A Platform to Engage

Students head for the Campus Center to sign up for volunteer in the community during last year's "Big Event," a day of service for the entire campus community. A new platform, EngageUAlbany, is a one-stop for signing up and tracking volunteer opportunities and engagement. (Photo by Paul Miller)

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 7, 2019) – UAlbany students, faculty and staff will have real-time access to community engagement and service opportunities, thanks to a partnership between the University and the United Way of the Greater Capital Region (UWGCR).

A shared online platform, EngageUAlbany, connects the region’s public research university community to service opportunities in the Capital District. The platform will not only allow these users to connect with myriad opportunities, but lets them create personal engagement preferences, become fans of specific agencies, track and verify volunteer hours, and develop a service resume.

“This new collaboration with United Way allows us to connect with real-time community service opportunities where we can offer our experience, talents and expertise,” said President Rodríguez. “The EngageUAlbany platform also helps us to become more data-driven as we assess the impact of our engagement and service initiatives and activities in the Capital Region.”

The opportunities represent an aggregate of more than 100 partner organizations collaborating with the United Way, the area’s recognized leader in philanthropic and volunteer resources. The shared platform is unprecedented in our region with the goal of supporting new connections and opportunities.

United Way of the Greater Capital Region launched its UnitedToVolunteer.org portal in 2016 to address the need from local companies to discover volunteer opportunities.

“We are continually looking for a way to promote volunteerism in our community. This partnership with University at Albany was a natural given President Rodríguez’s mission for the university community,” said UWGCR President and CEO Peter Gannon. “Collaboration amongst community leaders is critical to solve the problems we see every day.”

Approximately 30 UAlbany fraternity and sorority groups are early adopters of the platform and the University aims to achieve 100 percent participation by faculty, staff and students within four years. In 2018, the UAlbany community contributed more than 12,500 hours to the community in service.

Get Involved

Martha Asselin, director of UAlbany’s Center for Leadership and Service, said  the launch of EngageUAlbany coincides with planning efforts for the 2019 Big Event, a full day of service for hundreds of UAlbany students, faculty and staff on Saturday, April 6. The campus will host its admitted student open house on the same day, thus exposing the nearly 4,000 students attending to a culture of engagement and service right – even before they take their first class at UAlbany.

UWGCR will also be hosting “5.18 Day,” the single largest day of community impact on Saturday, May 18. Local businesses, individuals and families will work on service projects throughout the community as well as hosting a community-wide book drive with a goal of collecting 10,000 books.

UAlbany students, faculty and staff can volunteer through EngageUAlbany, while UAlbany alumni and the community at large can volunteer at www.unitedtovolunteer.org.

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