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Requirements

To complete the program, students must meet the following criteria:

• Orientation session
• 300 service hours
• One service-learning class
• Four skills trainings
• Senior service portfolio
• Minimum cumulative GPA

Orientation Session

After enrolling, students must attend an orientation session which provides an overview of requirements as well as introduces the program’s basic perspective of promoting service that goes beyond traditional volunteerism.

Service Hours

Students demonstrate an ongoing commitment to service by engaging regularly and deeply with the issues, populations, and organizations that matter most to them. Participants are required to complete 300 hours of service prior to graduating. Learn more

Skills Trainings

Students must complete at least four approved skills trainings. BPSS believes training in the skill areas listed below can make for more effective public service:

Advocacy / community organizing

Financial management

Fundraising/ grant writing/ philanthropy

Diversity and cultural awareness

Social entrepreneurship and innovation

Effective communication

Ethics and leadership

Planning and assessment

Service-specific training

Evaluation and applied research

 

A skills training may be on or off campus in the form of a workshop, conference, or academic course. The training must be interactive, activity-based and designed for participants to build and practice skills. Events where students simply learn information or gain awareness (such as through a lecture, panel or presentation) would not apply. For a listing of skills trainings, click here.

Service-Learning Course

Students must complete one service-learning class to fulfill the BPSS requirements. This is the only requirement accepted retroactively (prior to BPSS enrollment). A service-learning class is a credited academic course that:

Requires students to perform at least 30 hours of service

Facilitates students’ reflection on their service experience

Connects students’ service experience with the course’s academic goals

For more information and a listing of service-learning courses, click here.

Senior Portfolio

Participants will do this by producing a form of creative expression to reflect on your experiences while enrolled in BPSS that is more than a general description. Students must critically examine their experiences by incorporating a response to the following prompts which reflect the four aims of the program:

1. How has your BPSS experience challenged you to increase the breadth and depth of their involvement in NC communities and beyond?
2. How has (or has not) your experience fostered connections between the University, its students and the community?
3. Has your concept of service changed in understanding to encompass more than direct volunteering? Why or why not?
4. What are two experiences (one at the beginning of the program and one towards the end) that demonstrate how your capacity for engaging in your community in meaningful ways has developed?

Learn more

GPA

The transcript notation is dependent on the student’s final cumulative GPA.

"Buckley Public Service Scholar" - cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher

"Special Recognition in Public Service" - cumulative GPA of 2.5 - 2.9

Learn more about opportunities, resources and deadlines for program participants.

Learn more about how to enroll.

BPSS program overview.