Americorp Vista position available
Apply to join the team as an AmeriCorp VISTA!
Duke and the CPC are excited to welcome a new VISTA to the team. The VISTA will work with pantry leadership and Duke administration to continue building food security resources on campus. Keep reading below for more information and the link to apply!
What is the AmeriCorp VISTA?
AmeriCorps brings people together to serve communities. AmeriCorps members serve directly with organizations and nonprofts to tackle our nation’s most pressing challenges.
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As part of the NC Hunger Corps, Duke's VISTA will be involved with the AmeriCorps mission to promote healthy futures. Specifically, the VISTA will work to build capacity within the university to improve student food security.
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Click here to download the brochure and learn more!
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More about the Duke Community Pantry VISTA
The GPSG Community Pantry sustains weekly programs to provide food items and prepared meals directly to students struggling to access food. Economic risk factors are among the most prevalent predictors for student food insecurity. These activities will increase the overall awareness of the issues and solutions to food insecurity, thereby leading to greater action among university affiliates and community organizations to address them.
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The projects outlined here are part of a university-wide initiative to end campus food insecurity. We anticipate these projects will be fulfilled over the course of 5 years at the minimum as we implement the five year Strategic Plan, and likely much longer beyond that as we seek to create a permanent stake in assessing and meeting student food needs regularly and often. Investing time, funds, and resources into the project are the GPSG, The Provost Office, Student Affairs, and the GPSG Community Pantry. We are optimistic the financial commitment of sustaining the Hunger Core VISTA program at our university will remain a top priority.
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Promoting awareness about campus food insecurity through events like the Food Insecurity Symposium have already proven successful at increasing university staff, administration, student, and faculty engagement with food security efforts on Duke’s campus. As a result of the VISTA’s involvement, we anticipate that existing efforts to increase education, awareness, and advocacy will be expanded as outlined above, thereby leading to even more engagement among university affiliates and community organizations. We also anticipate that the VISTA will significantly advance key aspects of the three- to five-year university strategic plan to end food insecurity on Duke’s campus, which will create sustainable, long-lasting solutions to improve food insecurity on campus and in the community.
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Keep scrolling to learn more about the specific project goals!
Project 1
Assess and track Duke student food insecurity trends and current Duke food insecurity programming to identify unmet student needs and areas where additional programming is needed to meet these unmet needs, at the University level and Pantry level. Develop ways to broadly share data on food insecurity with university administrators and Duke communitymembers. Ensure that the student voice is considered in the development of food insecurity resources.
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In close partnership with the Pantry leadership, develop and implement research plan(s) and tools to assess and track GPSG Community Pantry programming usage and success and student patron needs and preferences.
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The AmeriCorpsVISTA will work directly with members of the Pantry Executive Board Team and contacts within the university to provide direct outreach andinformation gathering from students experiencing food insecurity, ensuring that their perspectives and experiences are represented in campus work.
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In close partnership with university administration (e.g., Student Affairs, DukeReach, GPSG), contribute to the development and implementation of needs analysis, program analysis, and overall assessment of food insecurity among all Duke student populations (undergraduate, graduate, and professional students).
Project 2
​Raise awareness of campus food insecurity by establishing internal and external partnerships to create, execute, and improve food security programming. Successful creation and production of various educational opportunities for Durham/Duke community members to learn from local or national resources through lunch & learns, speaker opportunities, and events focused on raising awareness. Support the Food Security Action Team in the efforts of advancing the strategic plan.
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​Plan various educational opportunities for the campus community centered around raising awareness and capacity for food insecurity.
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Recruit speakers/develop educational opportunities
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Coordinate speakers and meetings to develop content (e.g., topics, speaker recruitment, audience)
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Facilitate logistical planning (e.g., fundraise, invite and pay speakers, select and manage vendors, work with UCAE Business and Finance team, etc.)
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Spearhead event communication (e.g., schedule meetings, email, promotion of events, etc.)
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Serve as support to advancing the goals of the Food Security Action Team
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Design and provide content for monthly newsletter to campus constituents on food security efforts at Duke.
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Provide administrative support as a member of the team to advance the goal of ending food insecurity at Duke.
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Partner with university resources to keep accurate online information for food insecurity resources for the purpose of integrating the information into university new student orientation programs/emails.
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Project 3
In collaboration with the GPSG Community Pantry, the AmeriCorps VISTA will improve access to and education about food assistance resources within the Durham and Duke community.
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The AmeriCorpsVISTA will assist DukeReach with the administration of the Feed Every Devil program, a food point donation program in its second year of launch.
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Provide representation, input, and stakeholder voice as part of the highly collaborative development team
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Assist with monthly reconciliation of accounts and partner with Duke Finance
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Assess effectiveness of the FED program through user surveys
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Develop and implement marketing and awareness campaigns for the FED program
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Research, assess, and create a proposal for administration that details the 5 year plan for the future needs of the GPSG Community Pantry, including space requirements, ideal locations, funding forecasting, possible growth trends, and volunteer recruitment. Advance new fundraising ideas through establishing partnerships with Alumni Engagement, Duke Student Affairs, and contacts within the graduate/professional schools within Duke.
Additional Position Details
Housing Stipend:
$400 per month
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Anticipated Schedule:
M-F, 8:30am - 5pm, some evenings and weekends
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Bridge Student and University Leadership:
The VISTA member will take part in a dual-supervision structure in order to expose the member to a university-wide network of collaborators and resources. The primary supervisor will be Carolyn Gilbert, Assistant Director of Graduate & Professional Student Services within the
Dean of Students Office. The VISTA member will meet one-on-one with Carolyn for professional development and mentorship once a week each month. Tiarra Wade,
Interim Associate Dean of Students, Director of DukeReach
will be the secondary supervisor to the VISTA member; meetings will occur once a week each month. Additional meetings between the VISTA member and the GPSG Pantry Executive Director will occur as necessary. The Executive Director can also attend the primary supervisory meetings as needed.