University of Nebraska - Lincoln
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Background: When historic Nebraska floods cut off communities, flooded an unknown number of towns, and inundated pastures and livestock pens with flood waters up to 5 feet deep, the University of Nebraska, under the direction of Nebraska Extension, committed to supporting the state in its recovery efforts. It is projected that it will take 9.3 years for the recovery process. Numerous units within the NU system are taking part of the recovery process from UNMC providing flood safety kits to flood inundation maps of affected area to the Public Policy Center providing much needed mental health services for flood victims. As part of a more comprehensive response, NU established the flood recovery serviceship program (collaboration with Nebraska Extension, Center for Civic Engagement, and local community leaders) providing students with opportunities to work hand-in-hand with local leaders while simultaneously gaining real-world impactful experience serving their communities. The program is funded by a $250,000 investment from the University of Nebraska.
Project Description: Based on a successful model developed by NU’s Rural Futures Institute, the flood recovery service program will place NU students in Nebraska communities for public service projects throughout the summer. The Flood Recovery Serviceship Program offers students the opportunity to help Nebraska communities respond to the devastating floods, to gain experience in public service and to learn about how communities deal with natural disasters. Currently, 27 of the 50 positions are filled. Twenty-two of the 27are students enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Overview of the Flood Recovery Serviceship Program: Local leaders representing government, business, education, the nonprofit world or other sectors who had ideas for service projects suited to students were encouraged to apply for one or more of the positions. Nebraska Extension specialists, together with a university-wide team responsible for coordinating NU’s flood response efforts, selected the community hosts after evaluating potential projects based on the mutual value they would provide for students and the communities.

Undergraduates, graduates and professional students at any NU campus were eligible to apply. The duration of the serviceship is flexible based on the availability of the students and the needs of the community partner. Participants are limited to a 40 hours per week for 10 weeks at a pay rate of $12.50 per hour. No overtime is allowed. College credit for their experience is negotiated on a case by case basis.

UNL’s web-based civic engagement platform, GivePulse, is used to capture and verify the service hours for FEMA purposes. The website also allows campus officials to manage risk waivers, deliver online training content, capture student testimonials and images and post additional opportunities for services.

https://disaster.unl.edu/