ENGAGING STUDENT VOLUNTEERS: A Comparative Case Study of Two Best Buddies College Chapters

1. LAUREN WENDLING ED 530/531 Summer 2013 ENGAGING STUDENT VOLUNTEERS:A Comparative Case Study of Two Best Buddies College Chapters

2. RESEARCH QUESTION Why do Best Buddies college programs differ in levels of student recruitment and engagement? How can I assist Best Buddies college chapters recruit, engage, and maintain student volunteers?

3. BACKGROUND Personal • I currently work at Best Buddies, managing the Indiana college programs. • I work with chapter leadership - university students, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and community partners - both in the field and at the Indiana state office. • I have noticed many students struggle to stay involved and be actively engaged throughout the school year. I want to know why this happens and how to overcome it! • I want to assist all Indiana colleges achieve program success and engage quality student volunteers.

4. LITERATURE Best Buddies • Best Buddies Mission Statement(Best Buddies International [BBI], 2013) • Best Buddies College Training and Recruiting Materials (Best Buddies Programs, 2013) • Nicomachean Ethics(Aristotle, 1985) • Best Buddies Indiana (Best Buddies Indiana [BBIN], 2013) • Promoting Friendship through Best Buddies: • A National Survey of College Program • Participants (Hardman & Clarke, 2006) • Friendship Standards: The Dimensions • of Ideal Expectations (Hall, 2012) • A Morally Defensible Mission for Schools in • the 21st Century (Noddings, 1997)

5. LITERATURE Volunteer Recruitment • Volunteer Recruitment : The Role of • Organizational Support and Anticipated • Respect in Non-Volunteers' Attraction to • Charitable Volunteer Organizations • (Boezeman & Ellemers, 2008) • Why People Volunteer (Ancans, 1992) • 101 Volunteer Recruitment Secrets • (Heyman, 2011)

6. LITERATURE Volunteer Engagement • Volunteer Motivations and Constraints Among College Students (Gage III & Thapa, 2012) • Volunteer Engagement: Does Engagement Predict the Degree of Satisfaction among New Volunteers and the Commitment of Those who have been Active Longer?” (Vecina, Chacon, Sueiro & Barron, 2012) • Got Strategy? The 7 Elements of a Strategic Volunteer Engagement Plan(Russell, 2012)

7. RESEARCH DESIGN Action Research Local knowledge / Systematic Inquiry Quantitative and Qualitative Data I am an active participant in the research. Attempting to answer “why” and “how”. Comparative Case Study Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. Butler University and the University of Indianapolis

8. METHODOLOGY • Friendship Updates / Testimonials • (Maclean & Mohr, 1999) • Program Statistics • # of participants, attendance, etc. (Maclean & Mohr, 1999) • Personal Interviews • Students, Buddies, Community Partners (Shagoury- • Hubbard & Miller-Power, 2003, MacLean & Mohr, 1999) • Surveys • Students, Community Partners / Pre and Post • (MacLean & Mohr, 1999) • Observations • In the “field” (Shagoury-Hubbard & • Miller-Power, 2003) • Research Journal • (MacLean & Mohr, 1991, Shagoury-Hubbard • & Miller-Power, 2003) Data Sources • School Philosophy • Greek life, required service, etc. (MacLean & Mohr, • 1999) • Best Buddies IN Materials • (MacLean & Mohr, 1999)

9. METHODOLOGY Approach to Data Analysis • Friendship Updates / Testimonials • Coding – Constant Comparison / Trends (Shagoury-Hubbard & Miller-Power, 2003) • Program Statistics • Statistical Comparison (MacLean & Mohr, 1999) • Personal Interviews • Coding – Theorizing, categorizing, comparing, looking for themes to emerge (Shagoury-Hubbard & Miller-Power, 2003) • Surveys • Coding – Theorizing, categorizing, comparing, identifying and constructing perceptions (Shagoury-Hubbard & Miller-Power, 2003) • Observations and Research Journal • Cooked Notes - Indexing, Memos (Shagoury-Hubbard & Miller-Power, 2003) • School Philosophy • Coding – theorizing, categorizing, • comparing (Shagoury-Hubbard & Miller-Power, • 1999) • Best Buddies IN Materials • Coding comparison and sorting – theorizing, • categorizing (MacLean & Mohr, 1999, • Shagoury-Hubbard & Miller-Power, 2003)

10. Audiences • Me • Best Buddies • Student Leadership • Student Volunteers • Community Partners

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY • Ancans, I. S. Voluntary Action Directorate, Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada. (1992). Why people volunteer. Ottawa, Ontario: Volunteer Centre Ottawa-Carleton. • Aristotle. (1985). Nicomachean ethics. Indianapolis: Hackett. • Best Buddies Indiana. (2013). Best buddies. Retrieved from http://www.bestbuddiesindiana.org • Best Buddies International. (2013). Best buddies. Retrieved from http://www.bestbuddies.org/best-buddies • Best Buddies Programs. (2013). College Training Material. Indianapolis, IN. • Boezeman, E. J., & Ellemers, N. (2008). Volunteer recruitment: The role of organizational support and anticipated respect in non-volunteers’ attraction to charitable volunteer organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 1013-1026. • Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1993). Concepts and contexts for teacher research. In Inside/outside: Teachers research and knowledge (pp 1-22). New York Teachers College Press. • Gage III, R. L., & Thapa, B. (2012). Volunteer motivations and constraints among college students: Analysis of the volunteer function inventory and leisure constraints models. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(3), 405-430. • Hall, J. A. (2012). Friendship standards: The dimensions of ideal expectations. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 29(7), 884-907. • Hardman, M. L., & Clark, C. (2006). Promoting friendship through best buddies: A national survey of college program participants. Mental Retardation, 44(1), 56-63. • Heyman, D. R. (2011). 101 volunteer recruitment secrets. Volunteer Match. Retrieved from http://media.volunteermatch.org/docs/101Secrets/VolunteerMatch_101Secrets.pdf • MacLean, M., & Mohr, M. (1991). A teacher research process: Beginning: What do you need? In Teacher researchers at work (pp. 1-18). Berkley, California: National Writing Project. • Noddings, N. (1997). A morally defensible mission for schools in the 21st century. In E. Clinchy (Ed.), Transforming public education: A new course for America’s future (pp.27-37. New York: Teacher’s College Press. • Russell, N. (2012, March 5). Got strategy? the 7 elements of a strategic volunteer engagement plan. Retrieved from http://vannw.org/professional-development/got-strategy-the-7-elements-of-a-strategic-volunteer-engagement-plan/ • Russell, N. (2012, March 5). Got strategy? the 7 elements of a strategic volunteer engagement plan. Retrieved from http://vannw.org/professional-development/got-strategy-the-7-elements-of-a-strategic-volunteer-engagement-plan/ • Shagoury-Hubbard, R., & Miller-Power, B. (2003). The art of classroom inquiry: A handbook for teacher-researchers. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann. • Vecina, M. L., Chacon, F., Sueiro, M., & Barron, A. (2012). Volunteer engagement: Does engagement predict the degree of satisfaction among new volunteers and the commitment of those who have been active longer?. Applied Psychology, 61(1), 130-148. • All photos property of Lauren Wendling and Best Buddies Indiana. 11

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