| CODE | SWP1008 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Understanding the Supply and Support of Volunteers | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Social Policy and Social Work | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will focus on why people volunteer. Aspects such as personal dispositions, motivations, volunteers’ personal resources, volunteering along the life-course and in different contexts will be explored. International and national trends in volunteering will also be considered as will the impact of volunteering on the individual and communities. The training, support and supervision of volunteers will be presented in the context of the acknowledgment of the valued contribution of volunteers. This will also be looked at in the light of volunteer retention. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims: • to present why people volunteer with a view to understanding the supply of volunteers; • to explore factors which incline people to volunteer such as subjective characteristics, the context of volunteering and the consequences of volunteering for the volunteer; • to discuss International and National trends in volunteering with special reference to how these are changing the profile of volunteering; and • to present the support, training and supervision which volunteers require to continue to provide an optimal service. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Explain the main reasons why people volunteer and how this is useful for understanding the supply of volunteers; • List the various factors which incline people to volunteer; • Report on the main consequences of volunteering for the volunteer; • Analyse international and national trends in volunteering and how these are impacting local volunteering; and • Describe the training, support and supervision which volunteers require to continue to provide a service and re-affirm their commitment to volunteering. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Draw up a plan for recruiting volunteers based on what was learnt during the study-unit about factors which influence the supply of volunteers; and • Given a case-study, identify the training, support and supervision programme required to retain the volunteers and ensure optimal service. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - McCurley, S. & Lynch, R. (2007). Keeping Volunteers: A guide to retaining good people. England: the directory of social change. ISBN: 978-1-903991-90-9 - Musick, Marc A. & Wilson, John (2008) Volunteers: A social profile US: Indiana University Press. ISBN13 9780253349293 - Rosenthal, Robert (ed.) (2015) Volunteer engagement 2.0: Ideas and insights changing the world US: John Wiley ISBN13 9781118931882 Additional Texts: - Dyer, Fraser & Jost, Ursula (2002) Recruiting volunteers: Attracting the people you need UK: Directory of Social Change ISBN13 9781903991206 - Yeager, B. (n.d.) Volunteer Management for Non-profit Organizations: The Art of People Management UK: printed by Amazon |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study and Group Learning | ||||||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Maureen Cole Natalie A. Kenely |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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