Students looking to get some insight and first-hand experience with the nonprofit world do not need to look far. A new club, the Nonprofit Student Association hopes to bring resources to and open doors for Seton Hall's socially-minded.
"Our main goal is to help students learn more about the nonprofit sector; what it is like to work at a nonprofit organization and what resources and opportunities are available to students interested in the sector," said Kathryn Leininger, senior and president of the organization.
Leininger said she hopes that the NPSA will also help "foster collaboration" between different organizations on campus.
"I would like to really become the go-to student resource on campus for students looking to learn more about working in the sector," she said.
According to Leininger, the club is aiming to work with locally-based nonprofits and currently in the process of identifying potential partner organizations for the semester. Students who attend the meetings and hope to participate in the nonprofit partnership are welcome to provide input regarding the specific organizations, support areas and guest speakers NPSA is looking to bring to campus.
Leininger, who is a diplomacy major with a minor in nonprofit studies, said that she first became interested in working in the nonprofit world after volunteering at the Jacksonville, Florida based nonprofit, Children's Home Society.
"After volunteering for several years with a local children's home I got to see first-hand the challenges and the rewards of working with a nonprofit," she said. "There are just a lot of interesting developments in the sector right now and now, with the way things are developing in terms of rapid expansion of technology, I just think it is a really exciting time to get involved. "
NPSA will hold its first meeting on Tuesday Sept. 13 at 8:30 p.m.
Dr. Roseanne Mirabella, Director the Nonprofit Studies Program, will speak about the Nonprofit Studies minor. She will also discuss a summer 2012 study abroad opportunity in Italy, which will include a course on Philanthropy and Christianity in addition to student participation in the bi-annual International Society for Third Sector Research conference. For more information on the conference, students can visit http://istr.org/.
For more information about NPSA, students can follow their blog at http://npsa.tumblr.com/
Alyana Alfaro can be reached at alyana.alfaro@student.shu.edu
