August 5, 2015
University awarded grant to start new campus Peace Corps recruiting office
Kansas State University's Office of International Programs, with cooperation from Career and Employment Services, the College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension, has received a grant to open a Peace Corps recruiting office on the Manhattan campus.
K-State applied for the grant last winter to promote overseas volunteerism and provide recruitment services.
"We are excited to welcome Peace Corps back on campus," said Grant Chapman, assistant provost for international administration in the international programs office. "Kerri Day Keller, director of Career and Employment Services, advised us that over the three years we had a campus recruiter, 2005-2008, there were 21 new K-State graduates who joined the Peace Corps."
Peace Corps sends Americans abroad to tackle the most pressing needs of people around the world. Peace Corps volunteers work at the grassroots level toward sustainable change that lives on long after their service, while at the same time becoming global citizens and serving their country. When they return home, volunteers bring their knowledge and experiences — and a global outlook — that enriches the lives of those around them.
Once hired, the new campus recruiter will be meeting with faculty, students and campus associations for the purpose of transmitting recruitment information from the Peace Corps. After potential students or others who are interested in applying to the Peace Corps are identified, the campus recruiter will answer questions and assist with the application process.
"I believe Kansas State University was chosen to host an office because the Peace Corps always looks for volunteers with agriculture and environmental science backgrounds," said Steven Graham, assistant to the dean of the College of Agriculture and director of K-State Research and Extension. Graham also is a Peace Corps volunteer who served in Benin, West Africa, from 1974-77. "As the nation's first operational land-grant university, K-State is a natural to host a Peace Corps recruiting office."
The new office will be in 110 Waters Hall for its first year.
The Peace Corps, through more than 6,800 volunteers in 64 countries, works in countries from Asia to Central America, and from Europe to Africa. In each of these countries, volunteers work with governments, schools, and entrepreneurs to address changing and complex needs in education, health and HIV/AIDS, business, information technology, agriculture, and the environment.