Team A5: Create a Community Engagement Certificate Program

Meet Our Team

We are two McMaster students passionate about fostering a sense of community engagement amongst our fellow students and the Hamilton community. Our mission is to enhance student involvement by providing a meaningful connection and stating the significance of building a relationship with the community.

We discovered that our problem area mostly aligns with SDG11 and SDG 16.

1.     What connections already exist between McMaster students and the larger Hamilton community?

2.     Historically, how have McMaster students chosen to engage with the Hamilton Community?

3.     Are there other university towns in Ontario that have tried to strengthen connections with their students? If yes, what can McMaster learn from them?

4.     What does a more comprehensive city experience look and feel like?

In December, we presented our initial ideas and research to fellow MacChangers participants and staff. We've learned a lot since then, but feedback from this presentation was pivotal to the development of our solution.

Oscar Plus is the Student Success Centre’s way for students to search for part-time, full-time, summer, new graduate, entrepreneurship, contract, volunteer, and internship opportunities. However, in our personal experience we have found it is not very intuitive nor user friendly. Also, there are not always many volunteer opportunities available on the website.

For our first solution idea, we are proposing an update to Oscar Plus that would make it easier to use for students, allow for more opportunities to be posted, and be available in an app format.

The app would allow users to make an account using their Mac ID and would also have a calendar feature for students to keep track of their volunteering. In order to ensure students, have multiple volunteer opportunities available to them, the app would offer opportunities from across campus and the Hamilton community. Potential sources for volunteer opportunities include the Connection through Office of Community Engagement, Open Circle, OPIRG McMaster, and the City of Hamilton. Having all of these opportunities available on an app will make it easier for McMaster students to find and complete volunteer opportunities in the Hamilton community.

The minor in Community Engagement offered at McMaster provides a foundation of knowledge and skills for participation in communities without requiring students to actively volunteer in those communities. Our second proposed solution is to offer an additional official Certificate Program, open to all McMaster students, that would incentivize students to volunteer in the Hamilton community for the duration of their time at McMaster.

Purpose: The purpose of the Community Engagement Volunteer Certificate Program is to encourage longevity in community engagement by having students working with one Hamilton-based organization throughout their time at McMaster. This would allow students to make more meaningful connections with their community. Students are incentivized to participate as they can add the competition of the certificate to their resume/CV.

Requirements: Students must volunteer for a minimum of 80 hours or for the duration of 3 projects that need student support (whichever is preferable to the organization) over the duration of their degree with the same Hamilton-based community organization. The organization will then provide a letter of completion to the University. Students will receive these certificates at convocation.

• Our solution is to propose a new credential system at McMaster University to encourage students to actively participate in the Hamilton community.
• Students will be required to obtain 80 hours of community involvement or 3 projects (e.g. community gardens, neighborhood cleanup, youth mentorship programs.
• The volunteer opportunities can be found on OscarPlus or Tourism Hamilton - students are recommended to network with initiative.
• The Hamilton-based organization of their chosen will be able to evaluate the students based on their performance, demonstrating McMaster's six principles of community engagement.
• After completing the required 80 hours or 3 community projects, they will receive the certificate as an incentive and proof of their commitment to work.
• The certificate would be a valuable addition to one's resume as it represents their determination, involvement within the community, and having a good reputation.

Reflecting on our experience with the MacChangers program, coming out and completing deliverables as a duo was indeed challenging when it came to time management. However, with the guidance of great mentors and overall support from the program, we were able to stay on track and submit our work on time with good quality. We dedicated a significant amount of time to research, by exploring various Hamilton websites that offer volunteering options. With a measure of technical feasibility and effectiveness, we decided our solution to have a factor that keeps students from being active within the community over a long period of time while being incentivized with their work. As we continued building this solution, we were also gaining knowledge from both creating a solution to a problem and being more knowledgeable in the Hamilton area. Participating in the MacChangers program has truly expanded our knowledge, honed our problem-solving skills, and reaffirmed our commitment to making a positive impact in our community.