Michelle Nickerson is a student services coordinator at the Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement. Her work focuses on student-led initiatives in which she provides students with information about community projects, as well as advises a number of student organizations.
She meets with service agencies to find out if they have any volunteer or service opportunities for students.
"I post those in the database, and then I connect students with those positions," Nickerson said. "They register, and then I forward them the information and then they contact the agency so that they can begin their service out in the community."
The community projects are short-term opportunities that can last a couple of hours one time or a couple hours over the course of a semester, she said.
"It's an opportunity they can enter into pretty informally and get out of pretty informally," she said.
Nickerson also advises the Alternative Spartan Break, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Into the Streets student organizations.
Students who are involved in Alternative Spartan Break provide a week or weekend of service in a community in a different city or country. Students can choose a social issue they are interested in addressing. Alternative Spartan Breaks take place in winter, spring and summer.
Into the Streets plans services projects for MSU students, staff and faculty. They recently coordinated Make a Difference Day to help Fenner Nature Center, and are also planning a Martin Luther King Day of Service for Jan. 16, 2012.
"One of the things I like the most about working with students is that it's always new, it's always fresh," Nickerson said. "The style in which each student does something is very different, so it’s very exciting to be able to work with them."
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