Serving with SOUL
Belmont's framework for service & service wellness
Offer gratitude through appreciate & reflection
Service Wellness behaviors:
Invest in the dream with active hope
Service Wellness behaviors:
What is Service Wellness?
Service wellness includes community engagement, social responsibility, and civic action – all of which contribute to our communal wellness as individuals, neighbors, and a collective society. Practicing service wellness means cultivating a lifestyle of responsibility, engagement, humility, and reflection with the individuals and communities around us, so we might create a world in service with and for each other.
Service Wellness is one of the ten dimensions of wellness within the Belmont WELL Core curriculum.
New WELL Core
Students with "WELL Core" badge on Suitable
50 points required | 1 service engagement = 10 points*
- Review the eight Service Wellness Behaviors (see below).
- Find a service engagement opportunity (on Suitable, Get Connected, on-campus, or elsewhere).
- Go serve/engage!
- Submit a Service Wellness activity task on Suitable (video below!) based on the Service Wellness behavior you engaged with.
- Once approved, your points will be added to your Suitable account!
Old WELL Core
Students with "Old WELL Core" badge on Suitable
100 points required | 1 service hour = 10 points
- Find service opportunities on Get Connected (or elsewhere).
- Go serve!
- Log hours on Get Connected and wait for approval.
- Submit one Community Wellness activity task on Suitable per hour you served (video below!).
- e.g. two hours of service = two Community Wellness activity tasks (Community Wellness - Credit 1, Community Wellness - Credit 2)
- Once approved, your points will be added to your Suitable account!
New Well Core - Service Wellness on Suitable
all students with the "WELL Core" badge on Suitable - 10 dimensions total
- Use the Service Wellness competency filter on Suitable
- Submit Service Wellness task activities (see video below)
Old WELL Core - Community Wellness on Suitable
any students with the "Old WELL Core" badge on Suitable - 6 dimensions total
- First, log your volunteer hours on Get Connected & wait for approval.
- Then, submit Community Wellness task activities on Suitable (see video below)
Service Wellness Behaviors
Students on the new WELL Core must complete 50 points within the Service Wellness category. Students will self-report their engagement in one of the eight (8) behaviors described below and submit a activity reflection on Suitable in order to receive credit. All behaviors count as 10 points unless specified otherwise.
Students can only receive points for each behavior once.
Learn from someone you are serving
Engaging in service with humility and curiosity allows us to work from an asset-based model of mutuality ("we all have something to bring") rather than a power-over deficiency model ("I'm here to help you").
Participate in the civic process to make your voice heard so that all people & communities flourish
Civic engagement might include:
- registering to vote and making a voting plan, voting in a recent election, volunteering to help others register to vote, giving rides to the polls during election season, volunteering as a poll worker
- participating in a march, rally, or vigil for social justice causes, contacting an elected official about a cause that is important to you
- getting involved in your local neighborhood association or school board, attending local council meetings or community forums
Volunteer with a non-profit or community organization who serves a population different from you
We mean different in any sense of the word!
Participate in a session for reflection on the meaning of service
Experience alone does not automatically translate to learning. Reflection upon an experience does. This wellness behavior gives credit for engaging in reflection in a structures and communal way. Sessions might be led by non-profit partners you served with, a campus group or organization, a faith community, or other group.
**The Office of Service-Learning hosts regular Service Wellness Reflection sessions on-campus. Click here to see upcoming dates.
Volunteer regularly with a community partner
Regularly = at least 4x/month or 8x/semester
- All volunteer hours must be logged and approved on Get Connected prior to earning these points!
Partner with a friend, campus group, residence hall, or others to serve together with a non-profit agency or organization
Consider how serving together changes the impact of your engagement!
Complete a service-learning course or other service-based learning initiative
Enroll in a Belmont service-learning course for a semester to incorporate serving into your course curriculum as a vital way of learning. These courses include intentional tools for pre-reflection, direct service, and post-service reflection for a holistic experience centered on both service and learning.
- All volunteer hours must be logged and approved on Get Connected prior to earning these points.
Engage with a training, workshop, or educational resource to learn about the context of a community need
This could include:
- learning about community disparities, policies, and issues most prevalent to the population an organization serves through podcasts, videos, books, poverty simulations, panel discussions, museums, or other contextualized learning experiences
- skill-building trainings or orientations hosted by community agencies (e.g. volunteer orientations)
Old WELL Core Requirements
Community Wellness - Old WELL Core Credit
- Credit processed through Suitable (as of Fall 2024)
- 1 hour of service = 10 points on Suitable
- 100 points required (subject to enrollment status)
- Students must have volunteer hours logged and approved on Get Connected prior to submitting for points on Suitable
- 1 hour of service = 10 points on Suitable
- Requirements
- Service hours must be
- completed in partnership with a non-profit or other charitable organization/cause
- logged on Get Connected within six (6) months of the initial service date
- The primary beneficiary of your volunteering cannot be the Belmont community
- Service hours must be
What counts:
- Responding to and participating in any Need posted on Get Connected
- Volunteering with an outside agency (not on Get Connected) with a charitable mission or non-profit organization in Nashville of beyond
- log these as Individual Hours on Get Connected
- Donations
- Only 10 points of a student's total required points can be earned for donations.
What doesn't count:
- Volunteering for events at Belmont for Belmont (e.g. TT leadership, Student Life events, move-in, performances/shows, etc.)
- On-campus internships
- Peer-tutoring
- Unpaid work, internships, or volunteer hours with for-profit companies or initiatives
Contact Us
Answers to your Service Wellness questions await!