PrincetonUniversityA P R I N C E T O N P R O F I L E 1 9 9 8 - 9 9
Outreach Activities
Student Volunteers Council. Through the Student Volunteers Council, more than half of the student body participates each year in more than 65 student-led, community action programs assisting thousands of area residents. Each week over 600 students volunteer in diverse programs such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters; after-school art, academic, and sports activities; Special Olympics; and prison outreach; and they work in area nursing homes and with mentally handicapped adults. Students volunteer as emergency medical technicians and firefighters, serve meals in the Trenton Soup Kitchen, and build houses with Habitat for Humanity. The council also helps facilitate summer community service intern programs for University students.
Community House. Working under the auspices of the Office of the Dean of Student Life, Community House is a student volunteer organization made up of a diverse group of students who are primarily, though not exclusively, interested in rendering service to minority communities. Under the direction of the student board, volunteers work throughout the greater Princeton/Trenton area in a wide variety of projects, including mentoring for teens, one-on-one tutoring, support programs for immigrant populations, and school-readiness for bilingual youngsters. Community House also sponsors one-time projects such as Campus Volunteer Day, which brings students together with faculty and staff to volunteer in the local community. In addition to its outreach activities, Community House serves as a forum for intellectual and social exchange and support for its staff and volunteers.
Princeton-Blairstown Center. Known as Blairstown, the Princeton-Blairstown Center provides a camp program each summer for hundreds of inner-city youth from New Jersey, Philadelphia, and New York City. Founded in 1908, the center helps disadvantaged youth build self-confidence while they participate in a challenging outdoor experience.
University faculty and staff. Individuals serve on community boards and in leadership capacities for church, civic, and public service organizations. Each year many faculty members donate their time to speak at local forums and in in-school programs for local teachers and in elementary and secondary school classrooms. Several campuswide programs exist.
Office of Community and State Affairs. This office acts as the coordinator of faculty and staff community service initiatives. Among other things, it arranges food drives, community service fairs, and volunteer work days. The office also helped establish a permanent used clothing drop box on campus. Along with student volunteers and the Class of 1977, it played a major role in organizing a Habitat for Humanity site in Princeton. Community and State Affairs works with other campus organizations and outside groups to facilitate ongoing volunteer opportunities for individual members of the faculty and staff. It works with student groups to organize a University-wide day of volunteering in the spring and end-of-year recycling of student furniture and appliances.
Office of Teacher Preparation. The Teacher Preparation Program sponsors distinguished-teaching awards for New Jersey teachers, seminars with University professors for local high school teachers, and forums for new teachers. Project QUEST is a three-week summer institute in science and math for elementary school teachers. Follow-up sessions are held during the academic year. BRIDGES is a science outreach program designed to allow Princeton undergraduates present science units in area public schools.
Office of Computing and Information Technology (CIT). This office hosts workshops with teachers from local school districts to help them explore uses of the Internet in primary and secondary education. CIT also provides free Internet access to Princeton schools, municipal offices, the public library, and the Senior Resource Center.
Purchasing Office. This office places surplus equipment and furnishingssuch as computers, desks, books, and bicycleswith charitable organizations and schools.
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). As a service to the Trenton public schools, PPPL provides materials and equipment and gives lectures, demonstrations, special tours, assistance with an annual science fair, and teacher-enhancement workshops. It places up to 10 local high school students in the Summer Interships in Trenton Program. Each winter the laboratory hosts an eight-week "Science on Saturday" series at no charge for local high school students and teachers. It also provides in-service programs for educators, summer workshops for middle school teachers, and many research opportunities for high school teachers.
The Art Museum. The Art Museum provides outreach programs to many school districts throughout the state of New Jersey. It also participates in a special Trenton school project in which the museum's Docent Association and the Trenton Elementary School Art Departments work together to provide an enriched program for students.
Department of Athletics. This department provides free admission to athletic events to local youth groups that normally do not attend University programs. Some of the athletic teams provide tutoring in sports and school work.
The University hosts town/gown events, including Martin Luther King Day forums and concerts, a spring celebration called Communiversity, an International Festival, the June Fete to raise funds for the Medical Center at Princeton, and the New Year's Eve celebration known as Curtain Calls. Additionally, the University hosts community programs in soccer, basketball, and tennis.