About Us
The Student Community Engagement Center is the hub for student civic engagement at Portland State University. Through meaningful service opportunities ranging from one-day service events to year-long service commitments, we strive to provide robust and varied co-curricular opportunities for all students at Portland State to engage with the community and become catalysts for change. Our Service Opportunities Portal, powered by GivePulse, is your go-to resource for finding volunteer opportunities with PSU's many community partners! Whether you are looking for a one-day or ongoing service project, GivePulse has opportunities posted from organizations across Portland and beyond -- check it out at pdx.givepulse.com! STUDENT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CENTER PROGRAMS: SERVE YOUR CITY - SHORTS: Have a few hours and want to lend a hand? Sign up for a short Serve Your City volunteer project that matches your interest & availability. These projects are coordinated by the Student Community Engagement Center in partnership with some of our favorite community partners and supported by engaged student leaders. Whether on or off campus, get involved in the community, one service project at a time! SERVE YOUR CITY - SERIES: Serve alongside fellow PSU students multiple times with the same organization in a given term. Our Serve Your City *Series* opportunities are designed to engage students in multi-week service projects with a specific community partner, allowing you to dig in a bit deeper and return to the same organization multiple times in a term or year. These opportunities are a great way to meet other PSU students, get to know an organization, explore community issues through hands-on service. STUDENT LEADERS FOR SERVICE is a year-long program that promotes a culture of community engagement on the PSU campus. SLS members serve weekly with a community partner, participate in Friday leadership classes, facilitate group service projects, and help promote a culture of community engagement at PSU. Each SLS member is responsible for serving 4-6 hours/week for the entire academic year at a community organization. MENTOR: ALDER / PORTLAND STATE is a weekly mentoring program focused on creating strong connections between PSU mentors and Alder Elementary students to support hands-on learning and introduce kids to garden & STEM concepts through an afterschool Eco-Explorers Club. MAPS mentors help run the Eco-Explorers Club on Wednesday afternoons in winter and spring terms (training takes place in Fall). BIG DAYS & FOCUS WEEKS: Our larger-scale days or weeks of engagement put a spotlight on certain social issues and cultivate a spirit of engagement through service, learning, connection, and reflection. Each of our Big Days and Focus Weeks provide a great opportunity to get out into the community and form connections with other engaged students as you learn, discuss, listen, and engage together to build awareness and work towards positive change around a common cause. You can learn more about all of our service programs at https://www.pdx.edu/student-community-engagement/
