Career centers in higher education must create environments that serve the needs of students and alumni. Alumni not only are a served population, but also are beneficial to student career development, and serve dual purposes as clients and volunteers. One program frequently offered by career centers that engages alumni volunteers is an alumni mock…

The active participation of alumni is necessary for the long-term health of institutions of higher education. Alumni contribute financially to higher education institutions by sharing their time and talents. Recently, a small private University in Macao initiated an alumni mentoring pilot program to engage alumni. However, it is unclear what the…

Mentoring has been regarded as a promising way to reach at-risk youth and to strengthen the protective factors. This article focuses on emotions, reflections, and challenges that adult volunteers face in trying to establish and maintain a friend relationship with young adults in a multicomponent mentor setting in Finland. Based on our…

Many community-based English language learning programs rely on volunteers to lead classes. While some of these volunteers have some teacher training, the majority are not professional educators. The question of how non-professionals understand what constitutes facilitation of language learning in an adult education context remains underexplored.…

This dissertation characterized trainings designed to prepare citizen scientists to collect ecological data in natural outdoor settings. Citizen scientists are volunteers who participate in scientific activities under the guidance of professional scientists and organizations. The work of citizen scientists greatly expands the data collection…

This paper examines the feasibility of developing a new Master Volunteer training program to help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Traditional models of volunteer training programs, such as the Cooperative Extension Master Volunteer peer-to-peer learning model, are based in part on Diffusion Theory. The existing…

In an effort to reform public child welfare systems across the nation, Title IV-E child welfare training programs were established over 2 decades ago. Participating students typically engage in a customized educational experience as part of their MSW program that prepares them to work in the field of child welfare upon graduation. This article…

The Peace Corps "Programming, Training, and Evaluation Guidance" (PT&E Guidance) will assist field PT&E staff to optimally support trainees and Volunteers to build the capacity and contribute to improving the lives of people in their country of service. The PT&E Guidance consists of four parts. Part 1 of this guide provides…

In 2012, Oxfordshire County Council commissioned the National Literacy Trust to deliver a two-year campaign, the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign, to address falling Key Stage 1 literacy levels in the county's primary schools, which were amongst the worst in the country. The aims of the campaign were to increase the proportion of children reaching the…

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, sponsored by the IRS, offers free tax services for individuals with low-to-moderate incomes, the elderly, disabled and/or those who lack English language proficiency. Although established by the IRS in 1969, it is administered by partnering community based volunteer organizations throughout U.S.,…

This article synthesizes research on social capital, school outcomes, internet use, and volunteering to argue that e-mentoring--which is commonly practiced over long distances--could become a powerful way to build greater cohesiveness in local communities. Realizing this potential will require a larger-scale and more coordinated approach to…

This study investigates the relationship of formal mentoring program design elements (i.e., voluntary participation, input to matching, and effectiveness of training) and management support to the benefits and costs perceived by formal mentors. Data were collected from 97 formal mentors from a Midwestern financial institution. Multiple regressions…

This idea book addresses key concepts in two earlier Peace Corps' publications, "Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) Manual" [ICE No. M0053], and the "Gender and Development Training Manual" [ICE No. M0054]. These previous resources were large training manuals that introduced PACA to staff and Volunteers in the context of the Peace…

Community-based educational programs play a significant role in the education and positive development of youth. Over the last decade, the Oregon 4-H Youth Development program has made special efforts to reach and engage Latino youth and families in non-formal educational programs. Latino families most often do not access community-based…

This article describes an education program initiated by African American prisoners in the Airway Heights Correction Center in Airway Heights, Washington. The purpose of the program was to help the inmates to make productive use of their time while incarcerated and to help lessen the high return rate of African American men to the prison. Although…