Thompson Rivers University
EN-12: Community Service

TRU service learning courses allow students to work on community based projects while earning credits. These credit courses appear on student transcripts. TRU’s Global Competency Certificate includes volunteering within the community that is specifically related to the international community, in Kamloops, in Canada, and abroad. An example would be volunteering at TRU’s International Days, or volunteering with Immigrant Services in Kamloops. Students who meet the criteria for this certificate will have the achievement recognized on their transcript. More information about this program: http://www.tru.ca/services/beyond/global/categories.html The Leadership in Environmental Sustainability certificate allows students to earn formal recognition for their knowledge, skills, awareness, and attitudes that contribute to environmental sustainability competency – from projects, to artwork, to architectural design, to relevant course assignments. More information about this program: http://www.tru.ca/services/beyond/les.html

TRU employees volunteers in a variety of ways throughout the community, however there is currently no formal mechanism to record this involvement. One initiative that was recorded, however, was TRU's involvement with the Fall 2014 United Way campaign, where 15 TRU employees provided a combined 165 hours of community service volunteering over a three month period. Further information: http://www.tru.ca/foundation/giving/volunteer.html

The TRU Student Union (TRUSU) supports students' involvement in a number of clubs, some of which are actively engaged in community service volunteering. TRUSU, however, does not track community service volunteer hours. The numbers input into these reporting fields are gathered from contacting all clubs individually and asking for their total hours. Here is the TRUSU Clubs webpage: http://trusu.ca/services/clubs/ Beyond the Global Competency certificate and Leadership in Environmental Sustainability certificate mentioned above, TRU does not currently have a mechanism in place for measuring the number of students involved in community service initiatives, or the hours they have spent in service to the community. Therefore, these numbers vastly underestimate the community involvement of TRU’s students. Students who attend two or more events in a year are provided with a certificate from the Students' Union verifying their involvement.