1

Board Members’ Manual

Lehman Council for Community Engagement

Compiled September 2011

Last Updated March 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

I. The Landscape of Service at Williams College……………………………………………2-

i. Lehman Council Constitution…………………………………………………...

ii. 2012-2013 Board Members……………………………………………………..

iii. 2012-2013 Affiliates…………………………………………………………….

iv. Community Service Groups: Active, Inactive…………………………………..

v. Local Community Organizations………………………………………………..

II. Great Day of Service…………………………………………………………………………

III. A Guide to Community Engagement in the Berkshires (excerpted from Group Head Manual)

  1. Recruitment……………………………………………………………………...
  2. Transportation…………………………………………………………………...
  3. Room and Equipment Reservation………………………………………………
  4. Publicizing an Event…………………………………………………………….
  5. Funding Requests………………………………………………………………..
  6. Sustainability…………………………………………………………………….

IV. Archives……………………………………………………………………………………..

  1. Budgets…………………………………………………………………………..
  2. Meeting Minutes…………………………………………………………………
  3. Past Membership, Initiatives, and Publications………………………………….

I. THE LANDSCAPE OF SERVICE AT WILLIAMS

i. THE LEHMAN COUNCIL FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONSTITUTION

STATEMENT OF EXISTENCE

Recognizing that community outreach and interaction is necessary for the actualization of the mission of a liberal arts education, the Lehman Council (for Community Engagement) serves to promote, foster, and maintain a spirit of service on campus.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND FUNCTION

The Lehman Council for Community Engagement (heretofore called the Council) will serve as:

  1. A mechanism to promote civic responsibility among college students through community service and activism as led by and decided in collaboration with community partners.
  2. A facilitator between the Williams College community and community-based organizations, in order to promote volunteerism and provide valuable services to the campus and broader community.
  3. An advocate for and promoter of community needs and their visibility on campus.
  4. A resource to student groups dedicated to community outreach and civic engagement.
  5. A resource for group heads in finances, training, coordinating, and strategic planning.

In addition, it will work in conjunction with member service groups to promote coherent, continuous, and thoughtful services for the community.

The Council will build relationships with group heads of current service- and activist-oriented organizations to stay informed about service groups. If a group does not have a group head, a Council member will take over until a more permanent replacement can be found.

The Council values sustainability as a core principal of practicing service, and shall act with mindfulness of this mandate.

The Council does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, color, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, handicap or disability, lifestyle, or national origin.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The officers of the Council are usually:

  1. Co-presidents (two)
  2. Treasurer
  3. Secretary
  4. Communications Officer

Every Spring, the Council will hear self-nominations for officers. Nominees will meet and provide the Council with possible structures of offices, including the responsibilities of each office and, if necessary, arrangements to adjust for semesters abroad or shared offices. The Council will vote for the preferred office structure.

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

  1. Officers shall be removed for not fulfilling their duties by a consensus vote of the Council.
  2. In the event of a vacancy, the Council shall appoint a member to temporarily fulfill the responsibilities of the vacant position until such time as a new officer may be appointed.

MEETINGS

  1. The Council shall meet once a week during the academic year; however, a president has the right to call special meetings.
  2. Officers will have an agenda for each meeting and provide notes to the Council after each meeting.
  3. The last meeting of the academic year will be used to plan goals for the summer months and following academic year.
  4. The first meeting with new Lehman Council members will include a discussion of the Council’s history as an organization.
  5. Decision-making by the Council shall be made by consensus.

ADVISEMENT

  1. The staff of the Center for Community Engagement shall act in an advisory capacity to the Council.
  2. These advisors shall have no vote in decision-making for the organization, and shall act in an advisory capacity to the organization, only providing professional support, opinions, input and advice.

ELECTION PROCEDURE FOR LEHMAN BOARD MEMBERS

  1. Interested persons should submit a self-nomination to declare their candidacy by the end of the fall semester. The interview process will begin during the winter term of each year.
  2. Each Council member on the election committee shall participate in the creation of criteria necessary for the assessment of prospective council members.
  3. Candidates will be voted in by consensus of the election committee.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

1. Amendments to the Council constitution must be presented in a written form to all Council representatives. The Lehman board must vote in consensus of the amendment for it to be adopted into the constitution.

2. Adoption

a. The constitution was originally written on November 12, 2004.

b. This constitution took effect on…

ii. LEHMAN COUNCIL BOARD MEMBERS 2012-2013[EC1]

Blair Robinson ’13, Co-President

Lauren Nevin ’15, Co-President

Mizzel Badruddin ’15, Treasurer

Ivan Badinski ’14, Secretary

Kairav Sinha ’14, Communications Officer

Jaliz Albanese ‘13

Kara McLaughlin ‘13

Kate Dusenbury ‘13

Sarai Infante ‘13

Tara Deonauth ‘13

Meg Steer ‘13

Bill Zito ‘16

Tendai Chisowa ‘16

Carolina Jaramilo‘16

Cody Cotner ‘16

Catherine Parker ‘16

Collin Peck-Gray ‘16

Jonathan Yu ‘16

Anna Hopkins ‘16

Sumaya Awad ‘14

‘14

[EC2]

iii. LEHMAN COUNCIL AFFILIATES 2011-2012[EC3]

The Office of Community Service works closely with Lehman to coordinate community service, promote community engagement as an important part of student life and academics, and maintain close contact with local organizations. We are always looking for new ways to work with students, faculty, and the surrounding communities, so please come see us if you have ideas or want to get involved. The office has recently expanded with the addition of Sara Ansell, the Community Life Coordinator devoted to community service, and Sadie Miller, and Americorps*VISTA volunteer. The Office of Community Service resides in Siskind House, in Morley Circle across from the Multi- Cultural Center. Siskind’s hours of operation are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. The CLCs are in their offices between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Rick Spalding

Nancy Luczynski

Sadie Miller

Sara Ansell

x2483 x2483 x2139 x4615

Where Am I?!

The Office of Experiential Education, run by Paula Consolini (, x4588), provides resources for faculty interested in experiential education, maintains and extensive database of community organizations from throughout the Berkshires, southern Vermont, and the Albany region, and works with students on their personal academic initiatives. The Experiential Education web site ( is a particularly useful resource.

The Department of Athletics has built community service and civic engagement into the meaning of “team.” Coaches and members of the Captains’ Council lead student athletes into area schools for goal setting workshops – they organize days of service to foster team spirit as well as community engagement – they pitch in on large fundraisers and clothing drives – and, of course, they offer the ever-popular sports clinics for young local athletes.

Dining Services has been a particularly active partner in fostering civic engagement, particularly focusing on their commitment to environmental sustainability and local farmers. Students and Dining Services staff have created three new ways of dealing with food waste: through W.R.A.P.S. (Williams Recovery of All Perishable Surplus), a comprehensive composting project converts many tons of refuse into a valuable agricultural resource for local farmers. Dining Services also works closely with local farmers and a sustainable agriculture network to support local and organic foods. Throughout the year Dining Services collaborates with student organizers to offer special organic meals, and fundraising fasts and dinners for the benefit of local food pantries and the regional food bank.

Many other student groups and organizations are active participants in service oriented projects: the Writing Workshop, Williams arts groups, religious organizations, the Minority Coalition, Students for Social Justice, Greensense, the Williams outing club, Dance Company, as well as many academic departments.

Think about how collaboration with some of these campus organizations might enable you to expand the mission of you group.

iv. COMMUNITY SERVICE GROUPS: Active 2012-2013[EC4]

HEALTH AND SUPPORT

REACH Community Health Foundation[EC5]

Group Head: Jennifer Munoz ()

Sweet Brook Nursing Home

Group Heads: Eric Dietsche (ewd1) & Adriana Mendoza (avm1)
Visit a resident of Sweet Brook every weekend and make their day! Several options exist – you may either visit the same resident every week and build a meaningful relationship or assist with various activities in the nursing home to make everyone’s day more enjoyable.

Unite for Sight

Group Head: Chelsea Barrios ()

Unite for Sight is an international nonprofit global health organization that strives to eliminate preventable blindness worldwide. The Williams College Chapter works on campus to fundraise, and 100% of the proceeds go directly to restoring sight and eliminating preventable blindness among those living in extreme poverty in developing countries. The chapter also aims to raise awareness about global health on campus by organizing discussions about key issues in public health and inviting leaders in the field of global health to come speak.

HOMELESSNESS

Habitat for Humanity

Group Heads: Desiree Daring (dad2) &Sophia Chen (sc8)
We are the Williams College chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Aside from enriching our community on campus, we volunteer our Saturday mornings from 9 – 12 to help our community neighbors build a home for a deserving person in our community.

Add the new Spruces NGO?[EC6]

HUNGER

Berkshire Food Project

Group Heads: Doug Weinrib (djw2) & Patrick Ebobisse (pe2)
The Berkshire Food Project provides regular free lunches in North Adams. This program creates a great link between Williams College and other parts of the northern Berkshires. While participating, volunteers are expected to make and enjoy lunch with those who stop by.

Interfaith Food Pantry

Contact: Denise Krutiak at denise krutiak at yahoo dot com
The Interfaith Food Pantry in downtown North Adams is open Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then later on Wednesdays from 4 p.m.

WRAPS

Group Heads: Christine Schindler (ces2), Andrea Lindsay (aml1) & Emily Chapman (ekc2)
WRAPS delivers surplus dining hall food to pantries and the Berkshire Food Project…

INTERNATIONAL SERVICES

Amnesty International

Group Heads: Lucy Rollins (lcr1) & Emily Schwab (ers2)
Our chapter of Amnesty International, a global human rights organization, meets on Monday nights to write letters on behalf of victims of human rights violations around the world…

Rotaract

Group Heads: Madura Watanagase (mrw1) & Kelsey Gaetjens (kjg1)
Rotaract is an international service organization that aims to serve the local and global communities, and develop professional skills and networking opportunities for its members…

OUTDOOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL[EC7]

Thursday Night Grassroots

Groupheads: Sara Finkle (sgf1) and Lexie Carr (awc1) during the Fall;Vera Cecelski (vmc1) and Chie Togami (clt1) in the Spring

Thursday Night Grassroots strives to address issues of climate change and environmental justice, to educate others about these issues, and to promote greater environmental consciousness within other facets of students’ lives…

Williams Sustainable Growers

Contact:
The Williams Sustainable Growers have two gardens on Williams College campus: one in front of Parsons House (in Dodd Circle) and the other in the President’s backyard…

SPECIAL NEEDS[EC8]

YOUTH SERVICES

America Reads/America Counts Tutoring

Group Head: Kaatje White ()

Best Buddies

Group Head: Thomas Kuczmarski (tmk2)
Best Buddies reaches out to members of the community with intellectual disabilities, pairing them up with Williams students…

Berkshire Farm Center

Group Head: Jallicia Jolly (jj7)
Berkshire Farm Center (BFC) is a community- based group located in Canaan, New York, that provides specialized services for at-risk New York City boys. Transportation is provided every week by BFC. For five hours every Saturday,volunteers mentor a BFC youth by engaging in activities with them on a farm, inthe classroom, or around the community. Volunteers help create a caring,structured, and stable environment that provide the boys with a supportnetwork, which helps them learn how to develop independent living skills, buildconfidence, and conduct healthy, productive lives.

Mt. Greylock High School Programs

Group Head: Kaatje White ()
Director for 2011-12: Sivahn Barsade ()

Williams Elementary Science Outreach

Group Head: Jennifer Swoap ()

WISHES

Group Head: Erin McGonagle (eam1)

Mohawk Mentoring[EC9]

Dayana De La Torre

Students for Education Reform

Group Heads:Andy Schneider (aes1) and Matt Madden (mzm1)
Students for Education Reform (SFER) is a group committed to discussing the issues facing the K-12 education system and advocating for productive education policy.

Hillcrest Educational Centers[EC10]

Group Head:

Information pending; contact Dean Coleman.

iv. COMMUNITY SERVICE GROUPS: Inactive 2011-2012

Berkshire Humane Society[EC11]

Non-active in 2010-2011– Main volunteer jobs available are volunteer walking dogs in animal shelter (at 10 AM, noon, or 3 pm any of the 7 days a week) for a couple of hours on a shift, kennel clean at 8 AM any day of the week, help in feline care room at 8 am or 3 pm (cleaning cages, refilling food and water bowls), front desk volunteer on Sunday 1-4 pm, Thursday 5-8 pm, or Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm.

Berkshire Immigrant Center

We no longer have a presence at the Berkshire Immigrant Center, but interested parties should visit or for more information, and contact Lehman if you’re interested in becoming a group liaison.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters

This group could use a student liaison…

Elizabeth Freeman Center

The Elizabeth Freeman Center is a center for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors run by Northern Berkshire United Way. The school currently has no liaison or presence for this organization.

Louison House

This shelter could use a Williams student liaison!

v. LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS[EC12]

85 Main Street, North Adams—This building is the home of many of North Adams’ social service agencies, including the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition (6th floor), the Berkshire Community Action Coalition (4th floor), the Northern Berkshire United Way (4th floor), WIC (3rd floor), and more.!

Berkshire Community Action Council (663-3014)—Marie Harpin, who runs BCAC, seems to have all of North Adams under her control.! Through BCAC she runs a food pantry, prescription drug subsidy program for emergency room patients, medicine reminder program for elderly folks, transitional assistance advising program, fuel assistance program, and more.!

Berkshire Farm (518-781-3786) —Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth, located about 50 minutes away in Canaan, New York, works with troubled youth who have been remanded there by the state of New York We have a drumming workshop there as a Where Am I?! service component. Donelle Hauser is our main contact ()

Berkshire Food Project (664-7378)—The Berkshire Food Project provides hot lunches and good company three days a week out of the First Congregational Church of North Adams (located at the corner of Church Street and Main Street).! The director, Valerie Shwartz, is always very positive and easy to work with.! Professor Jim Mahon is on the board of the BFP and is also a helpful contact for setting up projects.

Berkshire Humane Society ((413) 447-7878)– 214 Barker Rd. Pittsfield, MA 01201 Forest Garden – Erin Blanchard (06eeb)

Greensense – Alexis Saba (06aes) and Elise Leduc (06enl)

Hancock School (738-5676)—Hancock Elementary is a small school located about 15 minutes away in Hancock, Mass.! It is one of our America Reads/Counts sites.

Hoosic River Watershed Association (458-2742)—HooRWA is dedicated to the restoration, conservation, and enjoyment of the Hoosic River and its watershed, through education, research, and advocacy.! They run a wide range of events throughout the year and perform a lot of trail and river maintenance. Eileen Fielding is their new director.

Images Cinema (458-1039)—The only year-round, non-profit, independent film house in the Berkshires.! Sandra Thomas is the director and Ruth Giordano the volunteer coordinator. Last year we organized the Canned Film Festival and other collection drives with Images, and the Students for Social Justice have begun to work with Images for their Social Justice Film Series.

Inkberry (664-0775)—Inkberry is a store-front community writing center located on Main Street in North Adams.! They provide classes and writing workshops and maintain a small library.

Mass MoCA (664-4481)— Mass MoCA runs outreach programs such as the Kidspace art education programs at local elementary schools.! Pat Leach (x8112, ) is the volunteer coordinator at Mass MoCA.

New Immigrant Center (413-445-4881) –

88 South St. Pittsfield, 01201

North Adams Public Schools (664-7512)—The NAPS have a new volunteer coordinator

named Carol Hilderbrand.! We currently have a group of students volunteering at Conte Middle School, America Reads/Counts volunteers at Brayton and Greylock, students tutoring ESL at Greylock Elementary (coordinated with and supervised by Viola Moriarty— ), and Pen Pals writing to students from Brayton Elementary.!

Northern Berkshire Adult Basic Education (662-5319) MCLA provides free, basic education, GED prep, and ESOL classes. Our main contact there is John Breen .

Northern Berkshire Community Coalition (663-7588)—NBCC is a model community coalition.! They bring together a wide range of social service and other community organizations for their monthly meetings, manage a network of neighborhood groups, provide support for these organizations, publish a monthly newsletter, plan special events, and more. Kathy Keeser () and the director Al Bashevkin are our main contacts.!!

Pownal Elementary School (802-823-7333)— We have America Reads/Counts tutors, PAW Pals, and the Pownal After-School Program during winter study (and possibly also in the fall this year).! Last year we also started a multi-cultural education program at Pownal. Mary Natalizia is our main contact at Pownal.

The Salvation Army (663-3014) 393 River St. North Adams. Lehman organizes the annual Christmas Angel Project with the Salvation Army.

Stamford Elementary (802-694-1379)—Located in Stamford, VT, this small school is run by Leo Ethier, a nice but very direct guy who is used to operating on very low resources.! This means that if you have an idea or if you offer something then he’ll find a way to make it work.!