Community Service Work Study
If you were awarded Federal Work Study in your financial aid package you will notice that it is broken down into two different funds, Federal Work Study and Community Service Work Study.
The reason for this break down is the Federal Government requires that all schools who participate in the Federal Work Study program must have a minimum of 7% of those funds earned by students while completing community service work.
This site is meant as a guide to help you better understand the program, what is required of you, and how you can complete those requirements.
If at any time you have questions regarding the community service work study program please contact the Office of Financial Aid by email at finaid@wpi.edu or call us at +1-508-831-5469.
- How are Community Services Defined?
- What is available for Community Service Work Study at WPI?
- How many hours am I required to work?
- What happens if I do not complete my community service requirement?
- Can I do anything I want for community service?
How are Community Services Defined?
Below is an excerpt from the Department of Education's Student Financial Aid handbook, describing some general guidelines about community service work study.
Community services are defined as services that are identified by an institution of higher education through formal or informal consultation with local nonprofit, government, and community-based organizations, as designed to improve the quality of life for community residents, particularly low-income individuals, or to solve particular problems related to their needs. These services include:
- such fields as health care, child care, literacy training, education (including tutorial services), welfare, social services, transportation, housing and neighborhood improvement, public safety, crime prevention and control, recreation, rural development, and community improvement;
- work in service opportunities or youth corps as defined in Section 101 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990, and service in the agencies, institutions, and activities designated in Section 124(a) of that act;
- support services for students with disabilities (including students with disabilities who are enrolled at the school)*;and
- activities in which an FWS student serves as a mentor for such purposes as tutoring (see "Employing reading and mathematics tutors," in this chapter), supporting educational and recreational activities, and counseling, including career counseling.
To be considered employed in a community service job for FWS purposes, an FWS student does not have to provide a "direct" service. The student must provide services that are designed to improve the quality of life for community residents or to solve particular problems related to those residents' needs. A school may use its discretion to determine what jobs provide indirect or direct service to the community.
What is available for Community Service Work Study at WPI?
You have two different options available to you to complete your community service requirement.
Most students will complete their community service work study requirement by partaking in several different service opportunities over the academic year, a few hours at a time. Some examples of these activities might be a working at a blood drive, organizing and running a food drive for a local food pantry, volunteering time with local schools to provide math or reading tutoring service etc. For a list of local companies already approved by Student Activities please visit the listing on their site.
The other option for students is to earn their full work study award (Federal Work Study and Community Service Work Study combined) while working in one of several, year long job opportunities. A listing of these current locations can be found on the Student Activities department website.
How many hours am I required to work?
The $150 in community service work study awarded to you represents a total of 15 hours of work (paid at $10/hour) that needs to be performed any time between the beginning of A term and the end of D term.
What happens if I do not complete my 15 hours of community service between terms A-D?
Unfortunately, if you do not complete your 15 hours of community service during the academic year (terms A-D), your federal work study and community service work study will not be renewed for future academic periods.
Can I earn more than my $150 Community Service Work Study award?
You can not earn more than your $150 community service work study award. Any hours worked above the required 15 hours is considered voluntary service. The only exception to this rule is a student who is employed in one of the year long community service positions through the WPI Student Activities Office.
Can I do anything I want for community service?
There will be several opportunities during the academic year that will be organized by departments on campus, such as Student Activities that will be pre-authorized opportunities.
If you do not find that you can take part in these opportunities, students can find their own opportunities. However, before you begin any community service job, it must be pre-approved by the WPI Office of Financial Aid.
You can download a Federal Work Study Community Service Pre-approval Form [PDF], complete it and turn it into the WPI Office of Financial Aid. The form must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the start of the community service opportunity.
Once you've completed a pre-approved community service job you will need to have your supervisor complete a Community Service Work Study Completion Form [PDF]. Completion forms that are not turned in within two weeks of the date that work was completed will result in the student not being paid for the hours and the hours not counting toward the 15 hours of required service.
If a volunteer opportunity is not pre-approved by our office you will not be paid for work performed.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: September 10, 2009 16:26:40