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Free college tuition highlights a new volunteer program
By John Carey
and Bonnie K. BURMAN
It can be said that a community’s most valuable assets are its elders, with their years of experience and wisdom, and its youth, who represent a vibrant future filled with opportunity.
The elders of the Mahoning Valley have helped build the region into what it is today, using their expertise in business, industry, innovation, and community involvement to bring new life to this part of Ohio. Continued prosperity will depend on future generations, which can learn from their elders while charting their own course for success.
It is with this mindset that we launch GIVE back. GO forward, a joint initiative of the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the Ohio Department of Aging. Through this new program, elders age 60 and older will “give back” to the community by volunteering at least 100 hours per year at one of three organizations identified by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber as benefiting from their service. Once volunteers have tallied 100 hours of service, they will earn a three-hour college tuition waiver at either Youngstown State University or Eastern Gateway Community College, which they can keep to use themselves or gift to a current or future college student to help him or her “go forward.”
The idea of earning free college tuition for volunteering has been championed by Gov. John R. Kasich, who knows the value of giving back to the local community and the benefits of bringing generations together. The Youngstown area was chosen as the first region to host a GIVE back. GO forward program, thanks to an overwhelming willingness to participate from Youngstown State, Eastern Gateway, the chamber, and the volunteer organizations.
United Way programs
Prospective volunteers will donate their time to two local United Way programs – Success By 6 and Success After 6 – as well as Inspiring Minds, which seeks to engage, empower, and inspire youth to reach their full potential. All three programs will use their elder volunteers to give youth the opportunity to be successful in their school years and beyond. It’s a win-win for everyone involved – elders will feel valued and experience the health benefits of volunteering as they donate time to a local organization, and students, including those who may not have thought it possible to go to college, will have experienced mentors to guide them and receive an extra push to jumpstart their future in the form of free college credit.
Youngstown State and Eastern Gateway will each offer 50 tuition vouchers during the first year of GIVE back. GO forward. Up to 100 new volunteers have from until June 30, 2016, to serve their 100 hours and earn their tuition waiver. Volunteers can receive one tuition waiver per year, and it must be used within five years of receiving it. More than one volunteer can donate a tuition waiver to the same student, but a student cannot receive more than two waivers – the equivalent of six credit hours – per year.
The GIVE back. GO forward. initiative will officially be launched during an event at Youngstown State on Monday. From there, Inspiring Minds and the United Way will begin accepting applications for new volunteers.
Government website
You can learn more about GIVE back. GO forward. at www.ohiohighered.org/gbgf. We are eager to see this program in action in the Mahoning Valley, and it is our hope that we can replicate it in other regions of the state and show that we can go forward only when we make time to give back to others.
John Carey is chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education; Bonnie K. Burman is director of the Ohio Department of Aging.