by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
If a group of UNM students gets its way, community service classes will be required to
graduate.
"If you're coming in as an undergraduate, just like you have to take English 101 and history 101, you would have to take a class that has a service approach to learning," said student Travis McKenzie, a member of the Service Action Network, a student group aimed at increasing community service from UNM students.
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The group held a meeting with faculty and staff Wednesday to discuss its goals and how to achieve them.
The group wants to make it easier for students to get involved in community service, said student Nico Condon, a member of the group.
"The role of the University is not just to mold minds and shape ideas," he said. "It's also to mold people and shape citizens."
The groups presented a list of goals including: a Web site to find volunteer opportunities; work-study funding for community service projects; and scholarships and loan forgiveness for students who volunteer.
Condon said he would like to present the group's goals to deans by the end of the semester.
Before that, he wants help from faculty and staff to figure out how to get funding.
Trey Smith, coordinator of student activities, said it should be easier for students to find ways to volunteer.
There are at least four Web sites students have to search to find organizations looking for volunteers in Albuquerque, he said.
"That's not how it should be," he said. "This is one of the missions of the University. There should be one Web site, and it should be linked to from the home page of UNM."
Lots of students want to volunteer, but it can be hard for them to find what they're looking for, he said.
"Probably half a dozen times a day, we'll have students come in and ask how they can give back to the community," he said. "They almost always have good intentions. Sometimes, they'll say a judge told them they had to find a way, but most of them really want to help."
Smith said he usually sends students to the Community Experience office, which organizes Spring Storm and Fall Frenzy.
Condon said he wants UNM to recognize students who perform community service.
Such recognition could help students get jobs, he said.
"A lot of the time, a student doesn't know how to describe what they've done," he said. "To a potential employer, service could make a big difference. But people will leave it off their rÇsumÇs. They just think of it as picking up cigarette butts or raking leaves."
Doug Rocks-MacQueen, a member of the group, said he wants to get more of UNM excited about community service before lobbying the Board of Regents for policy changes.
"We want to change the culture at UNM," he said. "We figure the best way to do that is to get people pumped about it. If it's some order that comes down from the regents, a lot of people are going to feel like they don't want to do it. We want to get people pumped about service."
