Passion for Service
Supporting and encouraging the collaboration between APSU and the needs of the community through curricular and co-curricular experiences
» Within a couple of months of launch at the Center for Service Learning & Community Engagement, Campus Kitchens received letters of support from Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and a $5,000 grant. Campus Kitchens is a local branch of a national organization aimed to reduce food waste and reallocate resources to those facing food insecurities. Campus Kitchens served its first meals to the Salvation Army youth program with the help of a Health and Human Performance service-learning class in spring 2017.
» 150 freshmen volunteered with the Nashville agency Stop Hunger Now to pack 10,000 meals for families in need as part of the Freshman Service Project. The project was created by the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement as an event for new students during APEX orientation weekend.
» Student Publications and The All State hosted the fifth-grade students from North Stewart Elementary in Dover, Tennessee, and their adviser, who produce the school’s newspaper. The children received hands-on photography and writing training while learning about newspaper production.
» Students served others through eight alternative break trips launched throughout the 2016-17 year, during fall, winter, spring and summer.» A free meal was provided to over 100 veteran and military students in honor of Veterans Day. The initiative was a collaboration between Housing, Residence Life and Dining Services, Chartwells, and the Military Student Center.
» Stephen Dominy, coordinator of Fraternity & Sorority Affairs, and Gregory Singleton, associate vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students, were members of the board of the Clarksville Sexual Assault Center during the year.
» The Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement partnered with Housing, Residence Life and Dining Services to evaluate and test a process for composting AP dining compostable food waste and prepare for future implementation of a composting process on campus.
» The Breast Cancer 5K had 75 volunteers and raised nearly $1,100 for the American Cancer Society. The event was sponsored by University Recreation.
» In its first semester, 1,153 individuals accessed Govs Volunteer, an online volunteer platform for faculty, staff and students to access volunteer opportunities and search for local nonprofits. The platform was implemented by the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement and connected 55 agencies to the campus community.
» Alternative break groups coordinated by the Center for Service-Learning & Community Engagement traveled to several states and countries during the academic year. One group spent its week volunteering with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in Lafayette, Louisiana, rebuilding homes devastated by major flooding in August 2015. Another group traveled to Clarkston, Georgia, working with the local refugee population and focusing on civil rights and nonviolence training through the Something New organization. Another group traveled to Antigua, Guatemala, to work with a nonprofit organization, Maximo Nivel. Spending May 13-20 in the Central American country, the group worked on construction projects for the local fire station. During their down time, APSU students learned more about Guatemalan culture, visited coffee plantations, learned to make their own chocolate and climbed a volcano.