Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA member, Jacob Lau at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, is developing and expanding support for college students, particularly low-income and first-generation college students, through his work with the Civic Scholars Leadership program. The high-impact civic engagement program helps students develop the knowledge and skills necessary for civic leadership and academic success. Over the course of his service year, Jacob gave over 20 recruitment presentations to first-year students which led to over 100 students providing their contact information to apply to the program. As a result, the 2023-2024 cohort will be the largest in the program’s four-year history.
As an alumnus of the Civic Scholars Leadership program, Jacob understands how beneficial the program is to college students and is honored to be able to give back to the program that gave him so much. In addition to his role as a co-teacher for the program, Jacob also contributed to administrative projects such as the Carnegie application and recruitment efforts. “I love being able to dip my toes in so many different projects as it’s giving me a better idea of things I might want to do in my career,” Jacob shared. Throughout his service year, he has been able to form connections and establish contacts within the community that can be called upon in the future.
As a result of the positive experience he’s had as a VISTA member, Jacob has decided to complete a second year of service with the project. His goal is to enroll in the Masters of Public Administration program at UW-Green Bay this fall while continuing to develop and expand the Civic Scholars Leadership program. During his second year, Jacob hopes to complete the program evaluation which will examine the program’s impact and use the results to further meet the needs of the community. Jacob will also assist The Center for Civic Engagement while they launch a community-engaged learning house off-campus, that would house 12 students and provide them with holistic support throughout the duration of the program. Jacob is excited about the road ahead and is looking forward to continuing to increase sustainability and capacity for his project.