University campuses continue to be a cornerstone of Global Brigades
This is why strategic relationships between Chapters and their university communities are encouraged. While Global Brigades is not limited solely to the network of university volunteers, the organization is rooted in the momentum of students.
We highly encourage you to be officially affiliated with your school in some way. If you're running into roadblocks, let us know. We've worked with hundreds of universities across the country and would be happy to help.
University Recognition/Affiliation
Affiliating yourself with your university usually means that you have successfully created your Chapter of Global Brigades as a student organization, society, or club on campus. This means that your university has given you the green light to associate the university name with your Chapter/Brigade, and you can pursue opportunities to build on that relationship.
While less popular, some Chapters with high investment from the educational side of campus will have direct sponsorship or support from the associated academic department. That may include a College of Health Sciences or College of Business.
Either way, the process of registering as a student organization, society, or club is unique to each campus. Review available resources at your college or contact entities like your Division of Student Affairs or student government offices for more information. Many campuses also require collaboration with offices of international education or travel.
If you need a constitution for your newly founded university Chapter, here is a sample you can use!
Global Brigades strongly encourages Chapters to maintain positive and collaborative working relationships with their university. Benefits of a positive relationship include:
- New opportunities for additional funding resources.
- Reputation-building on campus.
- Opportunities to publicly advertise, fundraise, recruit, and book meeting spaces on campus.
- A natural source of volunteers, stakeholders, and recruitment opportunities between students, faculty, and staff.
Common barriers to successful Chapter development on the university level include:
- The volume of existing volunteer organizations on campus.
- A mistrust of volunteer organizations by campus officials.
- A belief that the campus is not a fertile ground for a Chapter.
This is why relationship-building is so essential when creating new spaces for volunteer opportunities within campus communities.
University Support From Faculty/Admin
Faculty and administrative support can take shape in a number of ways:
Faculty or Staff Advisors: To be recognized, most campuses require a faculty or staff member to be listed as a group advisor. This individual can play an active or passive role, so choose wisely. For the most return, we recommend choosing advisors who are engaged in the mission of Global Brigades and want to play an active role in your Chapter.
It's not required to have a staff member join you on a Brigade, but they can be a great resource. Keep advisors in the loop with all Chapter activities and connect them with our team so they can jump in when needed.
Faculty or Staff Champions: While they may not be your group’s advisor, building rapport with faculty champions can positively contribute to your Chapter’s success on campus. They can help highlight and promote your Chapter and help with recruiting by sharing information with their department and classes. They can talk you up to colleagues, connect you to other departments on campus, and support you with navigating administrative challenges if needed.
Building credibility with a network of faculty champions who may or not join you on a Brigade will help the long-term success of your Chapter.
Faculty-Led Brigades/Brigade For Academic Credit: Many faculty members understand the unique hands-on learning experience Global Brigades provides by connecting students to the world of international development work. For a more personalized approach to the global classroom, they may take the lead on a Brigade. These experiences may either be a way to earn academic credit on their own or build experience for academic credit back in the classroom.
University Support From International Service/Education Offices
Your campus Office of International Studies or Education is an essential component of building rapport and strong working relationships at your university. They can also help you navigate roadblocks as you recruit for an upcoming Brigade. You'll want to ensure your team is aware of university policies around travel and volunteerism abroad.
Generally, campus offices that work with international study or volunteerism experiences are available to work with students on addressing questions about how your time abroad could fit with your college experience. They may even be able to work with you around academic or service learning credits, depending on your focus area of study.
Our team is experienced with answering questions about risk and safety, which are often the biggest concerns of these campus groups.
Other Groups and Organizations
Finding like-minded groups or offices on campus will help build your audience, support recruitment and fundraising, and strengthen credibility as a student group. Focusing time and energy on relationships with other offices or organizations benefits the long-term sustainability and success of your Chapter.
Common opportunities for collaboration include:
Student Government: Learn about student organization funding support and opportunities for event sponsorship to support your organization.
Cultural Organizations: Partner with relevant cultural organizations to support pre-Brigade education on cultural overviews, context-setting, or language preparation. They can also be a resource for co-hosting events of partners in your recruitment efforts.
Alumni: Whether general college alumni or Chapter alumni, this group can be strong advocates for your Chapter and assist with fundraising and recruitment. Be sure to keep them engaged, involved, and interested in your Chapter’s activities.
Unaffiliated Chapters
Occasionally, a Chapter may opt to shy away from being recognized as a student organization through the university system. While we strongly encourage affiliation and formal organization recognition at your college, we understand that this may not always be possible.
Many Chapters become unaffiliated after frustrations or tarnished relationships with their university's administration. We recommend using available tools and contacting our staff to prevent this whenever possible.
Maintain strong university relationships and guarantee access to:
- A given support system and infrastructure on campus for recruitment, events, access to funds, and resources.
- Academic support from faculty, staff, and advisors to strengthen the credibility of your Chapter.
- A positive representation and presentation of Global Brigades with your campus.
