikiki Marriot which is only steps away from the world famous Waikiki Beach and Pacific Ocean.  

2.  Campus Compact members receive a discount of $100 off their registration fees.

3.  The COS theme of "Civic Engagement: Bridging Gaps in Education, in Communities and across the Globe" will provide a chance to tackle complex challenges and address critical issues.

4.  Attendees have the opportunity to explore issues of civic engagement while honoring and learning about Pacific Island cultural diversity.

5. The COS conference is an example of cooperation and support among all campus compacts of the western United States.

6.  There is a unique service opportunity after the conference.  The Kanaka Maoli work to restore sacred sites damaged by federal highway development.  On Saturday a group of volunteers will work in sacred sites (heiau) that are normally restricted from access. The volunteers will be guests of the caretakers, helping while learning about Hawaiian culture, religion, history, and ethno-botany.
 
7. There is a stellar line-up of keynote speakers, presenters, and facilitators; including

• Community organizer and Zen priest Puanani Burgess.
• Ecological anthropologist Dr. Robert Franco.
• Senior Policy Advisor within Multnomah County government in Oregon, Sonali Sangeeta Balajee.

8. The COS conference will attract leaders from higher education, K-12 education, community-based organizations, government agencies, philanthropic organizations, businesses, and grassroots community organizers.
 
9. If you register for the conference before March 19th, 2014, you get $50 off of your registration fees on top of your campus compact discount.

10.  The Continuums of Service Conference is planned so that every participant will learn something from the experience.  COS offers dedicated programming for all levels of participants from beginner to advanced practitioners.

The 2014 MLK Day of service was a resounding success for ORCC, our member campuses, and our partner service sites in the southeast Portland area.

The day started with an inspirational rally at David Douglas High School.  The volunteers were treated to talks, a musical performance, and visit from Senator Jeff Merkley.

Over 800 college volunteers fanned out to 14 service locations and spent the day giving back to their communities.  They also focused on college access by creating thousands of college preparatory pamphlets that will be used to inspire high school juniors.  To read more about this experience, click on our MLK Day page.

We are getting ready for the 2014 MLK Day of Service at Oregon Campus Compact.  Currently, we have nearly 1000 students ready to do service at 15 different locations around the Portland area.  The day will begin with an inspirational rally at David Douglas High School with service projects beginning soon after.  There will be neighborhood cleanups, gardening, painting projects, care kit creation, a food drive, and much more. 

Oregon Campus Compact is pleased to announce the selection of three host sites for our Connect2Complete program; Clackamas Community College, Lane Community College, and Umpqua Community College.  These community colleges will have AmeriCorps members placed at their campuses who will work with the developmental education faculty to build community-engaged learning into DE curriculum and serve as peer advocates for DE students.

Connect2Complete will work with the service learning programs already in place at Clackamas Community College and Lane Community College, and begin developing a service learning program at Umpqua Community College.

The goals of this initiative: to increase the rate students successfully completing and enrolling in transferrable, credit-bearing coursework, increase GPAs, address affordability through a $1,000 education award per AmeriCorps member, and to develop service projects to increase understanding and impact pressing needs in communities.

For more information about becoming a host site, click here, or contact Josh Todd, Executive Director, with questions at josh@oregoncampuscompact.org or 503-406-3575.

ORCC's Connect2Complete program model is based on a national Campus Compact program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is operating in Washington, Ohio, and Florida. This program is made possible through the following partnerships:

As the year comes to a close, it is time to reflect on the great moments that made 2013 memorable for all of us at Oregon Campus Compact.

We celebrated the fourth annual MLK Day of Service by organizing a massive effort to collect, clean and redistribute books for children.  700 students from nine colleges and universities lent their time and effort to this task.

Over 40,000 books were distributed into low-income homes, libraries, and schools in Multnomah County.  The economic impact of the volunteer hours was worth over $46,182.

Alternative Breaks are short term immersion trips which are opportunities for service and connection.  In 2013, fourteen of our member campuses organized and implemented an Alternative Spring Break excursion.   Students travelled to Jonestown, Mississippi to serve while gardening, house painting, and tutoring.  Students worked to alleviate hunger and homelessness in San Francisco.  Trips served both local communities and communities as far away as Hawaii and Nicaragua.  Click here to see the map of all of our Alternative Breaks.

Under the helm of new Executive Director, Josh Todd, Oregon Campus Compact held the first Presidential Dinner in ten years with 14 presidents in attendance.  The theme was: "Presidential Leadership & Collective Impact: How Presidents are Redefining Community Partnerships to Improve Student Outcomes."

Membership continued to grow in 2013 as ORCC welcomed Tillamook Bay Community College as a new member.  ORCC also welcomed back previous member campuses, National College of Naturopathic Medicine and Mt. Hood Community College.

ORCC welcomed Dr. Jessica Howard, President of Portland Community College Southeast Campus as a new member of Oregon Campus Compact's Board.  Dr. Howard supports ORCC's mission with a particular focus on the power of service on community college campuses.

In April, we gathered at Picnic House in downtown Portland to host "A Night in Serve-landia."  The event was a rousing success, with our extended community turning out to support us.

In total, we brought in 75 new donors and raised $12,000. All proceeds will benefit Oregon Campus Compact to help ensure every Oregon student graduates as an engaged, global citizen.

In 2013, we said goodbye to our former AmeriCorps VISTA team and welcomed 23 new VISTAs.  These ORCC VISTA members were busy this year performing many tasks related to poverty alleviation around their communities including; the creation of a scholarship fund for students interested in taking Alternative Breaks, the organization of a Homeless and Awareness Week,
and the creation of multiple programs that helped under served students file for FAFSA, apply for scholarships and learn how to become model college students.

ORCC Hosted its first statewide LeaderShape Institute.  LeaderShape is a dynamic, challenging, and exciting week long event intended to produce a breakthrough in the leadership capacity of participants.  Thirty-two students from eight Oregon colleges and universities took on this challenge and emerged with the motivation to make a lasting impact on their campuses and in their communities.

ORCC started a new program, Connect2Complete, which is focused on improving graduation rates for Oregon community college students through community-engaged learning and service.  Connect2Complete is based on a national Campus Compact program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is currently operating in Washington, Ohio, and Florida.  With support from Oregon Volunteers and the Corporation for National and Community Service, ORCC will bring Connect2Complete to 8 community college campuses.

2013 was a year of staff transitions.  Sadly, we had to say goodbye to longtime ORCC staff members Signe Bishop, McKenzie Miller, and Emily Gilliland who moved on to Oregon Health and Sciences University, Girls on the Run, and HandsOn Network respectively.  We welcomed Josh Todd as our Executive Director and Kendra Henry as our AmeriCorps VISTA Program manager.

Reflecting on the struggles and victories of 2013, we welcome 2014 with open arms.  We intend to take our successes and build upon them.  We look forward to hosting the second annual LeaderShape conference.  We are getting geared up and excited for the 2014 MLK Day of Service.  We are going to repeat the successes of "A Night in Serve-Landia" and Alternative Spring Break.  We look forward to breaking new ground with the Connect2Complete program, sowing new seeds and seeing what connections grow. 

Thank you friends, family, alums, and supporters, for a wonderful 2013.  We look forward to your continuing support to make 2014 even better.