May 12, 2005

Staff Profile: Suzan Akin

Coordinator of Student Community Service helps match students with community volunteer opportunities

It is estimated that nearly half of Northwestern’s undergraduates participate in some kind of community volunteer effort. These students take time from their busy schedules — often at the expense of classes, internships, study time and social time — and head in to Evanston and Chicago to tutor children, clean up neighborhoods and deliver hot meals.

Suzan Akin, Coordinator of Student Community Service and a long-time volunteer herself, knows the drill. As a student at the University of Illinois, she held leadership positions with the state’s largest student service organization. Since earning a master’s in higher education administration from Harvard two years ago, she has been working at Northwest-ern, linking eager students to community volunteer opportunities.

What are some key programs?

I organize two campus-wide service days, a holiday toy drive, a small fleet of vans for transportation and a search engine called Volunteer Connection. I also advise 20 service organizations, helping them to plan events, make programming decisions and work with their boards.

When was the last service day?

It happened April 23, during National Volunteer Week. We recruited 70 students. They met on campus and went off to different sites in the community. One group took on a new project this year with Evanston Township High School students, cleaning and beautifying a vacant lot next to the school. The next service day is in the fall.

What is the search engine for?

Volunteer Connection (www.volunteer.northwestern.edu) matches community organizations with student volunteers. It was built three years ago by Northwestern and the Evanston Community Foundation. It’s a great resource for students who aren’t in service organizations or for campus groups, like residence halls, Greek houses and honors societies, that aren’t primarily service-oriented.

The popularity of that site suggests you don’t really have to sell students on volunteering.

No. We’re finding that more prospective and new students are looking to get involved from the start. They’ve grown up with this mindset. Some have had service learning experiences since elementary school. High school juniors who haven’t even applied yet will call me to ask about Northwestern’s service programs. The Freshman Urban Program is actually a good measure of student interest. It’s a pre-New Student Week program where incoming freshman spend six days touring Evanston and Chicago and doing hands-on work and learning the communities’ social issues. It’s kind of off the typical tourist path. We had 68 students last fall and the interest increases each year.

Why would new students want to come to campus a week earlier than they have to?

Many of them have never been to Chicago before. They’re excited to learn about the city, get comfortable and learn how to get around. And it’s a logical step in continuing the service work many of them did in high school.

The Observer has reported on several major community initiatives recently, including Project EXCITE and Campus Kitchen. What are some other programs we should know?

Griffin’s Tale is Northwestern’s only children’s repertory theater company. Students go to Evanston and Chicago schools, take children’s stories and turn them into songs and sketches. The company performs at the schools and on campus.

What kind of volunteering do you do?

I like mentoring and tutoring, activities where I can build relationships. But my hours are unpredictable so I usually go for one-time projects now.

How would you compare students’ sacrifices to the rewards of community service?

They’re giving up time for classes and internships. But they’re also giving up social time. Some of my students work at the Inspiration Café at 6 a.m. on a Saturday. That means they can’t be out as late the previous night. But, they enjoy escaping the campus bubble and meeting people they wouldn’t otherwise meet. My favorite part of this job is hearing how much fun they have and how happy the work makes them.

 — Stephen Anzaldi