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On the Campus: February 5, 1997
Students seek involvement in planning a new campus center for volunteerism BY JULIE RAWE '97 The number of weekly volunteers and weekly projects has doubled in the last five years; nearly a thousand undergrads now participate in over 100 student-run projects. Such growth has left current projects continually strapped for cash, so there is no doubt Malkiel's campaign to increase resources is needed. But the economics professor's proposal has met with only lukewarm approval from student leaders, who worry they will receive more funding at the expense of their autonomy. The proposed community-service center would bring campus organizations such as Community House and the Student Volunteers Council (SVC) together in one location. Whether the center occupies a university-owned building or a few rooms in the new campus center, it would aim to coordinate a systematic approach to the community's needs. The center would also provide training and a database of volunteer, internship, and job opportunities. An administrator would oversee it all. Malkiel claims he is second to none in his desire to preserve student control, saying, "The administrator would have to be someone very comfortable with our system, which is student-run and entrepreneurial. That's something we don't want to lose." The new director would not impinge on student authority except in the area of volunteer training, which might become mandatory. The administrator's most important role, according to Malkiel, would be integrating service and academics. "If we have a component of community service that enriches a course and improves educational experience, we have a win-win situation," he says. Universities across the country have successfully incorporated service-learning into their curricula (Malkiel has special praise for Stanford's program), and Princeton needs to be brought up to speed in this area. For service to enter academic life, the faculty must be won over. Last spring, three students tried to initiate a service-learning seminar for undergraduates. They encountered resistance from the faculty, and their proposal was rejected (the course was taught as a graduate seminar instead). According to Malkiel, professors are skeptical of experiential learning, and one of the administrator's initial tasks would be to "gain the respect of faculty." Once President Shapiro gave Malkiel the go-ahead, he began plugging away at a $7 million goal: $3 million for a program endowment, $2 million for an endowed directorship, and $2 million for facilities and equipment. Meanwhile, students started to question what the role of an administrator would be, what kind of training would be offered or required, and whether an office was actually needed to house the center, but Malkiel tabled all discussion. "We're not going to plan anything until we're much further along in terms of fund-raising," he says. "There's a daunting amount of work to do before we start getting into the programmatics." Students feel put off by this response and are understandably anxious about their lack of input. Many feel Malkiel has largely excluded them from the planning of the center. He met with student leaders two years ago and says they "were involved in a major way." But those students have since graduated, and Malkiel did not consult current leaders until a month ago. Attendees described this meeting as a presentation. Malkiel, they said, gave them a brief update on the fund-raising, little time for questions, and even-less-satisfying answers. Senior Sarah Stein, who is a leader of Challenge '97 (the class's service project, a partnership with a middle school in Trenton), contrasts the long-term planning of the community-service center to that of the new campus center: "The campus center has been an ongoing dialogue. The community-service center has been sporadic releases of information, usually prompted by someone complaining publicly that no one knows what's going on." Malkiel isn't just spearheading the campaign-he is the campaign. The lone professor insists that "initiatives need champions or they don't get done." Malkiel should be commended for supporting community service and experiential learning. But while his intentions are good, his implementation needs work. As Stein points out, "Initiatives need more than champions, they need cheering sections, and those cheering sections need to be filled with faculty, students, and administrators." In the past, Malkiel has praised student-run community service programs, declaring, "We do so much because the students take control." It's time for him to let students take control-or at least take part-in planning the center, a project that would put Princeton "in the community's service." Julie Rawe is a member of Challenge '97.
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