Volunteering

Individual society members apply to the society through the 'YourSpace' link on the homepage or go to www.yourspace.nuigalway.ie Societies approve the applications and complete the portfolio in their control panel on the socs website. Note you need to give your society sufficient time to approve your application so do not leave it to the last minute. Committee members can also add the Society leadership Award to their ALIVE Cert.

How the Socs Online ALIVE System works

The Requirements for the Individual
Your society must set the requirement level of participation, ie you may decide that only committee members who contributed a minimum of hours will receive the certificate. You may decide to open it to your wider membership ie all who performed in a particular production, or the person who every week spent 3 hours putting up posters. The decision is up to the society committee.

The individual application

The society will be notified by e-mail and must approve the member in their ALIVE link in the societies control panel. The individual student must then follows the steps once there are approved, answering the 6 questions, up loading a photo and logging their hours, there is a also a blog option.
Societies keep an eye on your ALIVE portfolio builder and your e-mail and approve or do not the applicants. If you are not approving a person please e-mail them and give them a reason. Do not leave a person pending approval.

What the society must do.
After the individual deadline the system will gather all your individual applications, if an application was approved in error it is at this stage it can be rejected from the system however you must inform your member. The system will gather all other relevant info from your Web Site for example events list and committee list. The society just needs to write 100 word descriptions and up load a photo (optional) of as many of your ALIVE, applicants as possible with names (this is for the ALIVE booklet). 

The society must then submit its end of year report by the deadline.

For the Society to be eligible
A society must have a committee of at least 4 members, have held at least 2 events one per semester (not including committee meetings) and have work done on their on line accounts with a view to having them balanced and submitted by March 31st.

What is ALIVE
The ALIVE (A Learning Initiative and the Volunteering Experience) programme seeks to support and harness the contribution that NUI Galway students make by volunteering.

ALIVE aims to:

• Increase the personal & professional capacity of students through volunteering.
• Enhance partnerships between the university and the wider community through provision of a supportive environment in which students and community can liaise.
• Harness and promote volunteering on & off campus through public recognition of the commitment made by students to their communities.
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ALIVE Volunteering Opportunities
ALIVE recognises all volunteering contributions that students make throughout their studies at NUI Galway. Students are free to choose their own volunteering site or the Student Volunteer Coordinator is available to help select from the myriad of opportunities open to students. Opportunities include:

• Volunteer work with the community sector
• Peer mentorship (Student Connect Mentors)
• NUI Galway Clubs and Societies
• NUI Galway Access Programme

"What do I get from the ALIVE Programme?"
In past years, the ALIVE programme has indicated that students have had the opportunity to:

• enrich their personal development and employability skills;
• have a satisfying and fun experience;
• learned from community which could enhance your academic learning;
• build personal knowledge & skills while contributing to the capacity of community.
• be presented with an ALIVE Certificate from NUI Galway;

The ALIVE Certificate
Each student volunteer at NUI Galway obtains a unique volunteering experience. The ALIVE Certificate is individualized to reflect this and will include all the volunteering and training undertaken by the student. The ALIVE Certificate was created under the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI).

What is the Communtity Knowledge Initiative?
In 2001, the National University of Ireland Galway developed a strategic civic engagement programme, entitled the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI), which seeks to harness and promote partnerships with communities locally, nationally and internationally. The CKI?s overall aims are to place communities at the centre of debate and educate students for civic engagement. These endeavours are supported through an integrated programme of Student Volunteering, Service Learning, Research and Knowledge Sharing.

The ALIVE Awards Ceremony
The ALIVE Certificate is awarded at the Certificate Presentation Ceremony. The ALIVE Certificate Presentation Ceremony will be held at the end of the second semester in the Bailey Allen Hall. The Ceremony is a formal acknowledgement of student volunteering.