Thompson Rivers University
EN-13: Community Service

TRU Employee Service Volunteer Program

Purpose
Thompson Rivers University is committed to providing service opportunities for employees to support the external, internal and international community through paid and unpaid volunteer opportunities.
For TRU, volunteering is an important and valued activity and creates strong and connected communities. For TRU, it’s about our community supporting the larger community.

Benefits Associated with Volunteering

TRU sees community volunteering not as a charitable model but a partnership model. One that builds mutual respect, trust and a commitment to accommodating each other’s needs.

Our volunteer program is both good for our employees and the community. This program helps to:

• Engage and motivate employees
• Attract talent
• Facilitate professional development and individual well-being by boosting morale
• Strengthen collaboration through team building by increasing visibility in the community and enhancing TRU’s public image
• Improve relationships with clients, students and other stakeholders

Our program also has a significant value to non-profits and community organizations by:

• Facilitating access to skilled and motivated volunteers
• Serving as a source of innovation
• Leveraging needed resources and donations
• Expanding community networks
• Enhancing public visibility within the larger community

Types of Volunteer Activities

Volunteer opportunities can be identified by TRU, the community or by individual employees. Opportunities should align with TRU’s mission, vision and values.

Volunteering can involve a wide range of activities from coaching youth, supporting student events, advocating for environmental causes, fundraising for local charities, or serving on boards of directors.

TRU also provides the opportunity for employees to participate in a Leave 4 Change Program, which is a three-week international volunteer program.

Approval

TRU knows and understands that our employees volunteer hundreds of hours each year and the amount of time spent is difficult to track. However, we will continue to provide this opportunity and will provide reports on a periotic basis.

Employees who are interested in volunteer opportunities must review details with their manager and seek written prior approval from the People and Culture Department.

TRU also encourages groups to volunteer in activities like the United Way, Days of Caring and student convocation.

Remuneration

This program is willing to support employees volunteering during regular work hours.

In most cases, employees are paid for their volunteer time and as such, opportunities should align with TRU’s mission, vision and values.

Volunteer opportunities that do not align with TRU’s mission, vision and values may be approved as an unpaid leave of absence.

Conflict of Interest

No person who has a conflict of interest with any activity or program of the agency, whether personal, philosophical, or financial shall be accepted or serve as a volunteer with the agency.

The data sourced for this section came from a student survey administered during the 2021-2022 school year. The name of the survey was the TRU Student Volunteering Frequency Survey. 259 students in total responded to the survey and 50.58% answered yes they do volunteer in some capacity (131). Student answers were categorized into the following categories which represent the number of volunteer hours over a 12 month period: 1-2, 3-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40, 41-5-, 51-60, 61-70, 71+ hours. This data was collected and averaged across TRU's student population to get the numbers presented.