Are you looking for meaningful opportunities to engage students on your campus and in your local community?
Do you have students or recent graduates who are eager to engage in national service? Seed Coalition manages multiple National Service programs that could be a good fit for your campus.
Our College Corps programs offer access to direct service volunteer hours for campuses and community partners, while providing students with mentoring opportunities or professional development in nonprofit and public sector spaces. Our AmeriCorps VISTA program allows programs to recruit full-time capacity building service members focused on reducing poverty.
Learn About Our Current AmeriCorps Options
VISTA Community Corps
Spend a year building capacity around food or health access in your community. Learn more.
College Corps: College Mentoring Track
Mentor students at your college while building professional development skills. Learn more.
College Corps: Nonprofit Career Track
This program is running a pilot year in 2024. Contact us if you’d like to learn more.
Would you like to host AmeriCorps members on your campus?
Programs differ by state and have varied requirements and benefits. We have included basic information in the table below.
College Corps: Nonprofit Career Track
This program would be a good fit for your campus if…
- You want professional development opportunities for students or recent grads who are interested in nonprofit or public sector work.
Members of this program…
- Are upperclassmen or recent grads
- Serve part-time or full-time
- Perform direct service and/or capacity building work
- Average 10 hours per week for part-time service and 38 hours a week for full-time service.
College Corps: Mentoring Track
This program would be a good fit for your campus if…
- You would like a mentoring service opportunity for your students and desire support for rural, first-gen, or students of color on your campus.
Members of this program…
- Are upperclassmen or recent graduates
- Can serve part-time or full-time based on campus needs
VISTA Community Corps
This program would be a good fit for your campus if…
- You need temporary, project-based full-time help developing capacity for a program you’d like to see institutionalized at your university.
Members of this program…
- Are recent graduates
- Serve full-time
- Perform capacity building service
AmeriCorps & Seed Member Success Stories
Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota VISTA Project 2019-2023
VISTA members at Hamline developed food access from monthly student-organization based pop-up pantries, to a physical space in an old mailroom, to institutionalizing a centrally-located lounge, office, and food pantry with multiple refrigerators, freezers, shelves, and a sink. Partnerships were built between multiple non-profits in the community and on-campus student leadership to fully fund student workers and thousands of pounds of nutritious food a week, resulting in hundreds of thousands of food distributed to students, staff, faculty, and community members.
Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa, Mentoring Program, 2021-present
View students serve as AmeriCorps members mentoring first-year students to further retention efforts. Students serving in these AmeriCorps positions build leadership skills that will help them as they move into professional spaces. Grand View hosts one full-time member to create and coordinate retention efforts run by the part-time members. Site supervisor Heidi Pries states, “Because of the support of this program, we have been able to create initiatives that support retention efforts for our first-year students.”
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa VISTA Project 2021-2024
VISTA members at the University of Iowa have led efforts in expanding the reach and effectiveness of volunteer and service engagement advising, coordinating with community partners to identify service experiences that fit student skills, needs, and interests. VISTAs have collaborated with service-based student organizations to prepare students to engage in service projects throughout the year, and have expanded partnerships with area organizations and resources focused on financial literacy for students.
Are you a student looking for opportunities to engage in National Service? Check if one is available on your campus!
Mentoring Program – Participating Campuses
- Allen College
- Bright College at Drake University
- Buena Vista University
- Grand View University
- Mount Mercy University
Contact Carly Bahnsen to learn more.
Nonprofit and Public Sector Career Program – Participating Campuses
- Central College
- Grand View University
- Grinnell College
- Mount Mercy University
- University of Northern Iowa
Contact Kayla Lyftogt to learn more.
VISTA Community Corps – Participating Campuses & Community Partners
- Augsburg University, Food Access
- Bethel University, Community Partnerships and Communications
- The Bridge of Storm Lake, Community Youth Space
- Buena Vista University, Community Innovation
- Community Action Center, Food Access/Diaper Bank Support
- Concordia College-Moorhead, Basic Needs Network
- Inver Hills Community College, Food and Resource Center
- Metro State University, Transformation and Reentry through Education and Community
- St. Catherine University, Student Employment Programs
- University of Iowa, Volunteer Engagement
- University of Minnesota, Morris, Rural Food Security/Rural Education
- University of Northern Iowa & 415 Walnut Collective
- University of Northern Iowa & Iowa Nonprofit Alliance
Contact Adia Zeman Theis to learn more.
