常见问题

No. Service hours must be earned from monthly, individual (e.g., 个人服务 or 个人途径), or annual (e.g., #1Day4Dallas, Alternative Breaks) service opportunities hosted or supported by 与达拉斯.

 If you wish to use a combination of external volunteer hours 和 与达拉斯 hours, you may 提交请愿书 to the Office of General Education for the Community Engagement proficiency.

这是可能的. While 与达拉斯 is the most readily available way for you to earn these proficiencies, 其他组织，如 山顶的学者 和 野马的英雄 提供获得熟练程度的方法.

与达拉斯 strives to make the process as simple as possible. By following the 参与达拉斯帆布课程, you are completing the necessary academic work required for approval of the Community Engagement or Civics 和 Individual Ethics Proficiency 和 Experience. 与达拉斯 also organizes the service events so you can volunteer with students in your Residential Commons.

是的，你有几个选择! 与达拉斯 has three types of direct service that may be available to do on your own:

• 个人服务. Short volunteer projects done on your own with one of your Residential Commons' Community Partner(s). 

• 例如:在周六打包食物, provide afterschool tutoring on Tuesday afternoons, 在食品储藏室工作, 星期二早上接电话

• 个人途径. 时间的承诺, 通常是5 - 20小时, to volunteer with one of your Residential Commons Community Partners. Usually, this type of service requires a specific skill or passion.

• Ex: redesigning a non-profit partners website, designing a marketing campaign for a large-scale fundraising event

• 实习. Summer commitments to serve with one of your commons Community Partners. 实习 are paid experiences 和 do not count towards your required proficiency hours.

• Ex: serving as a social media coordinator for a STEM education program

和你的朋友谈谈。 联络达拉斯主任 about opportunities that may be available with your community partners. 我们也在 参与达拉斯帆布课程 under your Residential Commons group within the 找到机会 模块.

For general engagement hours, students can complete supplemental training in the 参与达拉斯帆布课程 在任何时候.

Students are encouraged to volunteer within their Residential Commons. If you unable to attend the service events hosted within your Commons, talk to your 联络达拉斯主任 about opportunities available to complete service on your own or with another Commons.

请注意, while we do allow students to serve with another Commons, students that reside or are affiliated with the host commons will have priority if the service event is full.

一般来说,是的. If the participant needs to arrive late or leave early, 视事件而定, the student may be able to drive themselves, 使用拼车服务, 或者拿一个 DART火车或公共汽车. 和你的朋友谈谈。 联络达拉斯主任 关于你的具体情况.

No. A student may participate in a general engagement opportunity 在任何时候.

No. We prioritize direct service as being interactions with members of the South 和 West Dallas community. 

教师 who are interested in supporting 与达拉斯 within their coursework, 可以通过各种方式做到这一点吗. 如:

• Encouraging students to participate in a monthly service opportunity or an individual pathway.
• 教师 can select a community partner to work with for a semester, 和 we help to facilitate the partnership based on the course objectives 和 community partner missions..
• 教师 are also welcome to use 与达拉斯 Canvas materials to supplement their teaching.
• 教师 can participate in research related to 与达拉斯 topics 和 small research grants may be available.

If you would like to get connected, please email 与达拉斯 at: engagedallas@mail.ap-db.com

We are developing an hour-checker tool w在这里 you can request the number of direct 和 general engagement hours you've accrued at services events organized by 与达拉斯. 稍后再来看看!

请注意, solo service 和 individual pathways service hours are not reflected in the report. 请在此索取报告.

If you are using these service hours for the Community Engagement 和/or Civics & Individual Ethics proficiencies, be sure to use the Engagement Hours Log form (在Canvas中可用). You are responsible for tracking your service hours to submit when you apply for your degree requirement.

Service opportunities are published on your Residential Common’s SMU 360 webpage. You can find all 与达拉斯 service events listed on SMU360, filtered by the 与达拉斯 类别.

Individual service opportunities like 个人服务, 个人途径, 和 the Internship Program are shared through the 参与达拉斯帆布课程 under your Residential Commons' homepage within the 找到机会 模块.

Community Partners were interviewed 和 selected based on several factors including:

• The partner’s capacity for volunteer service
• SMU’s ability to provide volunteer service to the partner
• The partner’s alignment with one of the residential commons’ social problems
• The geographic location in South 和 West Dallas that the partner serves

查看完整 我们的社区伙伴名单.

When 与达拉斯 was launched in Fall 2020, research 和 focus groups were conducted within each Residential Commons to underst和 which Community Identified Need mattered most to those students 和 the Residential Commons’ identities.

Community Identified Needs w在这里 also selected with consideration to providing the greatest impact to Dallas, utilizing the Dallas’ Resilience strategies, 和 community partners present in Dallas 和 capacity for students to volunteer 和 serve.

与达拉斯 does not promote any specific political agenda. 学生可能会遇到演讲者, 其他的志愿者, or neighbors who may share their opinions, 包括政治性的.

在这种情况下, it is important to recognize the value of having civil 和 constructive conversations, even those w在这里 differing opinions may be shared.

The 2-in-2 is an 与达拉斯 pathway that allows students to earn two of the required proficiencies within their first two years at SMU. Through sustained participation in 与达拉斯, 在两年的时间里, 学生可以同时获得公民学 & Individual Ethics 和 Community Engagement proficiencies required for graduation.

了解更多 在这里.

For those seeking to only earn the community engagement proficiency through 与达拉斯, 10 hours of direct service 和 five additional hours of direct service or general engagement (which can be done online) must be completed, 共15个工作小时.

For those seeking to only earn the Civics 和 Individual Ethics proficiency through 与达拉斯, 15 general engagement hours must be earned, which can be done fully online through the 参与达拉斯帆布课程.

For those seeking to earn both the Community Engagement 和 Civics & Individual Ethics proficiencies through 与达拉斯, we encourage participation in the 2-in-2. 通过这个途径, students are required to complete 10 hours of direct service, 和 20 hours of either general engagement or direct service, 或者两者的结合. 了解更多 在这里.

Before a student can participate in direct service, t在这里 are a few requirements that must be completed first:

1. 登录到Canvas: Don't see the course on your Canvas dashboard? Request the 与达拉斯 Canvas course be added to your account.
1. 首先, 登录到Canvas.
2. Use your SMU ID 和 password as your login.
3. Select the 参与达拉斯帆布课程 on your dashboard.
2. 看 最基本的 视频: Mustangs that join 与达拉斯 must underst和 the basics of the initiative 和 how we approach our work together.
3. 完成 奠定基础 培训: We want to be helpful 和 not harmful in your service to the West 和 South Dallas community. Once you complete the learning 模块s in Canvas, you will see a flashing banner. At this point you are eligible to participate in direct service.

Each Residential Commons’ community identified need is intended to be a long-term commitment to the community that grows stronger over time. Community identified needs are in在这里ntly designed to address systemic 和 chronic problems our Dallas neighbors face.

Many of these problems have been present for decades. By actively focusing on one community-identified need, each Commons is positioned to provide a greater impact to the community over time.

请注意, community-identified needs are reviewed every five years 和 necessary adjustments are made based on the changing needs of the community, though many of the community-identified needs will remain.

与达拉斯 focuses on serving the following zip codes: 

• 75212 -西达拉斯
• 75215 – Cedars/South Blvd, Park Row/Wheatley Place
• 75210 -公平公园
• 75227 – Riverway Estates/Bruton Terrace/Parkdale
• 75217 -普莱森特格罗夫

当“交战达拉斯”开发出来的时候, extensive research was conducted into the areas of Dallas w在这里 the greatest impact could be made. We used city data 和 reports to identify communities with the greatest identified needs.

Focusing on an established geographic area can make it much easier to decide w在这里 to deploy resources 和 which partnerships to prioritize 和 thus increase the ability to form strong 和 sustainable partnerships of greater value to all stakeholders.

Transportation to monthly service events will be provided in the form of either car-pooling or ride share. 然而, participating in a solo-service or individual pathway, students will be responsible for their own transportation.