Background and New Horizons: The UNG Community Engagement Fair
The Community Engagement Fair connects UNG students, faculty, and staff with community organizations for opportunities related to volunteering, Service-Learning, Work-Based Learning, and other forms of partnership.
At the Fair, you will be able to speak with representatives of local organizations that are pursuing work related to your own areas of interest. Students can identify volunteer and internship opportunities, while faculty and staff can make connections related to their research, teaching, and leadership responsibilities.
The Community Engagement Fair also educates the entire campus community about what is happening in the places where we work and live. Come get involved!
Community Organizations
Wish to participate in the UNG Community Engagement Fair connecting faculty, staff, and students with community organizations and partners for opportunities related to volunteering and community service, service-learning, internships, research, project, work-based learning, and community partnerships?
Volunteers
Seeking to volunteer at the UNG Community Engagement Fair as an individual or group, class, or for credits?
Contact the UNG Campus CEF Coordinator below directly where you wish to participate and/or volunteer:
Purpose
A healthy university works with and supports the community in which it is located through partnerships that benefit both parties. Our primary mission is to educate our students - and students learn best when they feel that their schoolwork has immediate significance in the real world. When students become connected with community partners, either directly or through classes and campus organizations, they discover that they have the knowledge and skills to make a difference in the lives of those around them. They also build relationships that can lead to long-term educational and work opportunities. Our Community Engagement Fair is the first point of encounter between members of the campus community and organizations serving the region where we live.
The History of the Community Engagement Fair
Historically, the UNG “Volunteer Fair,” started in 2009, linked the university campus with its surrounding community and allowed community organizations to identify student volunteers and assist with providing service-learning and internship placement. The university hosts a fair on four of its five physical campuses: Gainesville, Dahlonega, Oconee, and Blue Ridge.
The UNG Volunteer Fair advanced the university’s mission of community engagement to develop students as leaders in a diverse and global society. The University of North Georgia (UNG) was one of the first public universities in Georgia to earn the prestigious Community Engagement Classification from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which promotes service-learning and community partnerships and underscores the many ways they can enhance the educational experience.
Each year, the fair attracts more than 500 students from the Gainesville Campus. In February of 2023, the Office of Academic Engagement decided to change the name of the volunteer fair to the “UNG Community Engagement Fair” to better align with the university's expanded general education competencies and commitment to high-impact practices goals and purpose.
The expanded general education goals of the UNG Community Engagement Fair are to connect our students, faculty, and staff with community organizations for volunteer opportunities, service-learning, and work-based learning, including student placements, practicum, internships, research, high-impact practices, and other forms of partnership.
The Community Engagement Fair also educates the entire campus community about what is happening in the places where we work and live and how we can engage. The University Engagement Fair aims to create a healthy university that works with and supports the community in which it is located through partnerships that benefit both parties. Our primary mission is to educate our students - and students learn best when they feel that their schoolwork has immediate significance in the real world. Whenever students connect with community partners, either directly or through classes and campus organizations, they discover that they have the knowledge and skills to make a difference in the lives of those around them. They also build relationships that can lead to long-term educational and work opportunities. The Community Engagement Fair is the first point of encounter between our campus community members and organizations serving the region where we live, thereby providing opportunities for our campus constituents to connect with the surrounding communities to enhance learning, growth, development, and engagement.