Y-Immersion Program Description: The Y-Immersion program sends out winter and spring break service learning trips both nationally and internationally focusing on issues of social justice. Our program strives to integrate community engagement, volunteer projects, and educational experiences as means of developing ethical leaders and well informed citizens. By traveling to different areas, students are able to gain real world experience by exploring subjects they are passionate about. The excursions themselves are usually led by 2 students who are accompanied by an additional 8-12 participants. Trip leaders receive training and guidance from the Y-Immersion staff in the form of biweekly seminars and one-on-one mentoring meetings. Staying true to the University YMCA’s action-reflection model, trip leaders and participants become involved in their local communities through various engagement opportunities both before and after their trips. This serves to foster connections between the local community and the communities they will be serving in. Hundreds of trips have gone out in past years, including: Ghana (HIV/AIDS Health Care), Zion National Park (Environmental Restoration), and San Diego/Tijauna (Immigration Policies). The Y-Immersion program has many of these trip itineraries saved and can easily be accessed as guides for future leaders. Trip leaders are also encouraged to pursue their own interests and the Y-Immersion staff is always willing to support leaders that would like to plan new, unique experiences. Past leaders and participants have spoken very highly of their Y-Immersion experiences, and we encourage you to come check us out!
Coordinator Role
The Y-Immersion program typically has 2 student coordinators who run the program and responsibilities are typically broken down as follows: Fall Semester (approx. 8-12 hours per week) Major responsibilities:
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Seminars and trip leader development Coordinates seminar schedule and topics Oversees all aspects of leadership development Reflection Social Justice knowledge Coordinates all paperwork and trip leader manual
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Trip Logistics Housing Vans Itinerary review Develops relationship across the country
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Recruitment, Marketing, Communication Overall management of recruitment plan Email and phone answering Oversee tabling efforts Coordinates classroom visits Website Picture collection Partnerships across campus
Participants · Coordinates paperwork · Database management · Celebration event (Spring semester) Financial · Write Grants
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Oversee fundraising efforts Assist with budget review of each trip Track payments and collections
Evaluation 路 Conduct post trip evaluations of both participants and leaders o Write evaluations o Send out evaluations
V-Staff Role The Y-Immersion program would like to have between 3 to 4 Volunteer Staff (V-Staff) for the 2011-2012 academic year. The role of the v-staff is mainly to support the outlined duties of the coordinators but specifically may include: Overall Responsibilities (approx. 4-6 hours per week) Interviewing trip leaders Helping with advertising Planning seminars Seminar topics are predetermined and focus on ethical leadership development Communicating with organizations Trip Leaders Typically there are two (to three) trip leaders for each trip. The trip leaders are responsible for planning the trip including: Choosing the social justice issue Choosing the destination Attending bi-weekly seminars with Immersion staff Finding and researching organizations to visit Recruiting participants Planning a minimum of two pre-trip and two post trip activities for all trip participants