At the signing of a partnership agreement between Tusculum College and the Volunteer Center of Greeneville/Greene County are Tusculum President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry; Mary Fitzpatrick, director of the Volunteer Center; Robin Fife, director of Tusculum's Service-Learning Center; and Gail Landers, president of the Volunteer Center.

Tusculum College, Volunteer Center sign partnership agreement

Increasing student learning opportunities through service and addressing community needs are the focus of a partnership agreement signed recently by Tusculum College and the Volunteer Center of Greeneville/Greene County.

The agreement formalizes and broadens the working relationship that exists between the college's Service-Learning Center and the Volunteer Center. It also expresses a shared commitment to strengthen the community while supporting the Civic Arts mission of the college.

"The Volunteer Center is honored to have the opportunity to work with students from the Service-Learning Center and looks forward to working together to help all of our children become successful adults," said Mary Fitzpatrick, director of the Volunteer Center.

"We are pleased to be able to join the Volunteer Center in a partnership that will not only provide valuable service-learning opportunities for our students but also help meet the needs of youth to build a stronger community," said Tusculum President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry.

Through the partnership, Tusculum will develop a service-learning course focused on meeting identified needs of youth in Greene County through the five points found in the America's Promise program.

The course will also serve as a model for other Colleges of Promise to use in educating and mentoring in their local school systems. Tusculum College is a "College of Promise" in the Greene County Community of Promise program, which is a part of America's Promise - the Alliance for Youth national organization. Locally, it is a program of the Volunteer Center.

Working closely with the Volunteer Center, Tusculum students in the course will become familiar with the five primary points of the America's Promise program that focus on building a community environment in which youth can build character and be successful. The students will then develop and give presentations to sixth graders at Doak Elementary School.

Tusculum students will also serve as mentors, and have the opportunity to participate in a community-based research project, based on expressed needs from the Volunteer Center. The project will involve the analysis of what would be needed to establish an area-wide, cohesive and effective mentoring program.

Shared activities between the college and the Volunteer Center include hosting agency workshops in the summer to promote joint service projects; collaborate on expanding the America's Promise effort; and a continuous sharing of community agency needs for additional service-learning opportunities.

The partnership will also continue to develop and expand the annual community Days of Caring Program, sponsored by the Volunteer Center, United Way of Greene County and Tusculum College. The Days of Caring begin with Tusculum's campus-wide Nettie Fowler McCormick Service Day, in which the college community provides a day of service to a variety of area non-profit organizations.