On March 18th a School of Training Volunteers for the 2020 International Events began its work at South Ural State University. Its students will be provided with all the competences required of a volunteer participating in the major events in Chelyabinsk and our region.
This project is being fulfilled by the SUSU Volunteer Movement Organisation Office. The School mostly aims at providing the enthusiastic young people and university students with efficient instruments for mastering the volunteering skills and an opportunity to practice those in order to have more chances to become participants of the international events. The total of over 200 applications have been filed.
“We’re all getting ready for the international events, which will take place in Chelyabinsk in the nearest future, and first of all, to the SCO and BRICS Summits. But apart from that, the year of 2020 is the year of the Russian SCO and BRICS presidency, that is why we will have many other events aimed at international interaction. Therefore, we need volunteers not only for proper holding of the next year’s summits, but we in general need enthusiasts who could represent our region well at the global-scale events,” notes the Office Head and Deputy Chairman of the SUSU Trade Union Committee Gennady Budanov.
Level One: Vector of Development
The School of Training Volunteers for International Events is held in several stages. The first level is a series of introductory classes held within three weeks, March 18th through April 5th. It aims at setting the vector of development for the future volunteers.
An important part of the School’s Level One is meeting the professionals, who are successfully working on the issues of youth development and volunteer movement. The participants have already listened to the presentations by the SUSU Vice-Rector for Student Affairs Vyacheslav Burmatov, Commander of the Regional Headquarters of Student Labour Unions Yury Boldyrev, Director of Autonomous Non-commercial Organisation South Ural Association of Volunteers Aleksandr Noskov, and the head of the Team 2020 project and Deputy Head of the SUSU Extracurricular Activities Department Veronika Livonchik. Students have met the representatives of the International Cooperation Agency: Irina Chirkova, Leonid Ivanov and Maria Ivanova, as well as with the chief specialist of Resource Centre for Youth Yakov Chernyshev. All of them are SUSU alumni.
A number of lectures have been prepared for students on developing soft skills, learning business etiquette, as well as on studying the culture and history of the countries being members of the SCO and BRICS. Here students will learn about the main qualities of a volunteer, the motivation, responsibility and the rules of official protocol (the procedure of holding official events). The attendees will also take practical courses, where they will gain experience of team work, learn to set goals and what resources to use to improve their English.
Level Two: Volunteer Project
Once students complete the lectures and introductory classes level, they will have to fulfil their own volunteer projects. The organisers do not set any limitations as to the format of the events: these could be flash mobs, festivals, meetings and many other events or campaigns of a university, regional or city scale.
“The participants can fulfil their volunteer projects on their own or with the support from the university. They can choose different fields: arts, urban science, ecology, media, patriotic movement, or something else entirely,” stresses the head of the Volunteer Activity Office. “The School participants need the practicing level so that they could try themselves, understand the importance of quality training, and immerse themselves into volunteer activity. Perhaps, for some people, the event which they will organise, will become their first record in their volunteer book.”
Besides this option, SUSU students have a lot of opportunities for practicing: in the course of every academic year at least one event a day is held on the average at the university requiring the help of volunteers: both big university-wide events and local campaigns at certain departments or groups.
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Level Three: Intensive Course at Olimp
A special program for the future volunteers of the international events is being scheduled for the summer vacations. Level Three of the School will be held at the SUSU’s Olimp Student Sports and Recreation Camp during the first session, July 1st through July 13th. It is planned to organise the trip for the SUSU Volunteer Centre with the holding of an intensive course on developing the skills of a volunteer working at international events.
The School participants will attend everyday classes aiming at developing volunteer-relevant qualities: resistance to stress, creative thinking, and teamwork. Students will be taught to hold briefings, business negotiations, the rules of recording the proceedings of official meetings, and much more. Moreover, English classes will be held on a regular basis.
In the end of the project the participants will be awarded certificates confirming their completion of each level of the training. But what is more important is that the School graduates will be recommended as volunteers to participate in the events to be held in Chelyabinsk in the nearest future. The organsations dealing with the volunteering issues in our region will be helping students in this. One of such organsations is Team 2020, the main goal of which is recruiting, training and coordinating work of South Ural volunteers at congresses and business events. These include over 100 events of various levels.
Let us note, that you can join the School at any stage of its functioning. To learn more about the project, please visit the SUSU Volunteer Centre web-page, or Room 337/main university building (76 Lenin Pr.), or call at: 267-90-24.