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AmeriCorps*VISTA 2009-2010 VISTA Positions

All Positions For 09-10 Are Filled. Thank You To All Applicants For Applying!

Vermont Campus Compact is looking for people to fight poverty as organizers, collaborators, and catalysts for change as AmeriCorps*VISTA Members. Each Member will serve one year at a participating college or community organization, working with students, faculty, administration, and local communities to build volunteer and service-learning programs on the campus and mobilize the resources of higher education to serve the needs of the community. By coordinating the integration of service and academics, you will effect sustainable change that serves community needs while fostering much needed leadership and civic engagement in college students.

See Specific Position Description
Download Position Descriptions (PDF)

General responsibilities include:

Building and maintaining community partnerships
Recruiting student volunteers
Training student leaders
Increasing access to and retention in higher education for low-income students
Working with faculty to develop service-learning programs.

Benefits Include:

In addition to extensive professional development training, members receive a living stipend, health benefits, and can elect to receive an educational award to pay off existing student loans or finance future education.

Qualifications:

College Degree (Bachelor degree preferred)
Excellent communication skills
Public speaking skills
Desire to work with college students
Volunteer experience and a demonstrated commitment to service
Leadership experience

A car and valid driver's license is required for this position.

All positions will begin mid-August 2009.

To apply, please email (preferred), fax, or mail a cover letter, résumé, and three references to:

Eve McConnell
AmeriCorps*VISTA Team Leader
Vermont Campus Compact
152 Maple Street, Suite G1
Middlebury, VT 05753
jmcconnell@middlebury.edu
Phone: 802-443-5652
Fax: 802-443-2047

Applicants must also complete an AmeriCorps Application.

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2009-2010 VCC VISTA Positions Include:

VISTA Leader (Middlebury, VT) POSITION FILLED
The VISTA leader will make both a statewide and tri-state impact as they recruit, support and train other VISTAs throughout their experience and help them fight poverty in their communities. VISTA Leaders assist VISTA members to coordinate the integration of service and academics so they effect sustainable change that serves community needs while fostering the development of leadership skills and civic engagement in college students.

The Team Leader works with VCC staff to provide resources and support for members, plan trainings and conferences, maintains strong communication and networks among the VCC A*VISTA members, and collaborates with other Northern New England Campus Compact VISTA leaders and staff for tri-state events, and works with program development at the VCC office.

With a dozen sites ranging from urban to rural, the Vermont Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA program offers many exciting opportunities for persons wishing to take a leadership role in a progressive field.

The VISTA Leader works closely with the AmeriCorps Programs Coordinator to manage the Vermont Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA team. The VISTA Leader will be responsible for:

Planning and coordinating monthly VISTA trainings/meetings
Working collaboratively with VCC program staff to make programmatic decisions and to plan tri-state trainings including Pre-Service Orientation, Continuing Development Training, and Life After VISTA
Providing ongoing support for VISTAs through telephone calls, emails, and site visits
Connecting VISTAs with appropriate resources related to service-learning, community service, poverty, public safety and other pertinent topics
Leading teambuilding activities to facilitate the cohesion of our team
Recruiting, interviewing, and coordinating placement of VISTA members

VISTA Leader candidates must have served for one year of National Service with AmeriCorps VISTA.

Champlain College (Burlington, VT) POSITION FILLED
Champlain College seeks a Lawrence Barnes School Partnership Coordinator to create and manage a partnership with Barnes Elementary School. The VISTA will coordinate student-volunteer recruitment, training, and scheduling, grant-seeking, correspondence with stakeholders, and on-campus marketing and recruitment. The AmeriCorps*VISTA will operate out of Champlain's Community Service and Civic Engagement (CSCE) Office and her/his role would be to initiate and coordinate this program. Although the main focus will be the Lawrence Barnes School, the VISTA will also support student- volunteer placements at the other public schools in Burlington as well as places such as King Street and the YMCA.

Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT) POSITION FILLED
Green Mountain College is a small liberal arts college whose mission focuses on the sustainability of natural environments and social communities. The service-learning program is very successful, with nearly half of the faculty teaching courses with service-learning components every year. The VISTA at Green Mountain College will work with our successful Office of Service-Learning and Sustainability and the Poultney Schools to develop new K-12 service-learning programs and to coordinate preexisting partnerships. The VISTA will become an active leader in the award winning Poultney Partners mentoring program in which 20-25 college students mentor the same number of elementary students weekly. In the fourth year of this VISTA position, he/she will continue to expand service partnerships to other area schools, and will continue the establishment of the Watershed Alliance program matching 3-5 GMC interns with 45-50 area students in water sampling and bioregional education programs. He/she will have offices both at the college and the high school. The VISTA will update the assessment of current service programs, and suggest the development of new programs.

Green Mountain College Farm & Food Project (Poultney, VT) POSITION FILLED
Local-Link Coordinator for the Rutland Region: This VISTA position entails working with Green Mountain College, the Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL), and the Vermont Foodbank to further existing farm to school/institution programs, to provide low-income residents with increased access to local, fresh, healthy food, and to enhance regional food security. This position is a pilot project for assessing the viability of creating a statewide Vermont Food Corps, utilizing a series of similar regional VISTA positions.

Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT) POSITION FILLED
Middlebury College seeks a dedicated individual to engage both the campus and community to address issues of poverty-in particular through community service, curricular connections, and internships. Member will support, train, and educate students eager to become agents of social change. Ideal candidate will be familiar with campus and community connected work; be knowledgeable about social movements, both in terms of historical context and practical application; have excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal); and be able to maintain a delicate balance of leading, supporting, and stepping aside while students take initiative in response to community identified needs. VISTA member will also advise students and student organizations, offer workshops and pursue programming to help students build a "tool kit" of necessary skills; help frame realistic projects for student action that promote social and economic justice, and help realize the goals of the Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE) office, generally. Finally, VISTA member will also ensure that pertinent records and data are maintained, as well as appropriate evaluation of individual projects and overall effort.

Southern Vermont College (Bennington, VT) POSITION FILLED
Southern Vermont College is proud and delighted to announce the opening of one fulltime position for an AmeriCorps*VISTA member. The person in this position will be supervised by the College's Associate Dean For Special Projects, and will work closely with Student Life professionals, staff in the College's residential halls and programs, and faculty of the College's award-winning "Quest For Success" (QFS) program for first-year students. In this role, the AmeriCorps*VISTA member will be primarily responsible for supporting and assisting in the facilitation of the aspect of the College's QFS program that focuses on service learning projects in local area elementary schools with regard to literacy enhancement and in high schools with regard to college readiness and preparation. The AmeriCorps*VISTA member will also develop, design, and implement workshops, programs, and class sessions for QFS faculty and students and will work closely with public school personnel to coordinate many of the logistical and conceptual aspects of this program. The VISTA will also have some programmatic responsibilities in the residence halls under the guidance and supervision of residential and Student Life staff. Ongoing support and supervision will be provided along with opportunity for personal and professional development.

Sterling College (Craftsbury Common, VT) POSITION FILLED
The Sterling College Local Foods Sustainability Coordinator will advocate for increased use of local farm and garden products in a region of Vermont rebuilding an agricultural economy that traditionally has been challenged by short growing seasons and limited access to markets. S/he will support the College as well as local schools and Vermont farmers by encouraging healthy eating habits. This position requires a self directed individual who is dependable, punctual, and efficient. A general knowledge of and interest in kitchen procedures and cooking is helpful. Equally, if not more important, is a desire to "think locally and act locally" in strengthening community ties and economic resources. The successful volunteer should come away with enhanced leadership and supervisory skills and a heightened sense of the value of and potential for local community solutions to global problems.

University of Vermont- Campus Kitchen Project (Burlington, VT) POSITION FILLED
The University of Vermont (UVM) is seeking a VISTA member to fill the position of Campus Kitchen UVM Coordinator. The CK UVM is in its second year at UVM and is part of a larger national program of hunger relief taking place on campuses across the United States. UVM needs a dynamic, organized, and dedicated person to help lay the groundwork to sustain this young project. This position will manage a student task force, assist in training and scheduling volunteers to work in the kitchen, do large amounts of fundraising to support the $15-20,000 project budget, and work closely with community agencies. Experience in fundraising, community organization relationship building, student club advising, and student leadership support is important. A Bachelor's degree, personal experience in student organizing on campus, and an ability to work independently and as part of a team required. If you are interested in addressing hunger relief in a semi-rural community and working closely with passionate student leaders, then this job is for you! Additional perks include free on campus housing, access to campus resources and living in the beautiful city of Burlington, VT.

University of Vermont- CUPS Office (Burlington, VT) POSITION FILLED
The AmeriCorps VISTA at the University of Vermont will have a two-part role in supporting community engagement on campus. Half of this position will be dedicated to supporting cross-campus initiatives that bring together a variety of engagement-related programs to meet the needs and interests of students, faculty, staff, and community. In this role, the VISTA will help to create a new structure to bring community engagement functions together in a "virtual front door" to community engagement at UVM. He/she will also coordinate a new and exciting initiative that aims to align UVM outreach with urgent community needs in relationship to this network. The other half of this position will be dedicated to academic service-learning, and will position the VISTA as a staff person in the Office of Community-University Partnerships and Service-Learning (CUPS). The VISTA will serve as a liaison to a specific academic department and will have the opportunity to get involved with other CUPS programs based on interest and skills.

University of Vermont- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources (Burlington, VT) POSITION FILLED
The University of Vermont Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources seeks an AmeriCorps VISTA to further develop long-term, meaningful partnerships between the RS and its surrounding community. The VISTA will work to match faculty and students with appropriate partners in the community and to connect faculty and community members with resources to make partnering on environmentally based projects easier and more effective. Key responsibilities include: Strategic planning for the long term sustainability of the Office of Experiential Learning. Receiving, organizing, and seeking appropriate matches for community projects related to the environment and natural resources. Documenting and evaluating community-based learning activities in the RS. Supporting and advising a leadership development program for students, in which current students will gain leadership and professional skills while providing service to the RS Dean's office. Other responsibilities include: Assisting in further developing and sustaining the new Office of Experiential Learning in the RS. Contributing to multicultural education and other efforts related to diversity in the RS. And establishing and coordinating activities to promote community involvement in the RS. Candidates should have a experience in community-based work and have an interest in developing creative and interdisciplinary projects. Candidates should possess a high level of organizational skill, an ability to present themselves professionally to a wide audience, and proficient knowledge with computer applications. A background in natural science or environmental studies, and an interest in higher education programs, is preferred.

Washington West Supervisory Union (Waitsfield, VT) POSITION FILLED
The overall goal of the project is to develop a supervisory union-wide program/system for service and Service-Learning that is aligned with a collaborative curriculum that and promotes student engagement and, deep, enduring understandings about equity. This project will continue to build upon the successes that have occurred through the Learn and Serve funded project for Harwood Union Middle and High School over the course of the past three years, as well as our first year with our VISTA Member. Also, since 2006, Washington West has collaborated with KIDS Consortium. With the support of KIDS, a Service-Learning Leadership Team works to foster and maintain service-learning initiatives throughout the district, including five primary schools, two middle schools and Harwood Union High School. For the 2007-2008 school year, a VISTA Member worked with our schools to continue the work of the Learn and Serve project and spread the service-learning sucessesses that Harwood has sustained, throughout the supervisory union. Continuing this project next year would provide the necessary resources and support for the ongoing work of increasing K-12 service-learning and civic engagment options to meet the learning needs of our students, while aligning to some authentic service needs of our communities. The combination of Harwood's beginning successes, and the support of KIDS Consortium and Vermont Campus Compact's VISTA Program creates an ideal environment for a VISTA volunteer to partner with us again in the fall of 2009. The VISTA will:

Work with WWSU community members to coordinate Creating Democratic and Service Oriented Schools in the 7 schools of WWSU,
Assist the WWSU Director of Curriculum and Assessment to design and implement service and service learning opportunities throughout the SU,
Assist the DCA to create common and appropriate assessments for this work,
Serve as Coordinator for the KIDS Consortium work, and
Enjoy living in, working in, and serving a superb Northern New England community, full of natural beauty, wonderful people, and healthy sporting and cultural opportunities!

World Learning (Brattleboro, VT) POSITION FILLED
The Post-program/Reentry Coordinator at World Learning will be responsible for initiating World Learning's post-program services, often called re-entry services, as they relate to civic engagement, social action, academic enhancement and professional development. World Learning's re-entry project focuses on providing program participants with tools, resources and networks that will help them put into action the transformational international experiences they had while on our programs. The post-program project coordinator is the first full-time individual responsible for researching, developing and implementing projects that will give our students and alumni tools for global citizenship.

Contact Laura Rooney with any questions about Vermont Campus Compact's AmeriCorps*VISTA Program