Department of Student Engagement

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Commitment to Service Award Program

Group shot of Commitment to Service winners wearing caps and gowns at Commencement

The Commitment to Service Award Program (CTSA) encourages students to engage in community service further impacting their Brandeis experience while addressing community needs. Service will be used as a means to explore careers, apply course work, fulfill personal values, and develop meaningful relationships. The program will encourage students to track their volunteer hours, adding many benefits to the community and university, while offering an opportunity to celebrate our student’s commitment to social justice and service deepening the roots of their journeys beyond Brandeis. Students who reach different tiers of hours logged will receive a Commitment to Service medal to wear at graduation.

We encourage all Brandeis undergraduate students to register for the program and to regularly track their hours even if they don't think they'll reach one of the awarded hour levels, as there are many benefits to students, as listed below.

All service hours submitted for this program must fall within the umbrella of the Brandeis University Mission and Diversity Statements. In particular hours must support the values of inclusivity, civility, diversity, respect and safety.

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Awards

Gold: 900 hours of service
Silver: 600 hours of service
Bronze: 300 hours of service

Students will be awarded their medals at the Celebration of Service event and are encouraged to wear their service medals during commencement ceremonies as well as indicate this distinctive honor on their resumes.

Past Award Winners

Reasons to Participate

Deepen your impact with a holistic service approach.
Receive a Commitment to Service medal to wear at graduation.
Denote this prestigious honor on your resume.
Explore and develop leadership through intentional reflection and relationship building.
Have your service hours formally documented for graduate school, jobs and internship applications.
Help Brandeis achieve national honors and awards.
Tracking hours aids in the receipt of grants and funding for future service opportunities.
Make a local and global impact.
Take pride in and celebrate your community organizing and impact.
Benefit from special programs for all program participants.
Formally commit to the social justice mission of Brandeis University.
Have your name posted as recipient on the Department of Community Service website.
Help support Brandeis University’s Mission and Diversity statements, in particular, Brandeis’ commitment to social justice.

Registration and Requirements

All undergraduate students tracking hours on EngageDeis are automatically enrolled in the CTSA program.

Note: ONLY hours entered into the Brandeis University Community Service Tracking Hours System (EngageDeis) will count toward award hours requirements.

Students in their senior year at Brandeis will be asked to submit a brief reflection essay to qualify for the CTSA award. Students must document Community Service Hours regularly (at least monthly) on EngageDeis.

Award Program Reflection Essay

Students who do reach one of the awarded hour levels are required to submit a reflection essay at the end of their senior year to complete the program. Written reflection is a powerful way to document your learning and enhance your service experience.

We encourage you to complete this reflection at any point during your experience where you felt the greatest amount of development. Please do not save this to the very end.

Please use the questions below as a guide for writing your reflection essay. In addition to reflecting on your service work, please reference the Commitment to Service program in your essay and how your enrollment in the program contributed to your overall experience while at Brandeis.

Content

What were your main service activities during your college career? What are some of the highlights of your service experiences?
What prompted your decision to log your service hours with the CTS Program? What impact has participating in this program had on you?
What is the most significant thing you have learned a) about yourself and b) about the community in which you served through your service endeavors?
How will you continue to stay engaged in service after graduation?
How has your volunteer work impacted your values or career path?
Tell us a story about the connection you made during you service experience that has most significantly impacted you.

Format and Submission

Please follow the format below when writing and submitting your reflection paper.

Essays should be no less than one page in length and should not exceed three pages.
The font should be 12 point Times New Roman.
The essays can be single spaced or 1.5 spaced.
Use standard one inch margins.
Make sure that your full name is included at the top of the essay.
Use the following file naming convention when saving your essay" “LastNameFirstInitial.ReflectionEssay.MMYY.” For example, “BleckerE.ReflectionEssay.0417” “McNamaraK.ReflectionEssay.1216” or “MaloL.ReflectionEssay.0317”.
Submit both a Word version and a PDF version of your essay.

Reflection essays can be emailed to the Department of Community Service. The essay is a required component in order to receive your CTS medal. We look forward to reading about your service experience!

Professional Development

Dozens of former CTS Program participants have shared with the Department of Community Service how valuable logging their service hours with the CTS Program was for their professional development. Below are some examples of language that you might use to highlight your service hours on your resume or in a cover letter.

Cover Letter

I am a BA in Sociology Candidate with four years of experience spearheading new community service initiatives including ___. I have logged over XX hours with the Brandeis Commitment to Service Program.
I am a Brandeis Commitment to Service Program Gold Medal Winner. I have dedicated over XX hours to community service and secured XX in fundraising to support service projects.

Resume

Waltham Group Companions to Elders, Program Coordinator, 2013-2015

Committed over XX hours of community service to planning service activities at local assisted living facilities. Supervised a total of XX student volunteers.
Proven experience working with different stakeholders including campus and community partners.
Performed intake with over XX volunteer applications to assess applicant strengths and eligibility.
Collaborated with XX stakeholders to plan community fundraiser, resulted in $XXX raised for the program.
Managed program budget and made recommendations for how to cut costs and streamline spending.
Developed new marketing and communications plan resulting in an XX% increase in volunteer applications.

Framing Service Hours Not Logged with the CTS Program

There are many strategies that students can use to feature service hours on their resumes and in their cover letters that were not able to be counted toward the CTS program. It is important that students differentiate between hours that were logged with the CTS program and hours that were not able to be counted toward the program. Example language that can be used to differentiate includes:

I completed over XX hours of community service throughout my Brandeis career including XX hours logged with the Commitment to Service Program.
I committed a total of XX volunteer hours to the surrounding community throughout my time at Brandeis including XX hours with the Commitment to Service Program.

We strongly encourage all CTS Program participants to meet with the Hiatt Career Center to receive further guidance on their resumes and cover letters.