Suzanne Allmendinger

Director, CPCS Community Connection

Office of Student Services

W-4-150A

617-287-7124

 

The office door reads "Community Connection" and I am the person inside —the one behind the desk, covered with papers. My name is Suzanne Allmendinger and I am the Director of Community Outreach. The “community” I connect with includes students, alumni, departments across the University, non-profit agencies in greater Boston, community organizations, unions, and schools. You may have seen my name at the bottom of e-mail messages to the CPCS Student list serve members. I try to keep our students up to date on academic as well as social events at CPCS. Be sure to stop by if you are not on the e mail list or if you change your e-mail address.

 

If you are interested in having an internship experience while at CPCS, my office is the place to come for assistance and guidance. I have internship listed in the Instructional Activity booklet–where the competency and evaluator have been pre determined and I can answer any questions you may have about these learning opportunities. You can also speak with me about creating or custom designing your own internship, dealing with the clientele you are interested in working with and addressing the competencies that fit your leaning plan. Make an appointment to come in and sit down to discuss this with me.

 

The Agency Agreements originate from this office and you should come here if you have any questions or concerns. About 25 non-profits have arrangements with the College whereby member agency employees receive tuition waivers in exchange for a member of the professional staff from that agency teaching at CPCS. I'm the person to see about the Mass Council of Human Service Providers tuition remission program and The Achieve Boston vouchers and I oversee the few scholarships available exclusively to CPCS students and try to keep current with other scholarship opportunities in the fields of public and community service .

 

I am the College representative on the University Service Leaning Advisory Board and work with all students across the University on projects like Good Neighbor Day and other student forums and outreach endeavors particularly those sponsored by the Mass Campus Compact and AmeriCorps.

 

Many of the grants for service leaning projects, involving CPCS student working in the field while doing course work on campus, come out of this office and currently I am involved in a project with our neighbors at Harbor Point. Faculty and CPCS students are working with youth groups in Harbor Point Housing to empower the youth to act on their own behalf. CPCS students involved in this project are demonstrating competencies in the Youth Work concentration or working on their Capstones while performing meaningful community service.

 

My office is responsible for the activities surrounding commencement and graduation as well as college wide events such as the dedication of the Taylor Center and all Alumni celebrations. This is no doubt the most fun part of my job—I get to give the parties!!!

 

As you can see there are lots of things happening behind the doors of the COMMUNITY CONNECTION—doors which are most always open to you. I am a CPCS graduate myself and went on to complete my MEd–so I understand the curriculum and the questions and concerns our students sometimes have as well as the occasional confusion you may experience Although I am not an official advisor, I may have the answer to your questions about experiential learning or a tuition charge and I am the first one to know the date of Awards Night, how many tickets you can get for graduation and where to pick up that all important cap and gown!

 

Stop by the office and introduce yourself– I hope that at some time during your stay at CPCS--- I will be of assistance to you. The COMMUNITY CONNECTION is located off the Plaza–right next to Student Services in W-4-150A.