Jene Thomas – General Assignment Reporter
For the third year in a row, social work majors have been appointed as the head of the Service Commission here at Southern Connecticut State University.
“I heard this and thought ‘wow, that is so cool,’” said Dr. Elizabeth Rodriguez-Keyes, associate professor in the social work department.
The Service Commission is one of four commissions established under the Student Government Association. This commission has a group of students who serve local communities by planning service projects both on and off campus. The purpose is to, “educate the Southern Community on the importance of community service and to raise awareness about different issues,” according to the organization’s webpage on the Southern website.
Rodriguez-Keyes said current head of the commission, Annette Haller, brought it to her attention that two other social work majors held the position before she did.
By being a part of SGA, an election had to take place in order for Haller to be named the head of the service commission. However, she did not believe it was a coincidence that previous heads were also social work majors.
“I do have some ideas as to why that might be,” Haller said. “It’s just like the nature of the social workers to be really into helping people.”
As the social commissioner, Haller is responsible for the outreach aspect of volunteering. She makes contacts to community agencies and tries to collaborate with other campus organizations.
In her senior thesis, Haller is focusing on volunteering and studying the benefits of student volunteering. The group has held events, such as the Day of Service, where different organizations come out and provide a service for the community.
“Being the head of the service commission, in my opinion, should be the responsibility of someone passionate about social justice,” said Rose D’Amico, the most recent former head.
While attending Southern, she majored in social work as an undergraduate and continues to focus on social work through New York University’s master program.
She felt the service commission was a way that she could take on a leadership role, while still being a student. She said social workers try and create “evidence-based solutions for social issues anchored in need.”
As the service commissioner, she attempted to find what those needs might be at Southern and with in New Haven as a whole.
“Public change is not easy and is a constant progress,” she said. “This is why I was so thankful for someone like Annette to be in the position of commissioner after me. “
The people in the commission have worked together as a group on multiple projects “generated out of the common desire to do good,” according to D’Amico.
To be a social worker, one would need to work well with others, and D’Amico said those who served with her on either the executive board or as members, made that part easy. As a collective whole, those of whom she worked with during her time as the commissioner started the movement of what the service team did, is and will achieve. It’s an organization meant to be dedicated to the people and programs they interact with, help, and learn from.
“I enjoyed my time being part of the service commission,” she said, “because no matter what struggles we found along the way, I knew we were starting the creation of this hub of volunteer opportunities for a large number of people, something Southern had never had.”
