Community Collaboration Partners

We work to improve the quality and depth of the RIT’s impact on the greater Rochester area by partnering with community non-profits and service providers to offer our students opportunities to engage the broader community.

The Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement primarily collaborates with community agencies that:

• Are 501(c)3 Nonprofit Agencies;
• Share and support the mission of the University to provide students with experiential offerings that cultivate global citizens and leaders;
• Have well defined mission statements and a commitment to local impact;
• Foster an environment of mutual respect, diversity, and inclusion for local and global cultures;
• Offer meaningful, positive experiences – both educational and social – that will enhance the education of our students and promote our mission;
• Dedicate the majority of their efforts to direct service and programming; and,
• Can provide a contact person to serve as the liaison between the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement and the agency.

Volunteer
An RIT student looking for ways to get involved with the Rochester community by offering their time and skills through one-time, short-term, or long-term service.

Community Service
Opportunities for volunteers to perform a task(s) that benefits the local or global community. These foundational experiences build connections between outside experience and individual academic interests.

Asset-Based Collaboration
Whether working to clean the city’s parks, support youth development, or sort through donated food items, the most powerful collaborations build relationships grounded in the strengths of every individual, association, and institution involved. RIT’s collaboration with community organizations will identify these internal strengths and utilize them to produce mutually beneficial outcomes.

Outcomes of collaboration are twofold:

• To aid in addressing needs of the Rochester Community; and,
• To create experiential learning opportunities or RIT students. 

The Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement supports these objectives by treating each collaboration with diligence and maintaining regular communication. Agency’s interested in collaborating with us are encouraged to contact the office directly to set up an initial meeting before completing any paperwork.

Initial meetings involve:

• Identifying the goals and measurable outcomes for the collaboration;
• Identifying the strengths and needs of each organization; and,
• Outlining the roles, norms, and processes for the relationship.

Collaborating with the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement means working toward reciprocated benefits and greater community impact. The department will help agencies recruit volunteers for short-term and one-time events or programs as well as longer-term opportunities.

In a long-term community collaboration will:

• Continue to shape asset-based collaborations by building on talents and highlighting past success;
• Revisit goals while creatively addressing challenges or barriers as a group; and,
• Engage in open, honest, and frequent communication.

• Provide agencies with a large group of 20 volunteers through our Into the ROC program;
• Invite agencies to campus to educate RIT students on organizational missions or efforts at the Bi-Annual Community Service Fair; and,
• Support the recruitment of student volunteers for service opportunities.

1. Contact lead@rit.edu to schedule an initial 20-30 minute conversation. This preliminary meeting gives both parties an opportunity to learn about each other and to begin a dialogue about mutually beneficial outcomes from a collaboration.
2. Following this initial conversation, complete the Request for Collaboration form being certain to indicate if you're seeking a short-term (one-year) or long-term (greater than one-year) collaboration.

Volunteer Opportunity Request serves dual purposes: to assist students in finding a purposeful placement in the community while meeting the volunteer needs of an agency. In order to request student volunteers, Community Collaborations must fill out the Volunteer Request form. There are three types of volunteer placements:

• One-time placements: Neighborhood clean-ups, large philanthropic events, fundraisers, festivals, large scale projects, and other events where agencies need a lot of helping hands with no regular commitment
• Ongoing placements: For students who are willing to make a long-term commitment to an organization. Helping in a consistent manner, helping develop a specific program, or contributing their talents as they dive deeper into an agency’s mission
• Group Projects: Provide student groups direct access to the organization where they can work together in serving the community

Submit a request for volunteers