RVCC Students Earn Credits While Serving the Community!
Do you like volunteering in your community? Are there particular community issues that you’d like to help solve? Would you like to serve your community while you earn college credits toward a degree or certification? You can through Raritan Valley’s Community College’s award-winning Service Learning Program! As a national leader in service learning, RVCC has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll many times and recognized with the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement. As you review your options, be sure to choose a school that not only offers you a quality education at an affordable price, but also gives you an opportunity to serve and better your community. Apply to RVCC now!
Get Involved with Community Issues
Each year, more than 1,000 RVCC students contribute an impressive 50,000 hours of service to a variety of community partner organizations. RVCC’s Service Learning Program can provide you with unique, real-world opportunities to apply classroom learning. RVCC students have addressed such critical issues as hunger, homelessness, illiteracy, environmental stewardship, domestic violence, substance abuse and animal welfare. Learn more!
Help the Community as You Learn
As part of a service learning project, RVCC’s Cosmetology and Esthetics students mobilized within the community to raise awareness about sexual assault on college campuses. The students participated in a domestic violence training conducted by the non-profit organization, Safe in Hunterdon, where they learned the signs and symptoms of domestic violence and what can be done to help victims. Then, the students created a service learning project that engaged local salon owners and stylists to become involved in the fight against domestic violence. They also invited beauty professionals to attend a domestic violence training workshop focusing on how to recognize the signs of abuse and how to refer victims to seek help. By emphasizing high quality education, customer service skills and awareness, RVCC’s Cosmetology curriculum uses an interventionist approach in the area of sexual assault, empowering students to confront the complexities of sexual assault together with the beauty community.
Joining the College’s efforts to serve the community, RVCC’s Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) students participated in Backpack Awareness Day in which the RVCC students observed how the children put on and took off their backpacks. The bags were weighed and measured to determine whether it was an appropriate weight and size for the child. Then, the OTA students educated the preschool staff about the importance of a proper fitting backpack.
RVCC’s Athletes Team up with the Community!
Throughout the year, RVCC Athletics makes a powerful impact in the community! RVCC’s Women's Soccer team hosts high school recruitment tournaments and collects canned goods and clothing for the RVCC Food Pantry and Resource Center. And, the Men's Basketball team partners with local schools for literacy events. During the holidays, the Women’s Volleyball and Men's & Women's Basketball teams have partnered with United Way of Hunterdon and Main Street Half Marathon of Hunterdon providing Christmas wrapping services. And, the College’s Baseball Team assists with the Annual Christmas Tree Sale Fundraiser benefitting local children.
RVCC Clubs Connect to the Community
RVCC Clubs also do their part in the community! The Student Government Organization partnered with the non-profit, Soles4Souls, collecting 1,740 pairs of shoes that were distributed for global relief. Members of the Rotaract Club also traveled to Nepal where they delivered supplies to schools and orphanages in need and visited children who had lost their parents in the earthquake.
RVCC’s Service Learning Program and other examples of volunteerism on campus benefit the community, students and the College, contributing to its success, recognition and sustainability. Learn more about Service Learning at RVCC!
About RVCC
RVCC has been ranked the best community college in NJ by BestColleges.com, WalletHub.com, Schools.com, and Niche.com. Washington Monthly ranked RVCC eighth in the country in the category of “Best Colleges for Adult Learners (2 Year Colleges)” for 2018. As a leading state college in New Jersey, RVCC serves students locally from Somerset County and Hunterdon County, across the country, and around the world, offering top degree programs and the best local career training. For information, visit www.raritanval.edu.
