Community Initiatives
The Jandon Center supports student engagement in meaningful community service work and leadership training that enhances the educational experience, meets community-identified needs, provides opportunities for reflection, and models collaborative and effective community partnerships. We encourage a lifelong commitment to community service and social action, with the goal of building bridges between diverse groups of people.
Smith Alliance for Justice & Equity
The Jandon Center is proud to announce the Smith Alliance for Justice & Equity (SAJE) Fellowship, a one-year experiential learning opportunity for Smith College students and community organizers to promote justice and equity in their communities. It involves coursework, community events, site visits and faculty/fellow research projects.
The 2021–22 SAJE Cohort
- Denielle Amparado ’23, Government
- Katlyn Andrade ’23J, Government
- Charlie Diaz ’22, Study of Women & Gender
- Abby Golden ’23, Studio Art
- Lucía González ’23, Government
- Lexi Luckett ’23J, Government
- Dori Mondon AC ’23, American Studies
- Maria Mutka ’22, Anthropology
- Claudia Olson ’23, Education and Child Study
- Lily Stowe-Alekman ’22, History
To learn more about the SAJE Fellowship, please contact Nancy Zigler, nzigler@smith.edu.
Data Science Corps
The Data Science Corps—Wrangle Analyze, Visualize (DSC-WAV) program provides a semesterlong opportunity for Five College students with an interest in data science to practice and develop their skills by providing data analysis and visualization support for local nonprofit organizations. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation and is a collaboration between Smith’s Department of Statistical and Data Sciences and the Jandon Center. DSC-WAV teams have worked with The Nature Conservancy, Valley Bikes, VentureWell, Girls Inc. of the Pioneer Valley and others. Read about recent projects in the Grécourt Gate. Interested in learning more or applying? Please contact Andrea Dustin, DSC-WAV coordinator at the Jandon Center, at adustin78@smith.edu.
Project SPARC
Project SPARC (Springfield Participatory Action Research Crew), funded by AmeriCorps, is an intergenerational team of young adults and invested members of the Smith College, Project Coach, Jandon Center and the New North Citizens’ Council community. In 2020, we recruited the first cohort of emerging adults for the Springfield Fellowship for Young Leaders. Through the summer and early fall of that year, fellows engaged in a series of remote leadership sessions designed to facilitate near-peer connections. We also provided opportunities for refection and long-term planning toward personal goals. Sessions included social capital building, financial literacy, strengths-finding and educational/vocational mapping.
Our Project SPARC young adult team expressed the desire to access community-based resources. A comprehensive guide to young adult life in Springfeld, Springfeld Choose Your Future, was designed and developed by our staff and student team. The guide lists over 30 Springfield-based organizations and networks. Resources include mental health services, scholarship portals and career training programs.
Currently, we’re invested in learning more about young people’s experience of life after high school, and how out-of-school programs can support that critical transition to adulthood. We are kicking off a spring research fellowship that will involve Smith students and faculty as well as youth and young adults in Springfield and Holyoke. Want to learn how to get involved? Please contact Erin DeCou, Project SPARC Program Manager, at edecou@smith.edu.
Smith Partnerships
We know that college-community partnerships not only sustain stronger communities and advance community goals, but they also support and advance our goals as an educational institution.
Project on Women & Social Change
The Smith Project on Women and Social Change is an interdisciplinary faculty research group that was founded in 1978.
Ireland: Overcoming Divided Histories
This project, coordinated by the Jandon Center and the Lewis Global Studies Center, involves examining different views of Irish identity and exploring how they are represented in the urban landscapes of Belfast and Dublin.
The group looks at ways in which artists and writers respond to divisions and then work together to propose alternative futures. Participants walk the streets of both cities, meeting local activists, artists and writers, and sampling local culture, with ample time for reflection and dialogue.
Student Spotlight
For Volunteers
Walking
If you don't drive there are several partnering agencies within walking distance or on a bus route. If you do walk, please be aware of your surroundings. Set up a time to talk with someone in the Jandon Center to find out about some of these opportunities.
Bus
If your community service activity is on a bus route, check the PVTA bus schedule.
Private Vehicle
The Jandon Center's transportation policy does not allow students to use their own private vehicle to drive other students or program participants for Jandon or CSO-sponsored community service projects.
Smith College Vans
The Jandon Center maintains four vehicles to assist students in getting to community service partner organizations, Jandon Center-related initiatives and projects, and religious services.
First-Time and Returning Users: before reserving a van, you must ensure that you are up to date on your Smith College Van Certification. Students are required to get recertified every school year. Please follow the steps below to begin or confirm your driver credentialing:
- Upload your information to this web page: Five College Driver Credentialing.
- Review this driver safety presentation: Driver Safety Presentation.
- Complete the defensive driving course available on this website: Five College Driver Safety Fundamentals.
Once you have completed these steps, you will be cleared to start driving Smith vans (both for the Jandon Center and any other Smith programs).
Reserving a Jandon Van:
- Complete this online form with the date of your trip so we can connect the reservation to your Smith email.
- Vans are not guaranteed until you have received an email confirmation.
- Be on the lookout for an individualized email confirming your scheduled day/time (recurring each week for weekly programs).
- Collect your key packet Monday-Friday between 9am and 4pm the week that you will be using the van.
Keys are located in the Jandon Center, room 013 on the lower level of Wright Hall. The Jandon Center vans are located in the Helen Hills Hills Chapel parking lot.
Before You Leave:
- You must complete the pre-visit form digitally using your phone (if you do not have a smartphone, one of your passengers can likely assist).
- Scan the QR code attached to the key using your camera app and complete the required fields.
- Only approved, certified drivers will be able to submit this form.
- You may only leave campus once the pre-visit form is submitted.
When You Return:
- Park in one of the four Jandon Center/CSO parking spaces in the Chapel parking lot.
- Check your email for the link to the post-visit form.
- You must complete this form immediately upon return from every trip, while still at the van, in order to accurately report the odometer reading.
- Return key and key packet in the Chapel dropbox or to the Jandon Center.
Chapel drop box is located on the outside of the chapel. Go down the external staircase located on the side of the building across from the van parking spots. The drop box is a mailbox-like slot in the lower level door. You may return key packs to the Jandon Center from Monday-Friday between 9am and 4pm.
If you will be working with children under 18, you must complete Minor Safety Certification and an in-person CORI certification with Ash Sabripour in the Office of Student Affairs. Make an appointment with Ash here.