Volunteering can be an enriching aspect of a college student's life. Greek students are required to complete hours for their organization, students can join volunteer-based organizations like Gamma Sigma Sigma and members of many other clubs complete service hours.

Campus Life and Event Services wants to help students find the right organization for them. From 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 4 Campus Life and Event Services, along with partner Retired Senior Volunteer Program/Volunteer Intergenerational Center, will host a volunteer fair on the main lounge of the third floor of the University Center to inform students about opportunities on and off campus.

Organizations currently registered are RSVP/VIC, Southeast Missouri State University American Red Cross Chapter, Junior Achievement of SEMO, Discovery Playhouse, Read to Succeed, Cape Girardeau Public Library, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Humane Society of SEMO, Community Caring Council, Old Town Cape, Catholic Charities, Missouri Veterans Home, Safe House for Women and the Southeast Missouri Food Bank.

Campus Life and Event Services will also register students who participate in the Volunteer Fair for attendance prizes and offer them the opportunity to be contacted by Southeast Missouri State University regarding future volunteer opportunities.

Each table will have a box with an attendance prize, and students will be entered into the drawing at each table they visit. The attendance prizes offered include gift cards to the bookstore, office supplies, candy or whatever happens to be in one of the boxes.

"We're trying to encourage people to visit multiple agencies and learn about the different opportunities each of them have or either a one-time event to go out and clean up the park day or get involved in a big brother/big sister relationship," assistant director for Campus Life and Event Services Gretchen Grojean said.

This event is the first step for students interested in volunteering. Southeast students can find agencies in the area that they identify with and provide either a one-time service or a long-term commitment.

All the organizations involved were contacted by RSVP/VIC, which acts as a volunteer matching service. RSVP/VIC works with many agencies in both Scott and Cape Girardeau County to pair volunteers with organizations that could use their help. Southeast has worked with this organization for more than four years.

Grojean said this year Southeast is trying to engage students in community service and then track what the university's students do in the community.

"We know that there's student groups that do service on a regular basis, like we know there's individuals who serve as big brother/big sisters, but the university doesn't really track that other than the fraternities and sororities who track each member who has to have so many hours of service," Grojean said. "So the university is trying this year to do a better assessment of the community service impact that our students have in the area."

Recently the university created a graduate assistantship position for student engagement who will work with registered student organizations and individuals to record their volunteer hours. Most organizations already record the number of hours their members spend volunteering, but the office hopes to track the service hours of all Southeast students

Grojean said hosting the event during common hour was intentional so that both students wishing to volunteer and those who don't yet know they want to volunteer will stop by and get involved.