Campus group offers students real-world work experience in non-profit management to prepare them for careers in the service field.
By Juana Diego
Staff Writer
Like those belonging to so many other campus groups, members of American Humanics (AH) Scholars literally put their best foot forward on Sept. 6 when they participated in Step Forward Day.
However, there is no other club on campus that is quite like AH Scholars, which seeks to give students interested in pursuing careers in service a jumpstart in the field.
The official mission of the newly reorganized AH Scholars can be found in its brochure:
“The AH Scholars is an alliance of dedicated students, community leaders and national non-profit organizations committed to a higher-standard of excellence in non-profit leadership. We exist to maximize social goods and to strengthen the community by developing students for careers in service.”
The AH Scholars program offers a certificate in non-profit management and a non-profit minor.
To receive the certificate, a student must be an active member of AH Scholars for at least three semesters, attend a non-profit career fair or roundtable, attend certain workshops in the Seaver Career Center, attend AH’s annual national conference and perform 300 hours of work experience in non-profit organizations (a minimum of 180 hours of this must be completed in an internship with a non-profit organization). The minor offers the internships and the class requirements.
“The difference is that the certification offers students the actual experience of working in non-profit organizations as well as the classes, the minor only offers the classes and the internship,” said Michael Sprague, recruitment and events coordinator for AH Scholars.
Another difference is that those who receive the certificate have worked with AH Scholars National Non-profit partners such as American Red Cross, Camp Fire USA and March of Dimes.
According to Regan Schaffer, assistant professor of Management andthe adviser for the non-profit minor, the partners have essentially said, “If you have a Pepperdine student with a Non-Profit Management certificate, we will give them priority in hiring them.”
Participants questioned how certain a students should be of f his or her futurein non-profit management before committing to the minor.
“I think it is relevant,” Schaffer said. She said if students are not ready to add the minor, they should “be involved in community service, but keep us in your radar.”
Before the non-profit management minor became official, students who wanted to minor in such a field minored in youth and human services. The new minor, with its required classes, meets the competencies of the old one and adds a leadership component as well.
AH is now recruiting students for this new academic year.
“At this point there is no certain GPA as to determine who can be in AH,” Schaffer said. “We are targeting freshmen, although we’ll take students at any time.”
September 25, 2003