Gift Opportunities, Priorities for 2005-2006
The Haas Center for Public Service is part of The Stanford Challenge. Please check back in May 2007 for our giving priorities for 2007 and beyond.
Your gift is used to support a broad range of Haas Center programs or may be designated to a current priority. Opportunities are available to support one of the priority program initiatives listed below. Gifts of any size are welcome!
Contact: Suzanne Abel, Associate Director for External Relations, sabel@stanford.edu or (650) 723-4719
Community Programs
Courses
Fellowships
Leadership
Research
Community Programs
The Haas Center’s community programs in the area of youth and education—at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels—integrate student learning, leadership opportunities and reflection with assessment and evaluation of outcomes for the community.
- Ravenswood Tutors is a collaborative research and service project with faculty from the Stanford School of Education. It offers two program opportunities for Stanford students to tutor and mentor local at risk elementary school children, while they learn techniques for effective one-on-one interaction: the Ravenswood Reads literacy program for poor readers; and Ravenswood English specifically for English Language Learners. This multi-year initiative is funded by a coalition of supporters, large and small—new donors welcome!
- East Palo Alto Stanford Academy (EPASA) brings middle school students from East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park to Stanford for a six-week summer academy. During the school year on Saturdays, EPASA also provides academic programming, matching the students with Stanford tutors who also serve as mentors and role models. We are seeking donors to invest in these motivated middle school students to help ensure their successful transition to high school and beyond.
- Stanford Upward Bound is a federally-sponsored program, administered by the Haas Center, that provides low-income, first generation college-bound high school students with the academic support and guidance needed to prepare them for success in college. A very tight budget from the U.S. Department of Education has forced curtailment of the summer residential program and no longer allows for college visits, a vital piece of any program for high school students aspiring to college. The Upward Bound College Visit Fund was created to support senior year college visits.
- Service-Learning Courses are supported by the Haas Center in partnership with the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. Center staff works closely with faculty and publishes a quarterly list of courses for interested students. Many faculty tell us they can only do this kind of teaching with our counsel and financial support for teaching assistants, materials, and time to develop community partnerships. The Service-Learning Courses Curriculum Development Fund provides faculty with resources to develop courses with a service component.
- Alternative Spring Break is a student-led program providing a week-long issue-focused study-service immersion over spring break. Typically involving over 170 students as both leaders and participants, 12-15 trips a year focus on a range of social issues such as HIV/AIDS in San Francisco and homelessness in Los Angeles. Each trip is preceded by a faculty-sponsored directed reading course during winter quarter. The Alternative Spring Break Accessibility Fund allows all students, regardless of means, to take part in this powerful learning experience.
Fellowships
- Support an undergraduate summer fellow in your area of interest. Students serve in public or nonprofit organizations fulltime for at least 9 weeks in the summer. Consider a gift to help offer more stipends in one of these current fellowship priorities:
- “African Service‿ supports work on social and economic issues in sub-Saharan Africa.
- “Public Interest Law‿ supports work in nonprofit organizations focused on legal and policy issues.
- “Spirituality & Service‿ examines, questions and explores social change work in Bay Area faith-based organizations.
- “Urban‿ addresses issues affecting urban life in the areas of architecture, community organizing, urban planning, poverty, education and civil rights.
- Public Service Summer Fellowships support students to provide direct service to communities and nonprofit organizations while they explore public service careers. The Fellowships Aid Fund enables the Haas Center to honor its commitment to offering financial aid to all qualified students, so that no student expected to meet a "summer earnings requirement" by the university will be turned away.
Leadership
- The Haas Center’s new Public Service Leadership Fellows Program provides a comprehensive opportunity for students who want to intentionally develop as leaders. Fellows gain an understanding of leadership development as a field of study as well as appreciation of selected models, practices and values. The program requires active involvement in leading a public service program (student organization, Haas program, etc.) and includes coursework and an assigned mentor/coach. The five-quarter program can be completed at the student’s own pace. A valuable aspect of the experience is the development of a cohort or community of peers who learn with and from each other. The program seeks donors interested in investing in the next generation of public service leaders.
- Community-Based Research consultation is offered by center staff to assist students and faculty in undertaking research that benefits a community organization or government agency, or addresses a public issue. The Community-Based Research Fund was established to broaden the center’s ability to support students conducting this type of work under faculty guidance.
- The Public Service Scholars Program brings together seniors from diverse majors to write honors theses that include research of benefit to the community at large. Scholars participate in a year-long seminar, exploring the role of public scholarship in higher education and developing a plan to disseminate the results of their work. The center seeks both new endowment and immediate expendable gifts to support the publishing and dissemination of research results.