Alternative Breaks

The Office of Student Involvement sponsors Alternative Break experiences. An Alternative Break (AB) is a week-long or weekend immersive service experience. A group of students travel away from campus with the goal of engaging within a new community through education, service, and reflection. Each trip integrates service, reflection and education and focuses on various social issues such as racial justice, environmental justice, housing, healthcare, poverty, etc. By forgoing traditional academic breaks, students have the opportunity to participate in quality, community-based transformational service and dedicate their time to learning and interacting with different communities.

Got Questions?

Contact Emily Harris
Assistant Director of Leadership and Community Engagement

Important AB Dates

  • All Applications Open:
    August 12, 2024
  • Fall Stay-Break Application Closes:
    October 4, 2024
  • Spring Break Application Closes:
    December 6, 2024
  • Trip Leader Application Due:
    October 18, 2024

2024 - 2025 Trips

  • Fall Stay-Break:
    November 15-17, 2024
  • Spring Break Trip:
    March 9-15, 2024

Each Alternative Break focuses on a specific subsection of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aligning our efforts with global initiatives for positive change. For more information, please check out the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs website

Participants

As a participant you can expect to develop your skills in a number of ways including:

  • Communication skills
  • Followership skills: how to be a good team member
  • Relationship development and collaboration with trip participants and community members
  • Adaptability
  • Time management
  •  Collaboration

Trip Leaders

Trip Leaders (TL) are one of the most crucial pieces of the AB program. AB takes pride in our TLs and the rich experience they bring to this para-professional role of the program. TLs take an active role in educating and leading peers through a service experience focused on a social issue they are passionate about.

Trip Leaders are held to a high standard and adhere to the expectations of the AB program as a whole. These expectations include:

  • Cooperation with the Alternative Breaks Coordinator, co-site leader, and other site leaders.
  • Remain flexible, open-minded, and responsible.
  • Educate yourself and participants about the issue relative to your site.
  • Build and maintain a positive relationship with the designated site and selected AB participants on your break.
  • Commitment to the Alternative Break “no drugs or alcohol” policy

Trip Leader Application

During the 2017-2018 academic year, thanks to funding from the UNG Presidential Award Grant, the Alternative Service Break (ASB) program was created. The program started off as a co-curricular service-learning program that worked to expanded community engagement opportunities for students at the University of North Georgia. ASB educates students about social issues and communities in need through a hands-on, experiential learning opportunity with the goal of developing students into active citizens. To ensure the reciprocal benefit, the trip was intentionally designed to provide strong direct service, orientation to the social issue and site, education, training, reflection, reorientation, and diversity, while remaining alcohol and other drug free. 

In the infancy of the program the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic started and ASB stopped formally hosting trips. The program was able to be restarted in the year 2023 under new advisory leadership and officially rebranded to Alternative Breaks (AB).

The revamped programmed added a greater emphasis on connecting student’s social identities to their service experiences and helping them better understanding underlying social issues and deepen their awareness of critical societal challenges.This included incorporating the UN Sustainable Development Goals into the program.

Past Trips

  • Spring Break 2024: Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation - Selma, Alabama
    • SD Goal: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • Spring Break 2023: Earth Kin (Once Upon a Time) - Walland, TN (Great Smoky Mountain)
    • SD Goal: Life on Land
  • COVID-19 Break 2020 -2022
  • Spring Break 2019: Foxfire (Appalachian Culture Education) Clayton, GA
  • Spring Break 2018: Foxfire (Appalachian Culture Education) Clayton, GA
  • Spring Break 2017: Lula Lake Land Trust – Lookout Mountain, GA

Mission

The University of North Georgia Alternative Break program empowers students to engage in immersive service-learning experiences and foster a more equitable and inclusive society through education, reflection, and service. We create community-conscious and educated students who are committed to pursuing social issues and positive social change in diverse communities.

Vision

Our vision is to cultivate a community of socially conscious and educated students who collaborate to address critical social issues and contribute to a just and thriving global society. We strive to expand our collective identity as a multi-campus institution to unite our students in our on-going mission of creating meaningful and positive impact as community collaborators.