Now more than ever, service is vital to public and not-for-profit organizations to meet the demands of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our communities faced challenges prior to Covid-19, but the loss of economic stability, school closures, and mental health issues has produced devastating effects on families and children. IMPACT can provide human and academic resources through service to address community needs and quality of life issues caused or worsened by Covid-19.

STUDENTS:

• All service done by students during the Fall 2020 semester will be virtual or remote. No in-person service will be permitted due to health, liability, and safety concerns.
• Students are required to complete service for certain course requirements and clubs.
• IMPACT service for fall 2020 could be:
  • Project based – work closely with an organization to address an identified community need. Examples include:
    • Website updates/development
    • Material/brochure creation
    • Provide feedback/edits for marketing materials
    • Awareness campaigns
    • Developing informational videos/holding webinars
    • Collecting resource information
  • Research based – identifying and/or addressing an identified community need
    • Data Collection and analysis
    • Development and distribution of surveys
    • Analysis of survey results
    • Reporting
  • Telehealth services – training and modeling
    • Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions.
  • Get out the Vote
    • Post reminders on social media, host virtual watch parties for Presidential debates, provide resources
  • Advocacy
    • Making factual videos about an issue
    • Sign/share a petition for a cause that matters to you
  • Online services:
    • Transcription services
    • Contribute Wikipedia content
    • Translation services

TRANSPORTATION: Will not be provided for students to ANY off-campus sites by the university. Group travel of any kind is not permitted for off-campus service activities.

FACULTY:

• Faculty incorporating service into coursework should consider:
  • Research based projects- working with partners on addressing community needs
  • Project-based learning – working with a community partner to address a community need remotely
  • Telehealth – distribution of health related services and information remotely/electronically
  • Resources –
    • Video series for focus area (e.g. parents, educators, community members, etc.)
    • Development of resource guides for the community or a partner organization
    • Updates on community issues that are affected by Covid-19.
    • Data collection on community issues

COMMUNITY PARTNERS:

• For safety and liability reasons, all service for NU students will be remote/virtual delivery for the fall 2020 semester. Please contact the IMPACT office with any remote opportunities that you may have for our students. We are also happy to work with you to co-create projects for students to participate in!

APPOINTMENTS: The IMPACT Office will still be available to meet with students, faculty, and community partners on an APPOINTMENTS ONLY basis. If a virtual meeting will suffice, it will be set up by the IMPACT office through Zoom. Please contact bdepietro@niagara.edu if you would like to schedule an appointment.