SCampus Student Guidebook

Student Activities

Volunteer Opportunities

There are more than 260 community service programs administered by USC and affiliated institutions which serve more than 600,000 persons and provide volunteer opportunities for more than 22,000 USC students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends each year. Volunteers contribute more than 900,000 volunteer hours annually. Information about these community service programs and data about the USC neighborhoods is available online at www.usc.edu/ccr.

The following programs are a sampling of the service programs which you can join. For additional information, refer to the USC Volunteer Center.

A Community Place

University Religious Center 103
(213) 740-2667
Email: umin@usc.edu or kenney@usc.edu
www-rcf.usc.edu/~umin

A Community Place (ACP) is a student-run center that serves the homeless, working poor, seniors and children by providing healthy bag lunches, bus tokens for appointments, referrals to jobs, health centers, shelters and food or clothing distributors. ACP is open three times a week and is located in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church (3651 S. Vermont Ave.), across from USC Gate 5.

Alpha Phi Omega

Topping Student Center
Email: apo@usc.edu
apousc.com

Since its introduction to USC in 1934, Alpha Phi Omega (APO) has provided hundreds of USC students with an avenue for organizing service programs, immediate opportunities to lead within the organization, events and activities to bring its members together. APO recently volunteered at the AIDS Walk, Habitat for Humanity, community planting, Senior Social and the Union Rescue Mission, among other projects. APO is a coed service fraternity open to all current students – greek or non-greek, undergraduate or graduate.

Asian American Tutorial Project

Student Union 411
Email: aatp@usc.edu
www-scf.usc.edu/~aatp

The Asian American Tutorial Project is a volunteer tutorial and mentorship program that benefits children in lower socioeconomic environments. The organization is jointly run by USC, UCLA and Occidental College, and currently offers tutoring to first through sixth graders at Castelar Elementary School, located in the Chinatown area.

Best Buddies

Email: bestbuds@usc.edu
www.bestbuddies.org

Best Buddies is a non-profit international organization that strives to enhance the lives of people who have intellectual disabilities through one-to-one friendships and integrated employment. The USC chapter of Best Buddies is paired with students from Lanterman High School, and students make friendships that last a lifetime.

Blacks in Action

Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs
Student Union 415
(213) 820-3260
Email: biausc@usc.edu
www-scf.usc.edu/~biausc

Blacks In Action (BIA) was established at USC in the fall of 2003 for students with the desire to serve their local African-American communities. It is a volunteer organization that stresses unity, teamwork and dedication through service in three main areas: health and medicine, educational and youth outreach, and social and environmental development. Past events have included the Los Angeles AIDS Walk, USC campus tours, gift baskets for the homeless, food and sock/blanket drive, high school weekend retreat, middle school basketball tournament, hip-hop poetry night and a talent showcase. BIA is currently conducting a fundraising campaign for its first scholarship award to an incoming USC freshman dedicated to community service.

USC Circle K

USC Volunteer Center
Student Union 202
(213) 740-9116
Email: circlek@usc.edu
www-scf.usc.edu/~circlek

USC Circle K is a community service organization that aims to help various parts of the community by feeding the homeless, reading to kids and participating in beach clean-ups. As a branch of Kiwanis International, USC Circle K volunteers can participate at any of its service events that take place throughout Los Angeles county on a weekly basis.

USC Habitat for Humanity, Campus Chapter

USC Volunteer Center
Student Union 202
Email: habitat@usc.edu
www.habitat.org

USC Habitat for Humanity is an organized campus chapter of the international organization, which works to provide individual members and other student organizations with the opportunity to participate in this unique service opportunity. Although students may have little or no experience with construction, they are welcomed and trained to be active participants in various aspects of the home-building process.

Helenes

Topping Student Center 100
(323) 252-5440
Email: helenes@usc.edu
www-scf.usc.edu/~helenes

USC Helenes is an all-female service organization serving shelters and programs around Los Angeles. Volunteers also serve as hostesses at USC events.

Joint Educational Project

Tammara Anderson
(213) 740-1837
JEP House
www.usc.edu/jep

The Joint Educational Project (JEP) offers students a unique opportunity to combine academic course work with the experience found in the ethnically and culturally diverse community surrounding the university. Each year some 1,600 students from approximately 70 courses receive academic credit for their participation in JEP. An additional 400 students serve as non-credit volunteers and share their time and special talents in the project. As a JEP student, you can choose one of several assignments:

• In local schools, you can tutor and befriend children through the mentors program; aid teachers in the classroom as teacher assistants; help other school administrators; and lead mini-course lessons on subjects from earthquakes to health and nutrition.
• In health clinics, hospitals and the coroner’s office, you can work as a physician’s assistant, patient comforter or translator through the Trojan Health Volunteers Program.
• In other community sites, such as a shelter for battered women and children or a neighborhood tutorial center, students can offer help that enhances current educational arts and sports programs.

JEP assignments last from eight to 10 weeks during the semester and provide excellent career preparation, community service and personal growth opportunities for interested students. JEP houses an America Reads/America Counts program, coined USC Readers PLUS, which hires and places work-study students in five of the USC Family Schools on a year-round basis. Readers and math mentors assist neighborhood children with reading and math between eight and 15 hours a week during the academic year and up to 40 hours a week during the summer months. Visit the JEP House at 801 W. 34th St., across from Taper Hall.

National Youth Sports Program

Justine Gilman
(213) 740-5127
Lyon University Center
Email: recsports@usc.edu
www.usc.edu/recsports

This program is sponsored by Recreational Sports in conjunction with the NCAA and the federal government. Now in its 40th year, the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) continues to strive to meet the needs of the Los Angeles inner-city community. The program provides summer experiences in sports instruction, fitness, nutrition, citizenship and sportsmanship for economically disadvantaged children ages 10 to 16.

To enhance the NYSP experience, youngsters also participate in an education component which includes math and science, college preparatory sessions and more.

Paid staff positions are available and the application process begins in early March. Applications and information for staff and participants are available (in both English and Spanish) at the Lyon Center or online at www.usc.edu/recsports.

Peer Healthy Educators

Health Promotion and
Prevention Services
(213) 740-HPPS (4777)
University Park Health Center
www.usc.edu/hpps

In late September to early October, Health Promotion and Prevention Services (HPPS) selects 15 to 25 students to volunteer as Peer Health Educators (PHEs). Peer Health Educators are trained as counselors for the Anonymous HIV Testing and Counseling Program and staff the Resource Room. Those selected complete 32 hours of training and commit to volunteering two hours a week for one year.

If you are interested in becoming a PHE, contact HPPS at (213) 740-4777 for more information or to request an application.

Student Health Advisory Committee

The Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC) is a registered USC student organization that provides formal input to the executive director of the University Park Health Center (UPHC). SHAC advises the UPHC management of student concerns and provides a channel for feedback from the student community. The organization is an active group and holds open meetings throughout the semester. For further information, contact SHAC at shac@usc.edu or call the UPHC executive director at (213) 740-5338.

Spirits in Action

Topping Student Center
Email: spirits@usc.edu
www-scf.usc.edu/~spirits

Spirits in Action brings more than 300 athletes with physical and mental disabilities to USC every spring to participate in a day of athletics and fun. The group visits a nearby school each semester to play games with disabled students.

Troy Camp

Email: TroyCamp@usc.edu
www-scf.usc.edu/~troycamp

Troy Camp is a non-profit volunteer student organization responsible for developing an activities program for school children from the immediate community. It features a week at a wilderness camp at no cost to the children and is the official student philanthropy at USC.

USC Volunteer Center

Director: Melissa Gaeke
(213) 740-7012
Student Union 202
Email: volctr@usc.edu
www.usc.edu/volunteer

The USC Volunteer Center (UVC) supports community service efforts throughout the USC community. Each year, the UVC organizes five campus-wide community service days, as well as identifies volunteer opportunities for students, faculty and staff. The UVC also houses an extensive online database of more than 200 service agencies that provide volunteer opportunities to the USC family. Programs include Alternative Spring and Winter Breaks, CAST (Community Action Short-term Team) and five Friends and Neighbors Service Days. For more information about volunteer opportunities, visit the UVC Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Service Organizations

There are numerous student service groups that provide assistance to the surrounding community as well as on campus. For information on these groups, refer to the description in this section or visit the UVC or Office of Campus Activities.

Funding for Community Service

If you are a member of a student group that would like to conduct a hands-on community service project, your group may apply for funding through the Undergraduate Student Government Philanthropy Fund. For more information, visit the Office of Campus Activities Web site at www.usc.edu/ca.

Women and Youth Supporting Each Other (WYSE)

Executive Director: Reginia Sumell
Email: wyse@usc.edu

The mission of WYSE is to provide middle and high school girls with the resources and support necessary to make informed decisions about their relationships, sexuality and futures, and to create community change. WYSE mentors facilitate group sessions as well as individually mentor middle school females at one of two local middle schools. WYSE is designed to educate young women and encourage them to make healthy decisions on their own.

In addition, the organization works to create a cohesive team of mentors that supports one another as they support their mentees.

Youths Exploring Passion (Y.E.P!)

Email: uscyep@usc.edu

The mission of Y.E.P! is to impact the lives of youths by helping them seek and find a passion specific to them-selves and connect them to resources, facilities and mentors in order to help develop and nurture that passion.

By joining Y.E.P!, one becomes a coach who helps a pregnant teenager explore possible passions in her life. All the mentees are students at Thomas Riley High School, where all students are pregnant (average age is 16).