March 2008  |  Volume 3, Issue 1, Page 2

Our new home at 95 Talbot Avenue after a December 2007 snow storm.

From the Desk of Robyn Gittleman
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First and foremost, the extra room we have in our new house has paved the way for a number of important changes. For example, Communications and Media Studies has always been part of the ExCollege, but now their staff also shares our office. The additional space has meanwhile given Howard Woolf the opportunity to expand his media operation for the advanced film and photography students, who can use our new bank of computers to edit their projects in a well equipped lab (the Digital Imaging Center), on our lower level, a comfortable basement space. Our house is just across from the Dewick Dining Hall, and quite near the Campus Center. So, although it is not on the hill, we still have many students stopping by on their way to and from meals, or taking those extra steps just to say hi and eagerly share with us their questions and ideas.

So if you find us blinking in the wonderful sunlight, you will also see us smiling. We are happily ensconced in our new location. Click on this link to get a tour of our new home!

Or if you want more info about what the ExCollege is up to these days, check out our NEW website at www.excollege.tufts.edu.

Students in the Spring 2007 Experimenting with Philanthropy class prepare to present their grant monies to local organizations.

Experimenting with Philanthropy
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As a result, Sawyer was able to give her students real money and real responsibility. The class was broken up into two separate student "foundations," each of which acted as a philanthropic board with a budget of $2,500. The two groups then reviewed one another's proposals at the end of the semester and, in addition to making site visits, took on the difficult task of selecting the final grant recipients.

Meanwhile, each student was also paired with an organization in Somerville, Medford or Chinatown to work with throughout the semester. The students became active participants in these nonprofits, spending eight to ten hours a week both learning from and assisting the staff. They were also charged with observing and assessing their surroundings, in order to write a persuasive grant proposal that included a detailed description of the organization's mission, programs, and finances. Sawyer commented on how difficult this assignment was for many students. "Their role as volunteer grant writers was extremely challenging for many of the students. Even though a number had volunteered for nonprofits before, they had not had the experience of acting as an advocate for an organization by writing a compelling grant proposal."

Jen Bokoff, a senior majoring in sociology, and an alum of the class who is currently serving as Louise's T.A. as she teaches the course a second time this spring, described how the financial support set the class apart from other undergraduate courses at Tufts. "Having that money made all the difference in the world because we knew that this was something tangible. It motivated us to work a lot harder as we were conscious of the fact we could really make a difference in peoples' lives."

However, as the students began to take classroom theory and put it into practice, they were soon confronted with the harsh financial realities of the nonprofit industry. Bokoff, who had already had four years experience and the title of local student director in the nonprofit organization, National Student Partnerships, explained that, "oftentimes people are afraid to really look at the development aspect of nonprofits and, instead, focus more on an idealistic version of what they can improve and accomplish. But they don't always look at the sources of funding, and how to work within the resources you are given to sustain these programs."

By the time the students were asked to allocate their funds, many felt an enormous amount of pressure, "The hardest part of the whole class was reading all these different proposals and deciding who and how much to give," said Bokoff. "There were a number of tough decisions we had to make."

Among other things, the class gave the soon-to-be-graduate a greater understanding of how to appeal to investors, and even improved her writing skills, "since I took the course I've begun to look at foundations and the grant writing process more critically, and returning as a TA will help give me even more perspective on this subject."

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