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 10 dimensions of wellness within the Belmont WELL Core curriculum.
Service Wellness Behaviors
Students 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. All submissions need to be submitted within six months of the service experience.
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 Community-Engaged Learning & Service 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)
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
- Volunteering for Events at Belmont that serve the outside community.
- Examples Include: Letter writing for foster children, clothing drives/food drives, and more.
- To inquire about your event counting fill out this form.
- Donations
- Only 10 points of a student's total required points can be earned for donations in the "Serve Together Category ONLY".
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
- Service experiences before you started at Belmont
How to Submit Your Service WELL Core
50 points required | 1 service engagement = 10 points*
- Review the Eight Service Wellness Behaviors (see above).
- Find a service engagement opportunity (on Suitable, Get Connected, on-campus or elsewhere).
- Go serve/engage!
- If submitting for Regular Volunteering or Service-Learning Behaviors: Please track your hours in Get Connected FIRST before submitting in Suitable!
- If submitting the other six behaviors, it is not required!
- Go to Suitable
- Click the "Activities" tab on the left hand side
- Filter by Competencies, Select "Service Wellness"
- Look for the 8 Behaviors that are listed as "Service Wellness-"
- Select the behavior that fits your service/engagement (See above for descriptions)
- Reflect on your experience by following the prompts on the Suitable task!
- Once approved, your points will be added to your Suitable account.
*All submissions must be submitted within SIX months of the service experience.*
Service Wellness on Suitable
- Use the Service Wellness competency filter on Suitable
- Submit Service Wellness task activities (see video below)
Service Wellness Event Inquiry
Contact Us
Answers to your Service Wellness questions await!