Idealist on Campus

Idealist on Campus (IOC) is an initiative of Action Without Borders. Much of the information below was originally posted on either www.idealistoncampus.org or www.idealist.org.

The Mission of Idealist on Campus

Idealist On Campus was a program of Action Without Borders/idealist.org. The mission of the program was to connect, educate, and mobilize students, campuses, and communities to build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives. The program resulted in part from the acquisition of Campus Outreach Opportunity League in 2004. In early 2007, the leadership of Action Without Borders/idealist.org decided that a program focused exclusively or primarily on college students no long fit its strategic direction. Action Without Borders decided to focus more generally on adult civic engagement. As a result they discontinued the Idealist On Campus Program. One significant program that originated with COOL and continued as part of Idealist On Campus, was continued independently as IMPACT: National Student Conference on Service, Advocacy, and Social Action.

The Work of Idealist on Campus

By offering resources, events, educational tools, networking opportunities and other programs, Idealist On Campus supports students and campuses in strengthening communities through service, activism, and civic engagement. In addition to providing useful tools and resources, Idealist On Campus connects people to one another both online and in person and supports those working to build a better world through local actions and larger cooperative efforts.

Idealist On Campus believes in:

• Creating lasting institutional and community change;
• Fostering a lifetime of civic engagement through service, activism, politics and socially-responsible work;
• Developing student leaders and leadership;
• Valuing student and community voice;
• Appreciating and creating opportunities for diversity;
• Supporting meaningful, asset-based action; and
• Strengthening and connecting the higher education and nonprofit fields.

In 2004, Idealist On Campus merged with the Campus Outreach Opportunity League (C.O.O.L.) which provided new opportunities to engage students, campuses and communities in unique and meaningful ways. Like C.O.O.L., Idealist On Campus values the power that college students and their campuses have to strengthen communities and the world at large.

IOC Resources, Tools and Programs

IOC Workshops and Trainings

Idealist on Campus offers workshops as part of its C.O.O.L. Civic Engagement Curriculum and its Idealist Career Days curriculum. Students may download the IOC workshop guides for free and lead their own workshops. In addition, IOC representatives are available to consult with students and lead workshops on socially responsible careers, the nonprofit sector, leadership and a host of other topics.

In an effort to build long-term capacity on campuses, Idealist On Campus has developed a "train-the-trainer" program that convenes college students and campus staff statewide or regionally. The Idealist On Campus Institute (IOCI) teaches valuable information to participants, and also equips attendees to return to their home campuses and lead workshops on their own. IOCI workshop content is designed around a specific theme, such as "Pathways into Nonprofit Careers," in consultation with the host campus and other partners. This training, for example, focuses on ways that students can pursue nonprofit and other socially responsible career opportunities, and includes both informational and train-the-trainer components. While attendees are taught essential information about pathways into careers serving the common good, emphasis is also placed on training attendees to take this information back to their communities to make it more available and more accessible to a wider audience.

The Idealist On Campus Listserv

The Idealist On Campus List Serv is a place for campus community members to share resources, programs, and ideas related to service, activism, and socially responsible work. This is an open discussion forum for students, staff and administrators working to build a better world both on campus and beyond.

The IOC Website

The online home of the Idealist On Campus program, http://www.idealist.org/if/ioc/en/Home/default is a space for students, campus staff, professors and faculty to meet online and connect with one another and with organizations doing socially responsible work all over the world.

IOC Events

Nonprofit Career Fairs

Each year, Idealist hosts a series of nonprofit career fairs that complement the online job-matching offered at www.idealist.org. The fairs make it possible for organizations, job-seekers, and Career Service professionals at local colleges and universities to meet face-to-face. More information is available at http://www.idealist.org/if/ioc/en/CareerFair/AllFairs/default.

Graduate School Fairs

In addition, to help people considering graduate education as a way to improve their skills and advance their careers, Idealist launched a series of fairs for Graduate Degrees for the Public Good where potential applicants can meet with representatives from graduate programs. Each event also offers a set of workshops that describe the various degrees, illuminate the application and financial aid process, and guide attendees in how to transition back to school. The fairs are free for those seeking to attend school, while graduate programs pay a small fee to cover costs and support Idealist's efforts to help educate people about their graduate school options.

The C.O.O.L./Idealist National Conference

When Idealist merged with the [Campus Outreach Opportunity League (C.O.O.L.)] in 2004, it inherited a conference that had been held annually for nearly 20 years. The C.O.O.L. Idealist National Conference has been held all over the United States; the 2006 conference at Vanderbilt University brought together 1,500 student leaders and others active in efforts to promote positive social change.

Held at a different host campus each spring, the conference typically draws students representing 400 or more colleges and universities. Recent host campuses have included the University of California, Berkeley (2005), University of Pennsylvania (2004), Cleveland State University (2003), Morehouse College (2002), Harvard College (2001), and St. Anselm College (2000).

The conference promotes student leadership as students from the host city form the Planning Committee for each conference. Meanwhile, student participants propose, develop and lead workshops for their peers.

More than 70 national sponsoring organizations also attend the conference to offer expertise, recruit for internships and jobs, and help build the national movement. Participants network for careers at the Opportunities Fair, meet people from across the world, and leave re-energized and better educated.

Keynote speakers in past years have included Van Jones, Marian Wright Edelman, Edward James Olmos, Julian Bond, and Coretta Scott King. In addition, outstanding leaders from a range of fields participate in plenary sessions and other opportunities.

External links

• Idealist on Campus