Weber State University has made it even easier for students to not only find community service opportunities, but to also log service hours in an easy and fast way.
WSU has recently partnered with GivePulse, an online platform that helps find service programs, track hours, see campus events and join clubs. This site helps further engage students in their education and their communities as it makes it easier to find and apply for service opportunities.
“GivePulse is our new student engagement platform,” Jenny Frame, the Wildcat Advantage coordinator and the primary administrator on GivePulse, said.
WSU students can find GivePulse in their eWeber portal and access it with their WSU login information. It automatically fills in the student’s information and connects to the classes they’re taking.
Patrick Tadlock, the assistant director at the Center of Community Engaged Learning, works for the service and volunteer opportunities part of GivePulse. He explained that the community partners can create a page on GivePulse to advertise their services or volunteer opportunities for which students can sign up.
Students can then input their service hours, also known as “impacts,” directly into the platform. Once someone from the event has approved their hours, they will show up on the student’s service report.
GivePulse also makes it easier for professors who require service hours as part of their course to see what the student has done.
“If their professor goes, ‘I want to know if you did service in your sociology class,’ you can tag your sociology professor’s class, and they can see it on there as well,” Tadlock said.
Members of campus clubs and organizations can also use GivePulse to advertise their needs and wants through the creation of their own page on the website.
Heather Cimino, assistant director of Student Involvement and Leadership, is involved with the club and organizational aspects of GivePulse.
“The way the clubs and organizations can utilize it is to house the things that clubs and organizations need and the things they utilize throughout the year,” Cimino said.
Clubs and organizations can use GivePulse for their group calendar to list group events and store all important information on their page.
Cimino’s hope for this platform is that it’ll create consistency.
“The number one thing I see every year is the turnover really dampens and hinders how successful a club will be the next year,” Cimino said.
Cimino explains that club presidents are usually seniors, and by the end of the year, they’re done and want to graduate. The upcoming presidents don’t get much help or insight into how the club runs, making the club struggle in the next year.
Having GivePulse takes away some of that struggle. The new presidents will have access to the calendar to see what events the club has previously done and all important documents to help the club succeed.
Frame, Tadlock and Cimino all encourage students to explore GivePulse and start using it. It is a tool that can help students succeed in school and become more involved on campus.
