Global Service Database
Dear Active Global Citizen! We need your help!
Have you volunteered abroad?
Would you recommend the program you used?
OR...did you venture out alone and find your own project?
Please help your fellow students learn from your experiences by sharing your story! We want to create a searchable database that anyone in the Vanderbilt community can use to find service opportunities abroad! But... we need YOUR help! Please fill out the online form. You will be aiding in the creation of an amazing resource both for those needing help and those who want to give.
Click here to submit your information!
Background
The impetus for the construction of the Global Service and Development Opportunities Database came in the spring of 2005. Meredith Bates, Carolyn Audet and Dr. Mark Dalhouse were discussing the ever increasing number of students interested in global issues, events, and development. While we had all traveled and participated in these projects individually, we realized that no unified list existed of projects with which Vanderbilt students and faculty had been involved. We knew that the creation of such a database would greatly assist future participants interested in international service, but realized the monumental task of a) creating the database itself due to our general lack of computer skills and b) the potential difficultly obtaining information from those who had worked abroad in the past. Currently, the lack of a coordinated information resource has resulted in each volunteer having to research similar experiences time and again. Unfortunately, some people get overwhelmed by all the programs advertised on the internet while others are deterred by cost. Because we believe so strongly in the potential benefits of such a resource for the Vandy and Global communities, we are embarking on developing this database.
Mission
We want to create a database filled with global community service opportunities, useful to both individuals who have extensive international experience and for those who have never traveled abroad. We aim to simplify the process of finding and recommending international opportunities by compiling them all in one place and by establishing contacts with those who have participated in these projects in the past, thus enhancing global citizenship.
Action
Carolyn Audet, an Anthropology Ph.D. candidate working at the Office of Active Citizenship and Service, and Meredith Bates, a senior undergraduate studying international development, are trying to make this coordination a reality. We are amassing and organizing lists of the international development and service projects that students have participated in. We hope to encourage a more global perspective within the Vanderbilt student body through the global service database which would be accessible to the entire Vanderbilt community, including faculty, staff, students, and alumni, bringing together a web of people with the common goal of global improvement through Vanderbilt University.
Ultimately, Vanderbilt community members will be able to search the database by area of interest (eg. education) and by country or region and other search categories to find the best program for their needs. While other internet searches may be impersonal and overwhelming, the Global Service and Development database at Vanderbilt will allow students to discuss potential projects with Vanderbilt contacts who have already been working in a particular country and/or with a particular organization. Once the database is created, we will launch it both on the OACS website and have an in-house program on all OACS computers. The Vanderbilt user ID and password will be necessary to view the information (thus preventing persons of unknown character from accessing and using the contacts) and users will be able to add new opportunities through the website or by contacting OACS. Our vision is to eventually expand this model to other universities looking to coordinate and enhance global citizenship in their students as well.
We Need Your Help
What is a database without any data? At this point we have entered only the opportunities that the two of us have experienced. What we are asking from you at this time is any information you have on global service opportunities that you have experienced and would recommend to other students. Below you will find the information form to fill out. Please either fill out a paper copy and hand it in to Carolyn's office upstairs in the Community Partnership House, or email it to Carolyn or I. This is still in its initial stages, so we would appreciate contributions of any kind including contacts, opportunities, constructive criticism, ideas, advice, guidance, questions, etc. We would also encourage you to pass this request along to other Vanderbilt community members that you think might have an interest in the project.
Thank You
We appreciate all of your help in this initiative! Please feel free to contact Carolyn or Meredith at any time for more information (meredith.bates@vanderbilt.edu AND carolyn.m.audet@vanderbilt.edu).
Sincerely,
Meredith Bates and Carolyn Audet
Click here to submit your information!
Contact Us!
Active Citizenship & Service | Vanderbilt University
Box 6308, Station B | Nashville, TN 37235
615-343-7878