Beacon Voyages for Service
Beacon Voyages for Service is a program that gives students the opportunity to take part in service trips all over the country and the world. Students also have the opportunity to be a student trip leader. All of the trips take place during school breaks.
Past trips have included:
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Galveston, Texas
- Washington, D.C.
- Treasure Beach, Jamaica
- Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Cuzco, Peru
- Boulder Creek, California
- Las Marias, Puerto Rico
- Detroit, Michigan
- Quito, Ecuador
Trip Leaders
Trip Leaders are responsible for some of the most important tasks in the Alternative Service Break program, such as:
- Lead an Alternative Break Service Trip (either during summer, winter, or spring break)
- Meet regularly with your selected trip participants
- Attend regular Trip Leader meetings and training sessions throughout the year
- Attend regular Advisory Board meetings throughout the year
- Consult and collaborate frequently with site contacts and members of the Coordinating Team to develop pre-break and issue-related activities
- Develop and implement fundraising plan for the team
- Facilitate regular pre-break education and training sessions and meetings for participants
- Serve as a year-long liaison between trip participants and advisory board
- Coordinate and conduct student participant group interviews and selection
- Assist in participant recruitment/public relations
- Plan and attend the Spring Break Open Forum at the end of the year
Trip Leaders will gain valuable skills and have the following benefits:
- Receive a stipend that will be credited towards the cost of your trip
- Leadership training
- Develop their People and Relationship Management skills
- Extensive training in project and crisis management
- Experience with handling budgets and fundraising
- The ability to further your learning about issues that are important to you
Coordinators
All Coordinating Committee member positions are time-intensive, demanding, and rewarding experiences. There are four available positions on the Coordinating Committee; Sponsorship Chair, Fundraiser Chair, Logistics and Travel Chair, and Public Relations/Marketing Chair. Committee members work throughout the year to put together Trip Leader trainings, fundraisers, and advertisements. These members are dedicated individuals who will enthusiastically take on their roles while becoming well-rounded and educated leaders ready to take social activism to a new level and facilitate the process of training new students to become active citizens.
The general responsibilities of being a member on the Coordinating Committee include:
- Attend regular Board meetings and trainings
- Contribute to the planning of each trip/issue
- Fulfill the responsibilities of your specific position
- Work as a team with the rest of the committee and the Trip Leaders
- Incorporate the voices of all members of Beacon Voyages for Service program – Trip Leaders, Participants, and Advisors
Coordinating Committee will gain valuable skills and have the following benefits:
- Receive a stipend that will be credited towards the cost of a trip
- Leadership training
- Experience with teamwork and advising
- The ability to further your learning about social issues
Fundraising and Sponsorship Coordinator responsibilities are:
- Organize a letter writing campaign to receive monetary donations
- Obtain external sponsorships and donations from interested parties
- Request funding from the senate to subsidize the cost of the trip
- Coordinate Team Leaders for on-campus sponsorship
- Coordinate events to raise enough funds to directly lower trip costs.
- Collaborate with trip leaders to develop fundraising plans and facilitate trip-specific fundraising
- Schedule tabling fundraising campaigns
Logistics and Travel Coordinator responsibilities are:
- Develop trip itineraries with each trip leader
- Coordinate travel and transportation needs for each trip which includes air travel, ground transportation, and another transportation needs (i.e. shuttles/buses, etc.)
- Ensure the receipt of all required materials and paperwork for each trip
Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator responsibilities are:
- Develop press releases about the program and its trips
- Manage all social media avenues to advertise for the program
- Responsible for mini-documentaries, photos, and videos for each trip
- Responsible for visibility before and after trips
Requirements and Important Dates
Requirements for all positions are as follows:
- Have at least a 2.5 Cumulative GPA
- Be enrolled as a degree-seeking full time student for Fall 2013 and Spring 2014semesters
- Complete application along with short answer questions
- Submit at least 1 recommendation letter from a UMass Boston employee (for team leader applicants: a letter from a previous Beacon Voyages for Service trip leader may also be accepted)
- All candidates must participate in an interview
Important Dates:
- Once we have received the application we will schedule an interview. Interviews will take place between May 23th - May 24th. You will be informed of the date and exact timings later.
- Advisory Board Training Retreat: August 2013
- Weekly Team Leader meetings after training retreat until October 31, 2013
- Bi-weekly meetings with the Advisory Board – will be determined at the retreat
Applications for Trip leader will be available in April 2013.
