EXTREMELY STRICT GUIDELINES!
- Select a not-for-profit or not-for-profits at which to volunteer for no fewer than four hours.
- Conduct research on the services the not-for-profit provides to the community (before volunteering at the not-for-profit).
- Find out whether you can volunteer or provide service without a background check.
- Follow paper structure after you have conducted your four hours of volunteering.
Paper Length: 4 pages (no more, no less)
Page 1: Summarize your volunteer experience
- Description of the not-for profit
- Description of the services the not-for-profit provides to the community
- Description of the service/volunteer activity (what you did to help the organization)
- Focus on the activities that involved ethics, social responsibility and 3 significant concepts related to this course.
Page 2: React to your volunteer experience
- Do not express whether you thought the activity was boring, unhelpful, or a requirement
- Use “I,” but do not use an informal or unprofessional tone
- Make sure that this section is coherent and well organized (do not fall into the ramblings associated with a “free-flow of consciousness”)
- Do express your reaction to events/activities that occurred that relate to this course
- Do express how you may have acted/reacted under similar circumstances
Page 3: Analysis—connecting your volunteer experience to course material
- What did this activity teach you about: Activism, Democracy, Ethics, Leadership, Social Responsibility and 2 major concepts discussed in this course (you will be counted off for not discussing all pillars in this course and at least 2 major concepts from this course)
Page 4: Work Cited
- Use APA citation style
- Cite the organization’s website or the person you spoke to about the organization.
- Cite websites or texts used
- Make sure that if your entry is two lines in length that you indent the correct line (the second line
Additional requirements:
- Do not include a cover page (it is not necessary since you will be submitting your paper via the Blackboard site)
- Name in right hand corner of page #1 only
- Header with last name and page number on every page
- Title: Volunteer Paper centered directly below name (SHIFT+ENTER one time below your name, SHIFT+ENTER one time below title of paper).
- Double-spaced
- 10-12 point font
- Standard (that is, not funky) font (Times New Roman or Arial)
- Standard margins (1 inch all the way around)
- Standard indent at the beginning of each paragraph
- Succinct introduction that introduces the nonprofit you volunteered at and the major concepts you will discuss
- Succinct conclusion that ties everything together
Warning: You will earn a deficient grade (D+ or below) for committing any one of the following critical errors:
- Not introducing, in your first paragraph, the not-for-profit and the five concepts that will discuss
- Not discussing all pillars of course and at least 2 major concepts from this course throughout the paper
- Not following the paper structure (to a tee)
- Incorrectly formatting your work-cited page (should be in APA formatting, please use the paper resource guide to cite correctly)
- Using other sources
- Plagiarizing (representing someone else’s work as your own)