Civic Engagement Policies and Regulations

Definitions of Service

Community service is defined as services provided by a person or group to a community outside of the Florida Tech campus community
Campus service is defined as services provided by a person or group to the Florida Tech campus community
Philanthropy is defined as the act of donating money, goods, services, time, and/or effort to support a charity or foundation

Civic Engagement Tracking System

Students/faculty/staff members can input their community service, campus service or philanthropy dollars via Engage.
Students/faculty/staff members can view opportunities available to them on campus or in the community via the Service Opportunities and Civic Engagement Engage page.
Students/faculty/staff members can view their yearly amount of approved hours, lifetime amount of approved hours and groups with which they are affiliated.
Students/faculty/staff members can view award information.
Students/faculty/staff members can join a campus-affiliated group.

Agency Approval

For an agency to be listed on the Civic Engagement website, they must be a nonprofit, not-for-profit or governmental organization. To be a Community Partner with Civic Engagement at Florida Tech, organizations must visit the Civic Engagement website and submit a "Community Partner Application." Once their application is approved, the organization will join out list of approved agencies. If a student/faculty/staff members wants to add an agency in the Civic Engagement Tracking System, a student/faculty/staff member will need to have the partnering agency complete a Community Partnership application via the website. Once confirmed, the agency is added to the Civic Engagement Tracking System for students/faculty/staff members to document hours or philanthropy dollars. Please email civic@fit.edu with any questions or concerns with the approval process.

Agencies are reevaluated every May through June to make sure they are still a nonprofit, not-for-profit or governmental organization. If they are not, they are removed from the system.

Adding Civic Engagement Opportunities

For an agency to be allowed to submit an opportunity on the Civic Engagement Tracking System, they must be an approved agency listed on our website or tracking system. To add an event, the listed agency simply goes to the Civic Engagement website and clicks on "Post Volunteer Opportunities." Once submitted it goes into a queue for approval. Once the agency is confirmed, the opportunity is added to the Civic Engagement Volunteer Opportunity portion of the Civic Engagement website for students/faculty/staff members to view.

Opportunities can only be on the Civic Engagement website for 6 months at a time.

What Is Considered Civic Engagement?

Driving to and from an agency is not counted for civic engagement hours.

Earns Service Hours	Does Not Earn Service Hours
Definition
Nonprofit or Not-for-profit: Agencies are established to help others, not to make money. They have proof of this status with a 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 document. (If you are not sure, ask the agency if they are a nonprofit.)	For Profit: Businesses/agencies are in business to make money. (If you are not sure, ask the agency if they are a nonprofit.)
Community Service
Food kitchen for homeless/hungry Teaching arts/crafts Promoting literacy Academic/language tutoring for an agency Health Sports coaching Building shelters Programs assisting the elderly Community safety/community outreach/violence prevention Collection and distribution of food, clothing and other essentials for those in need Emergency/disaster preparedness projects Blood drives (up to two hours of donating or attempting to donate can be counted per blood drive) Orientations/trainings/presentations that prepare you to do service, count toward your hours when the 'service' component is completed. (15 hours of training can count if you perform 15 service hours. The total will then be 30 hours.)	Recruitment/membership building Activities at for-profit agencies. (*An exception to this would be if a company sponsors an event to help others.) Orientations/trainings/presentations with no service completed, does not count No proseltyzing of religion Hospitals that are "for profit" Hosting, working, or participating in a philanthropy event If the event has free aspects for the community that are substantial to the program, service hours may be awarded
Campus Service
Volunteering at official campus functions that benefit the greater Florida Tech community Volunteering with official campus programs, initiatives, clubs/organizations or departments to benefit the greater Florida Tech community	Private campus functions that do not support the greater Florida Tech community
Childcare Services
Shelters/free clinics/YMCA/Boys & Girls Clubs Public education facilities (Head Start, etc.) Tutoring or mentoring at public or private schools (academic subjects) Pre-approved special projects where free services are offered to a population in need Recreation and supervision of children Leading and coaching at organized nonprofit/volunteer programs	Babysitting for family, friends or neighbors Babysitting, coaching, mentoring, tutoring at for-profit agencies. (The family pays for the student to attend.) (This could be a daycare, preschool, tutorial group, sports camp, etc.)
School Clubs
Club-sponsored service projects to help others Meetings specifically preparing for service activities or approved fundraising Community outreach	Activities that benefit only you Activities that benefit only the club Regular club meetings Fundraising for the club treasury, uniforms, field trips, etc. Recruitment/membership building Helping with club meetings
Sports and Performing Arts
Exhibitions for community wellness (Health Fairs/Red Ribbon Events/Great American Smoke-out, etc.) Youth clinics (nonprofit or free to participants) Free performances for special populations or, all fees collected go to a charity or for a cause (i.e., hospital shelter; fire/flood victims) Unpaid coaching/refereeing for nonprofit sports organizations/parks (I-9) Back-to-School night (directions, hand-outs, pushing wheel chairs, etc.) Participating in parades (if not a class requirement) Activity where profits go to a shelter/needy family/victims of a natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina help)	Camps or classes that charge tuition For-profit camp or business Activities/performances/presentations required for a course for school credit Rehearsals required for class credit Ticket profit goes to club
Court-mandated service
Hours beyond those required by the court judicial action (or to satisfy Florida Tech student conduct sanction) at the same agency or for the same project - if the placement meets nonprofit guidelines	Court-mandated hours do not count for your community/service learning requirement Florida Tech judicial action
Politics
Voter registration (unpaid) Poll worker (unpaid, or you donate stipend to a charity) "Get out the vote" activities	Independent protests/strikes/rallies
Recruitment
Voter registration (unpaid) Getting family or friends to donate blood	Recruitment/membership building Teaching about organization's/church's/club's beliefs. (Our goal is for you to perform charitable service, not just talk about it.) Attendance at club/organization church meetings
Animals
Animal shelters/animal rescue groups Dog or cat fostering is limited a maximum of10 hours with an approved nonprofit agency	For-profit pet stores or veterinary clinics