Lloyd,
While I agree that all models have some form of process that connects
volunteers with the actual opportunity, I wouldn't necessarily define them
all as "placement" at least in an active sense.
I gave my definition of a Placement system in my last posting.
In a Club Model, typically members attend a regular meeting where various
service opportunities are announced and promoted. Members raise their hands
or sign up for the projects they wish to do.
In a Clearinghouse Model without a Placement function, volunteers just
initiate contact with an agency representative to explore arrangements. If
anything, this is merely self-placement.
In a Coalition of Projects Model, most projects (although not all) involve
group coordination rather than individual placement. Orientation, training,
reflection, and evaluation are often done in groups. Typically, prospective
volunteers are told where to show up for collective transportation to the
site. This group aspect is where much of the advantage (as well as some
limitations) comes in a Coalition of Projects model:
* built in peer support system
* postive peer pressure to show up consistently
* ease, efficiency, and effectiveness of orientation, training, reflection,
and evaluation
* greater visibility in groups
* informal exchange of experiences, tips, stories among volunteers
* helps meet students' need for comaraderie, sense of belonging and community
* volunteers within a project develop strong identification with the project
itself and with the issue or community of focus
* coordinators are motivated by their responsibility for leading an
"organization" (the project) rather than simply fulfilling the duties of a
job (ie "placement coordinator" in a service office)
* coordinators often specialize in an issue area and focus on relations with
a particular set of agencies (usually a smaller set than a "placement
coordinator" would deal with)
Obviously these are just structural models designed to facilitate discussion
and exchange. In reality there could be hybrids, like an entire Coalition of
Projects where each project consists of issue-specific coordinators who do
individual placements into a set of agencies within the particular issue.
Hypothetically there could be a Clearinghouse through which students find out
about group-coordinated service opportunities.
As for service-learning courses, they probably run the whole gamut of methods
of "placement": sign ups in class, active placement by the professor or a
teaching assistant, referrals to a clearinghouse on campus, referrals to a
coalition of projects program on campus.
I hope folks on the list find this discussion useful (if not, I feel like a
big 'ol email ham). Really though, I feel that it gets at some of the
fundamental nuts and bolts of engaging students in service.
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