Volunteer

NEXT TRAINING SESSION: May 2013

The Aurora Center offers volunteer opportunities at The University of Minnesota that are focused on providing support to survivors and educating to the campus. All positions are designed to foster leadership and professional skill development for volunteers.

How to Volunteer
Application Packet
Available Positions
Who Can Volunteer
What to Expect
Upcoming Training Dates

How to Volunteer

All prospective volunteers must attend orientation and training prior to taking a volunteer position. Trainings are scheduled a few times a year; see the next scheduled training sessions.

Application Packet

The 2013-2014 Volunteer Application Packet is now available. Please contact Jerie Smith with questions or to submit your application form.

Available Positions

Help Line Advocates
Help Line Advocates are trained to listen, provide support, and explain options to callers on our 24-hour help line during non-business hours. Advocates may also do follow-up work with clients in the office. Find out more, or attend the next training.

Office Advocates
Office Advocates are trained to listen, provide support, and explain options available to walk-in clients or callers on the help line during business hours. Find out more, or attend the next training.

Violence Prevention Educators (VPE)
Violence Prevention Educators (VPEs) give presentations to college peers on the issues of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, and other related topics. They gain language skills to have conversations with friends and community members to foster change through leadership development. Find out more, or attend the next training.

Special Projects Volunteers
Want to volunteer but can’t fully commit to the other volunteer positions? Contact Jerie Smith for ways you can help. Completion of the volunteer application AND volunteer training are required to be a Special Projects Volunteer. Attend the next training.

Who Can Volunteer

No prior experience is needed to volunteer at the Aurora Center, as comprehensive and ongoing training is provided. We require all volunteers to be 18 years or older.

Undergraduate Students & Graduate Student

We welcome all students to apply to be a volunteer.

Staff & Faculty

We also welcome staff and faculty to apply to be a volunteer.

Community Service-Learning Center

If you have been officially approved to complete your service at The Aurora Center, you still need to submit an application and a letter of reference in order for you to volunteer with The Aurora Center. Contact Jerie Smith for all application forms. You will be approved to begin training as a volunteer once your application has been accepted AND you complete the Pre-Training Interview. If you do not apply by the posted deadline you may lose your opportunity to complete the CSLC requirements through our program.

While the hours for our volunteer training satisfy the requirement for CSLC, all volunteers are expected to continue their involvement for one academic year, being two consecutive semesters, starting in the semester you completed training.

Students from other colleges and universities in the Twin Cities

You are welcome to apply. Acceptance may be contingent upon open spots in the training as we serve University of Minnesota students first. There are other local organizations who train community members to provide support to survivors such as Sexual Offense Services, Rape and Sexual Abuse Center and Sexual Violence Center which can be found in our Recommended Links page.

What to Expect

Upon receiving your application, you will be contacted to schedule a pre-training interview with an Aurora Center staff member. From there, information about the training and required reading materials will be provided. At training, you will be given a training manual.

After training, you are expected to complete an individual orientation in order to be considered to volunteer. This usually takes place within 1 to 2 weeks after training, at which point you will be ready to volunteer. You will then start to attend regular volunteer meetings and sign up for shifts on call (advocates) or presentations (VPEs).

If there is a need for more Office Advocates, Help Line Advocates who wish to be Office Advocates will be informed of an upcoming 6-hour training and the available hours to work in the office.