Dalhousie University
EN-13: Community Service

Dalhousie outlines the support for community work in wokrplace agreements ex.- DPMG handbook: "7.6 Volunteer Work The university encourages participation by all of its employees in university and community volunteer work. Time commitments should be arranged with the employee’s supervisor so that they do not interfere with the fulfillment of regular responsibilities." https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/hr/Employee-Relations/DPMG-Handbook-Dec-2016.pdf Some examples of workplace - community initiatives include: Dalhousie’s mission includes an important service aspect. The university works hard to engage and serve the community through projects and charitable initiatives in many ways. The largest community fundraiser on campus is the United Way campaign held each fall on the Halifax and Truro campuses and employees are actively encouraged to participate. https://www.dal.ca/faculty_staff/united-way.html. The funds raised go to local, non-profit agencies in Halifax and Colchester County in Nova Scotia ranging from women's shelters, family/parent support services, Boys & Girls Clubs, to learning disability organizations. Other charitable/community projects on campus include: • Daffodil Campaign in support of the Canadian Cancer Society • Human Rights - Dalhousie has representation on the community-based, not-for-profit Partners for Human Rights committee, which is made up of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission and organizations and community groups dedicated to working toward respectful and inclusive communities. • Prevention of sexualized violence – Dalhousie engages in many community-based initiatives aimed at addressing sexualized violence, including the establishment of a Sexual Harassment and Assault Resource group of stakeholders and participation in on- and off-campus fundraising events and other various campaigns and education initiatives. Dalhousie’s Harassment Prevention Advisor is currently the Chair of the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre Board. • Dal Allies Programs and Initiatives – The Allies at Dalhousie community exists to support Rainbow (LGBTQ) students, staff, and faculty at Dalhousie by encouraging the community to welcome and respect their diversity. This group engages with and collaborates with our broader Nova Scotia community through collaborative partnerships with and support by community-based groups such as the Youth Project. • Halifax Pride Parade - employees and students volunteer as part of Halifax's Pride Parade, in support of tolerance and diversity • Pink Day – this anti-bullying event engages on- and off-campus communities • Day of Caring—Facilities Management employees have a long history of undertaking a 'day of caring' in the community, giving back to one of the United Way funded agencies • Dentistry Clinic—employees offer a clinic where any community member can have dentistry services performed at a discounted rate • Legal Clinic—employees offer legal aid service to community members who are eligible for legal aid under provincial guidelines. • Doctors without Borders—Many Dalhousie physicians (as part of our Dalhousie Medical School) volunteer their time to go to countries around the world to provide medical aid. • Annual Mi’kmaq pow-wow engages staff and students • Diversity Film Festival – this is run through collaborative partnerships with provincial and non-profit sectors as well as community participants. Dalhousie employees (primarily faculty members) also provide academic expertise locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. For a sample of some of the university's experts, see www.experts.dal.ca.

Methodology for data collection: Student data was derived from the NSSE 2017 (National Survey of Student Engagement). From this survey: 1st year students – 38% report participating in community service, average of 2.4 hours per week across all first-year respondents 4th year students – 48% report participating in community service, average of 2.4 hours per week across all senior-year respondents. We averaged the percentage to be 43% to consider all students graduate and undergraduate.We used 32 weeks of volunteer service per year with the consideration that students maybe doing their volunteer work in the main school year. 43% of our student count is 8094 x 32 weeks x 2.4 hours per week. Further, an innovative program developed by Dalhousie to enable students build stronger connections with the community is DalConnect Certificate Program. This program pairs interactive workshops with community volunteering after which a certificate is awarded. Find more information: https://www.dal.ca/campus_life/career-and-leadership/career-leadership-programs/DALConnects.html