Augustana receives grants for vocational exploration, servant-leadership
Augustana College recently received several grants to encourage vocational and career exploration for students and recent alumni.
A $20,000 grant from The Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), funded by the Council of Independent Colleges and the Lilly Endowment, will help Augustana's chaplains to strengthen vocational exploration with senior students and recent alumni. Supported by Augustana 2020, the college's strategic plan, and information gathered from an institutional research project, The Winding Path Alumni Survey, Augustana's chaplaincy is conducting four alumni vocational reflection events in conjunction with CORE. The first of these events took place in November in Downers Grove, Ill., where Augustana alumni and current senior students reflected on and explored their life's calling.
"I'm excited for the opportunity to facilitate this and the other gatherings funded by the grant," said Pastor Kristen Glass Perez, director of vocational exploration in CORE, and one of the college's chaplains. "The gatherings will invite students and recent alumni to reflect on how their Augustana experience has continued to help them navigate many different twists and turns of young adult life."
Augustana received additional grants from the following organizations to support students to intern as servant-leaders at non-profit organizations in the Quad-City area during the 2015-16 academic year: $5,000 from the Doris and Victor Day Foundation, $20,000 from The Amy Helpenstell Foundation Student Intern Program, $2,000 from the Moline Foundation and $3,000 from the Charles Deere-Wiman Memorial Trust.
These grants provide students hands-on experience in a variety of settings, allowing them to explore different ways their skills, gifts and talents might be used to serve community needs, broaden their understanding of possible career choices, and lay the foundation for a lifelong habit of service to a community.
One of the servant-leader interns is Caroline McPherson '16, a communication studies and business administration-management and marketing major from Sterling, Ill. As a marketing and communications intern at UnityPoint Health - Trinity in Rock Island, McPherson has found she has a passion for special event planning.
"This internship will provide many opportunities to improve and learn about the field," she said. "It's the perfect opportunity to further prepare for graduation."