Mission
Volunteer Services Board is a student-run organization dedicated to provide accessible volunteer opportunities and to address social issues via awareness-raising programs in order to inspire an ethic of civic engagement in the university community.
History
1991-1992
The Inception of VSB
It took several years of discussion about the creation of a university volunteer program before anything came to fruition. The 1991-92 ASBSU President initiated its development by creating an ad-hoc committee to investigate the concept. As a result of this investigation, two students were sent to a national conference on community service. They were exposed to a variety of different on-campus volunteer programs, and returned with ideas about effective student-run programming. The following year BSU students organized and participated in Into the Streets, a day of community service projects. Over 100 people participated, and it became evident that there was great student, faculty, and administrative support for BSU involvement in community service.
1992
The Establishment of VSB & Volunteer Advisory Board
Later in 1992, the ASBSU president established a new program called the BSU Volunteer Services Board, and appointed a student manager for the program, the ASBSU Volunteer Coordinator. VSB gained financial contributions from the BSU President's Office, the Student Union and Activities Office, ASBSU, and additional "kick-off" funding from the College of Social Science and Public Affairs. The program was supervised by the Volunteer Coordinator and staffed by student volunteers, who would not only implement the day-to-day activities of VSB, but also make major policy decisions regarding the scope and direction of the program.
The Volunteer Advisory Board (VAB) was created at the same time as VSB, and was composed of BSU faculty and staff plus community agency representatives. The function of VAB was to provide conceptual and practical guidance to the VSB program. One of its first actions was the approval of a Volunteer Services Board list of internal rules.
1993-1996
Growth of the Board
During the 1993-94 academic year VSB organized another very successful Into the Streets, and a new event was developed, the BSU Volunteer Fair. A great amount of interest in the program was generated, and also some logistical problems. Up until this point, the VSB "staff" (other than the Volunteer Coordinator) had been short-term student volunteers working on a project-by-project basis. Because of their other commitments, regular, long-term office hours were virtually impossible. By the end of the 1993-1994 academic year, it was evident that the program could not survive unless a real board was created. A board comprised of students who would attend regular meetings, work office hours in service to students and agencies, and produce individual projects based on the job descriptions listed in the VSB Internal Rules. The creation of this board became a top priority for the 1994-1995 academic year and an internship program for VSB officers began in the fall of 1995.
1997-2000
Service-Learning & VSB Dedicated Fee Proposal 1997
VSB had been receiving funding from ASBSU, Student Union & Activities, and the University totaling $11,500 for FY97. In 1997 Renee Smith; Director, VSB and Jeannie Erway; Graduate Assistant Advisor VSB, and Maureen Sigler, Associate Director of Student Activities, submitted a request for a dedicated student fee. A dedicated fee is an activity fee that each student pays as part of tuition. The request was for $3.50 per full-fee paying student, and $.35 per credit hour for students enrolled part-time and during the summer. The fees generated by this proposal would support established programs, such as Into the Streets, add new community service programs and would expand into a coordinated service-learning program. Approximately 75% of these fees are directed to BSU's Service-Learning program and the remaining 25% fund the Volunteer Services Board. The proposal was approved, and the Service-Learning Program was established.
2000-2004
Volunteer Services Board Dedicated Fee Increase
In March 2000, Eric Elliott, Director of VSB submitted a request for an increase in the dedicated student fee. Graphs were used to illustrate not only the growth of VSB's programs and services, but to demonstrate the link between funding and number of quality projects and programs offered to BSU students. The proposal was for an increase of $2.00 per semester for full-time students, $0.20 per credit for part-time, and $0.20 per credit for summer students. The revenue would go to an increased budget for projects, marketing and promotions, training, conference travel, and to fund service awards for VSB officers. The proposal was approved, but only for the half the dollar amount requested for all fee-paying students.
Restructuring of the Board
Along with the fee increase proposal came the decision by the board under Eric's direction to restructure the officer positions. The board moved away from having coordinators of specific projects to issue coordinators. The five issue coordinators were: Environmental/Animal Issues, Equality Issues, Health Care Issues, Hunger and Homelessness Issues and Youth & Education Issues. In Spring 2001, Jillana Slocum and the board agreed to eliminate the Equality Issues coordinator position and incorporate a social justice effort in the remaining four coordinator positions. In the fall of 2001, Spencer Burton tried a model of programming where issue coordinators would develop continuing service projects that students could return to month after month, in addition to one-time service projects. In the spring of 2002, Ryan VanderLinden assumed the Director position when Spencer left school. He carried on the continuing project model until May.
Change in Advisory Boards
In the fall of 2001, the Volunteer Services and Service-Learning Advisory Board changed its mission to reflect a change in the Service-Learning Program. The change in Service-Learning was its move to Academic Affairs, from Student Affairs. The academic shift required VSSLAB to shift as well. This left VSB "out in the cold" as it was a Student Affairs program. After several internal discussions among VSSLAB members, it was decided to approach the Student Union Board of Governors (SUBOG) to see if that body would advise VSB. SUBOG agreed and starting in July of 2002, SUBOG began advising VSB, as it advised the Student Programs Board. The charter of SUBOG was amended to reflect the change.
Inception of Service Saturdays
In the fall of 2002, Ryan implemented the Service Saturday program, billed as "miniature Into the Streets." The four issue coordinators would find projects at various agencies and schedule the projects for the same day and same time. Student volunteers would gather at the Student Union, choose a project, complete the project and hold a reflection session. This approach to programming brought the board together, planning for a single event. With the addition of a Graphic Artist, the elimination of the Community Outreach and Campus Outreach coordinators (replaced with a single Volunteer Coordinator), the board composition was streamlined and more functional.
Inception of Alternative Spring Break Program
Under the direction of Kara Fink, VSB increased the number of Service Saturday events and saw a dramatic rise in the number of students who attended each. Also during Kara's administration, Tara Farmer, Hunger & Homeless Coordinator, organized the first Alternative Spring Break program VSB had participated in since 1999. Environmental projects were planned and implemented in San Diego, California. Board composition remained as Ryan had defined it.
Past VSB Directors
| 2005-2006 | Taylor Newbold |
| 2004-2005 | Heather Gribble |
| 2003-2004 | Kara Fink |
| 2002-2003 | Ryan VanderLinden |
| Fall 2001 | Spencer Burton |
| 2000-2001 | Jillana Slocum |
| 1999-2000 | Eric Elliott |
| 1998-1999 | Toni Lawson |
| 1997-1998 | Kara Price |
| 1996-1997 | Renee Smith |
| 1994-1995 | David B. Ficks |
| 1993-1994 | Fafa Alidjani |
