NEWS

Peace Corps sites one of a few campus offices at Carolina

CHAPEL HILL -- Aiming to increase its already high yield of volunteers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Peace Corps has opened a recruiting office on campus that is among 40 such sites nationwide.

Part of University Career Services in Nash Hall, the office is stocked with colorful photo and information brochures and staffed by two UNC graduate students who have served in the corps. They will staff information booths at such UNC events as career fairs, increasing corps visibility on campus.

"The goal is to increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers from Carolina," said Badi Bradley, one of the recruiters and a master's degree candidate in city and regional planning. Bradley, of Mt. Airy, earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from UNC in 1996, then worked in small business development for the corps in Guatemala from 1997-99.

With 50 alumni now in the corps, Carolina is tied for 10th nationwide on this year's list of the top 25 large colleges and universities producing corps volunteers. UNC was 14th last year and had 10th place to itself in 2000, with 65 graduates in the corps.

That yield led the Peace Corps to encourage University Career Services to apply for a grant to set up a corps recruiting office, said Marcia Harris, director of career services, the department in which the new recruiting office is housed.

UNC did apply, and the corps awarded a one-year, $16,000 grant that may be renewed in the future. Harris said the UNC Peace Corps office is one of just a few nationwide that is part of university career services offices for students -- a set-up she sees as an advantage.

"With this arrangement, students who come to the Peace Corps office may find other options if they discover the corps is not for them, and students who visit University Career Services to investigate career possibilities may become interested in the Peace Corps," Harris said. "We feel it's very beneficial all the way around."

Carolina's recruiting office is the second in North Carolina -- the other is at N.C. State University -- and one of four in a region covering five states and the District of Columbia.

"Carolina's commitment to service, diverse student body and strong academic curriculum make it the type of university that develops future leaders who choose to begin their careers as Peace Corps volunteers," said Erin Shaughnessy Zuiker, the other UNC recruiter. "These graduates work for two years in any of 70 developing countries in fields including education, health, environment, business and agriculture."

Zuiker, a Cleveland native and master's degree candidate in public health, volunteered for the corps in the Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. She set out to change the world but learned that helping residents and the community with their requests works better.

"One thing that touched me deeply was how open the ni-Vanuatu people were to having us in their community and in their homes, and I have heard that sentiment from Peace Corps volunteers who have served all over the world," she said. "The graciousness of the people with whom they worked was overwhelming and inspiring, especially in communities with few resources."

Founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the corps aims to share expertise, training, ideas and hands-on help with residents of developing countries as well as cultivate friendship and understanding between those residents and Americans. Since it began, the corps has placed 165,000 volunteers; currently, 7,000 are active. Corresponding North Carolina numbers are 2,667 and 151.

Applying to work in the corps can take six months to a year, Bradley said. Interested parties must apply and be interviewed by recruiters, who then review assignments the corps has available and nominate candidates they believe will be successful. The corps evaluates nominees and chooses its volunteers. Medical and legal clearances also must be completed.

Because the UNC recruiters are part time and also are students, the new office here is staffed intermittently. For an appointment to visit the recruiters, e-mail them at peacecorps@unc.edu or call University Career Services at 962-6507. The number for the Peace Corps office, in 200 Nash Hall on Pittsboro Street, is 962-6984. University Career Services, including the Peace Corps office, is scheduled to return to Hanes Hall early next year when renovations there are completed. For more information about the corps, visit www.peacecorps.gov.

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Contact: Badi Bradley or Erin Shaughnessy Zuiker, (919)962-6984 or peacecorps@unc.edu