Cal Corps Public Service Center at UC Berkeley promotes social action through engaged scholarship, campus-community partnerships, and student leadership. Last year through the Center more than 4,000 students provided 290,000 hours of service to off-campus communities. Check out the programs below to get involved.

Coalitions

In addition to the following list of programs operating out of the Center, Cal Corps acts as a clearinghouse for social action programs across the Cal campus and Bay Area.

In 1967, a coalition of student groups engaged in community service projects founded the Community Projects Office, which later became the Cal Corps Public Service Center. Each year, through a partnership with the ASUC, Cal Corps awards sponsorship to 25-30 student groups engaged in service projects that address vital community needs.

Cal Corps sponsorship entitles registered student groups to carry out off-campus service projects, provides access to specialized advising services and administrative resources, and offers a grant to defer service project expenses.

2012-2013 Student Initiated Community Projects: Group Missions & Contacts

Interested in having your service group included in this list - learn more about becoming a Student Initiated Community Projects Group.

Dates of Opportunity: September 2012-May 2013
Time Commitment: 1 Year Sponsorship 
Eligibility: Registered Student Groups at UC Berkeley
Sponsorship Application Dates: Sponsored Groups have been selected for 2012-2013. Applications for 2013-2014 will be available early March 2013

For questions contact Damali Burton at Cal Corps at (510) 643-0307 or damali-burton@berkeley.edu

Volunteering is the act of offering your service to another person, a community, social issue, or an organization. At Cal Corps Public Service Center, we believe that each person has a unique gift to share to make the world a better place. Here are several ways Cal students can volunteer:

• Opportunities With Local Community Based Organizations
  Search our online database of over 450 non-profit organizations and schools.
• Residence Hall Service Projects
  Serve with other students living in the dorm. Through the Residential Service Initiative, student leaders in each Unit organize on-going service projects.
• Student Group Service Projects
  Join a Cal Corps sponsored service group that organizes opportunities to mentor youth, build houses, provide medical care, or serve the community in other ways.
• Abroad
  Find international service opportunities ranging in type of service, country, length of service, and cost.

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Short Term

• One Time Service Projects
• Berkeley Project
• VolunteerMatch
• Hands on Bay Area Calendar

Semester

• Bonner Volunteers
• Cal 2 Action
• Student Initiated Community Projects
• Alternative Breaks(Apply in Fall)
• Chan Buddies (Fall)
• WriterCoach Connection

Year

• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program

Summer

• Magnolia Project Summer Internship
• Cal in the Capital Summer Internship

Volunteer Search Engines

Arts | Education and Youth | Environment | Health | Homelessness | Immigration| Policy and Government| Poverty

Arts| Education and Youth| Environment | Health| Homelessness| Immigration| Policy and Government| Poverty | Seniors

 

Spring 2013

PACS 119 Leadership, Dialogue and Actualization

4 units, CCN - Email Damali Burton)
Instructor: Americ Azevedo
Th 2-5 PM
This class is part of the Shinnyo-en Peacebuilding Initiative and is for leaders who are ready to combine inner work with increased sensitivity to the ideas, feelings, and the concerns of people they work with.

• Interactive Dialogue
• Inspiring Guest Speakers
• Selective Grant Opportunity

http://publicservice.berkeley.edu/peacebuilding

PACS119.002 Field Studies in Peace and Conflict:
Human Rights and Advocacy in the US: Critical Service Learning

Professor: Dr. Julie Shackford-Bradley

This course introduces students to the emergent field of Human Rights action and advocacy in the United States. Students are familiarized with international Human Rights institutions, movements and practice, and apply this knowledge locally through service/advocacy projects and the study of domestic social justice issues through a human rights frame. To gain experiential knowledge and a critical perspective on human rights action and advocacy, students work on team-based projects with organizations that address domestic and international human rights concerns, with particular focus on community-based research, organizing, popular education and/or advocacy. Students will address such issues as: housing and homelessness; food security; healthcare; immigration; treatment of prisoners; juvenile justice; environmental justice. Readings and discussion also address contemporary and historical controversies regarding the status of human rights strategy and discourse in the US.

Students from all backgrounds and disciplines are welcomed. This course also fulfills a requirement for the Human Rights Interdisciplinary Minor.

Homelessness in America

S.W. 235 (2 Units)
Fall 2012 CCN# 80877
Mondays, 2-4pm in 2 Haviland Hall

The class will be a mix of graduate and undergraduate students. Undergraduates have always done well in this class.

The course will address issues of homelessness in the context of social responsibility for the poor and definitions of poverty and homelessness. It will consider the legal, social and economic context of homelessness. It will look at homelessness as a full-time job or life style exploring the prospects of the homeless for changing their condition. The course will look at the diversity of the homeless, their special needs, handicaps and behaviors. Included for consideration will be government supported and private programs for housing and social services as well as new ways for addressing homelessness through the child welfare, housing, health, mental health, and substance abuse treatment systems.

SW undergrads can enroll directly thru telebears using the above CCN. Undergrads from other majors must request a CEC from the SW UG Advisor.

The History and Practice of Human Rights

L&S C140V This course is also listed as History C187
Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:30, A1 Hearst Hall (4 units), CCN: 52013
Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann (Home Department: History)

What are human rights? Where did they originate and when? Who retains them, and when are we obliged to defend them? Through what kinds of institutions, practices, and frameworks have they been advocated and affirmed? And which are the human rights that we take to be self evident? The rights to speak and worship freely? To legal process? To shelter and nourishment? Do our human rights include high-speed internet access, as one Scandinavian country has recently proposed? Can human rights ever be global in scope? Or is the idea of universal human rights a delusion or, worse, a manifestation of cultural chauvinism?

Applied Impact Evaluation

Development programs and policies are intended to change outcomes such as raising incomes, increasing productivity, improving learning, or reducing illness. Whether or not these changes in outcomes are actually achieved are crucial public policy and business questions, yet are not often examined. This course covers the methods and applications of impact evaluations, which is the science of measuring the causal impact of a program or policy on outcomes of interest.

This is the second offering of this course taught by, Paul Gertler, an internationally renowned impact evaluation expert.  Students raved about the lectures and how much they learned last year!  You don’t want to miss this unique opportunity.

Details: IAS 120.2/ UGBA 196.7,  IAS CCN:  46477/ UGBA CCN:  08548,  M-W 2-3:30 pm, C220 Cheit

SW 255: Community Organizing

Instructor: Claudia Albano 
Units: 2 
Time: T 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM 
Location: 116 Haviland 

Syllabus

The objective of this course is to provide students with both a conceptual framework and the practical skills for understanding and analyzing the effectiveness of grassroots community organizing efforts and how they relate to social movements and political revolution. Through an exploration of specific community organizing models, and hands-on experience (see below), this class will examine the concepts of self-interest, power, institutional change, community control, and leadership. It will also explore how gender, race, and geography affect organizing philosophy and strategy. Internships of 6-8 hours per week with social action organizations are also offered, but not required, as part of the course through the Cal Corps Public Service Center. The internships are unpaid but interns who make a one-year commitment to their site will receive a small stipend. Transportation stipends may also be available. More information will be provided on the first day of class.

**American Cultures Engaged Scholarship (ACES) Courses**

The American Cultures Engaged Scholarship Program is a collaboration of the American Cultures Center and the Cal Corps Public Service Center, and is developing 30 new or revised AC courses with engaged scholarship components. Faculty are selected as Chancellor’s Public Scholars and assisted by students chosen as Chancellor’s Public Fellows. The first cohort of Scholars and Fellows were chosen in March 2010, comprising six faculty from various disciplines and thirteen undergraduate and graduate students. By providing funding and professional development the year-long program culminated in the implementation of the first ACES courses in Spring 2011, and new ACES courses with subsequent cohorts are implemented each semester. It is hoped that this initiative will transform how UC Berkeley engages its community partners, how students understand societal issues, and how faculty’s community-engaged scholarship is valued. For the most recent courses, see the ACES page.

The following are resources for students interested in leadership and social justice. Most documents are in PDF and/or Word format. We invite you to explore the individual resources below and our compendium of resources in our Student Leadership Toolkit.

Cal Corps Student Leadership Toolkit: This toolkit will help you develop the skills and knowledge that you need to ensure that your service has a meaningful impact in the community, and that as a leader you are a positive model for your peers.

Service Network: The Service Network offers all service groups on campus the opportunity to network and build coalitions, while uniting clubs and individuals in the name of service and community.

Post-graduate Service Opportunities: The most popular post-grad service opportunities, along with UC Berkeley's searchable clearinghouse.

Scholarships and Awards: Service Scholarships and Awards for current UC Berkeley students.

Reflection Guide (opens new pdf): This handbook is a quick guide to the what, why and how of reflection and is a compilation of various other trainings, handouts, books and resources used by other agencies and service centers.

Youth Worker Tips (all open new pdf): Child Abuse and Neglect, Mentoring Tips, and Youth Development Stages.

Additional Tips for Student Leaders: Resources from SLSO/SLSR

Community Based Research (opens new pdf): CBR involves partners in the design and implementation of mutually beneficial research projects.

Other Cal offices to explore: The following offices offer opportunities in student leadership and experiential and community-based learning.

• ASUC
• Gender Equity Resource Center
• Lead Center
• Multicultural Student Development