Support Future Leaders! Partner with us to mentor student volunteers in your organization through the VECT program.
Program Overview
VECT (Volunteer Experience and Career Training) is a co-curricular program where students gain experience volunteering in the non-profit or public sector, contribute to community initiatives, and enhance their career readiness. Students volunteer with an organization for a minimum of 30 hours. These positions are either coordinated through VECT or independently arranged by students (with approval from the VECT Coordinator). Students also complete orientation and training that supports their professional development and helps them reflect on their experience and articulate the transferable skills, knowledge, and attitudes they have developed. Students who successfully complete VECT receive formal recognition on their Professional Career Development Record (PCDR).
Through VECT, we:
match motivated students with volunteer activities or positions in the non-profit and public sectors in the Guelph-Wellington region,
provide resources and guidance to help ensure the experience is mutually beneficial for both students and the partner organizations,
provide students with training and coaching about the principles of community-engaged work and workplace professionalism, and,
help students reflect on their experience and effectively communicate how the experience supports their career journey.
VECT aims to:
Contribute meaningfully to community initiatives,
Build students’ civic-mindedness and capacity for ongoing community engagement,
Contribute to students’ career readiness through paraprofessional opportunities in the non-profit and public sectors,
Enhance students’ sense of belonging on campus and in the community, and,
Expand students’ personal and professional networks.
The VECT Coordinator works with interested organizations to identify volunteer opportunities that:
address a wide range of community needs,
align with the needs of students and the organization,
are in-person (or hybrid) and are accessible by public transit, and,
can provide students with feedback and coaching from a placement supervisor.
Students complete an application process, which includes submitting a resume and completing an interview.
Organizations may either interview interested candidates or have us match students to your volunteer position, based on the position description and requirements you provide.
Students begin volunteering at the end of the first month of the academic term (September, January, May).
Students complete at least 30 hours of volunteer work with your organization. Depending on your organization’s onboarding process and volunteer needs (and students’ availability), students may complete the VECT program requirements in one or two semesters.
At the end of the VECT experience, students have formalized opportunities to reflect on what they learned and developed through the experience, with support from their volunteer supervisor and the VECT Coordinator.
If the experience was mutually beneficial, students are encouraged to continue volunteering independently with your organization after the program ends.
Before an organization can host VECT students the organization needs to review and sign a form that outlines responsibilities and requirements.
Organizations need to create a profile on our Experience Guelph portal.
For each volunteer opportunity, the organization must complete a job posting on Experience Guelph and have the position approved by our VECT Coordinator. The deadline to submit postings is three weeks before the term begins (mid-December for winter, mid-April for Spring/Summer, and mid-August for Fall).
Identify a supervisor for the volunteer who will:
Provide an orientation to the organization,
Offer formative and summative coaching and feedback,
Complete a brief evaluation at the end of the student’s experience,
Verify the students’ volunteer hours.
Have questions or want to get involved?
Please reach out to the VECT Coordinator at vect@uoguelph.ca.