SERVICE LEARNING & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Alternative Way of Learning (AWOL) is a student lead program that provides opportunities for service learning including alternative breaks during the university's winter and spring breaks, as well as, monthly alternative weekends during the academic year.

AWOL Events, Dates, Registration and Travel Information

Breaks and Weekends with Purpose

Make your weekends and breaks meaningful and memorable by learning more about pressing social issues such as education, sustainability, food insecurity, homelessness, child well-being, or access to healthcare within local communities or across the country. 

AWOL alternative break participants travel locally or nationally in groups of 10 -12, along with two AWOL Site Leaders and a Learning Partner, to collaborate with communities on projects and gain new perspectives on social issues while meeting community needs. Alternative breaks include three mandatory pre-departure meetings to get to know your group and begin exploring the social issue through educational training. While on site, participants learn through hands-on engagement in the community, followed by intentional reflection.

The AWOL alternative weekends are monthly events led by AWOL Site Leaders either locally in Vermillion or within the region. It's a great way to ease your way into community engagement by going with a friend or roommate to learn more about a social issue, local organizations and how they engage communities.

AWOL New Yotes Community Engagement (NYCE)  is a unique opportunity offered exclusively to incoming first-year students, or undergraduate transfer students. Participants have the opportunity to move in to their rooms early and learn more about USD and the Vermillion area from upper-class AWOL student leaders who hold leadership positions all across campus. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the non-profit organizations that serve the Vermillion area and how you can get involved in community service while at USD. Participants will also tour campus, find out where their classrooms are and discover things to do in Vermillion.

For questions, more information or to sign-up, email us at [email protected].

Dakotathon is a yearlong fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network that all culminates with an 11- 12-hour event in April. At this marathon, we invite Miracle Children from around the region to come spend the entire time with us learning dances, playing games, listening to concerts, magicians, and hypnotists, eating a bunch of food and much more! The point of the event it to show the Miracle Children the time of their lives away from their normal routine of clinical visits and checkups of that sort.

The student organization part of Dakotathon consists of Executive Team planning and organizing fundraisers both on and off campus throughout the year – those who sign up to participate in the Marathon (Day Of Event) are asked and encouraged to attend all these fundraisers. Additionally, those who sign up are asked to raise a personal fundraising goal of $200.

In April 2025,  Dakotathon had over 400 students participate and raised over $101,000 for the Sanford Children’s Hospital (Children’s Miracle Network hospital) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota!

Learn More

Here at USD, we celebrate multiple National Days of Service. 

• 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance 
• World Kindness Day
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service 
• National Volunteer Month (Multiple events in April)
• Earth Day

National Days of Service are celebratory, educational, and service themed events that help to bring everyone together. Students, faculty, staff and even the Vermillion community unite for one cause. For event dates, schedules, and more information about each event, check our USD Involved page.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace – USD (SHP-USD) is a student lead organization that provides a service to families in Vermillion and the surrounding communities. As part of the Sioux City chapter, SHP-USD delivers and assembles brand-new beds for kids ages 3-17 – no cost and no strings attached! Members of this organization manage bed applications, schedule deliveries with families, conduct bed-building trainings, organize supply drives, and support the chapter by participating in bed-build days at the warehouse. No Kid Sleeps on The Floor in Our Town! 

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USD SERVE (Student Engagement & Refinement for Volunteering Empowerment) is a student-led organization at the University of South Dakota focused on enriching volunteer experiences for USD students within our surrounding communities. We pride ourselves on our goal of supporting the educational mission of USD by connecting students to community service opportunities as well as creating an environment which advocates the importance of community engagement and helping others.

SERVE's branches include Adopt A Grandparent, Adopt A School, Big Pal Little Pal & Bridges - SERVE has something for everyone!

Learn More

We welcome partnerships with community partners and non-profit agencies for volunteering and civic engagement projects, National Days of Service and other efforts. Check out our USD Involved page for full list of community partnerships within our surrounding communities: USD Involved page. If you would like to learn about opportunities to collaborate, please contact [email protected]. 

Provide Feedback

We welcome input from our community partners regarding your experiences with service learning and civic engagement projects. Please reach out to [email protected] with any feedback you may have.

As one of USD’s sustainability initiatives, the Office of Service Learning & Community Engagement organizes and facilitates the USD Move Out Donations program every academic year during the last two weeks of the spring semester. The program allows students to participate in sustainable practices and a solution to reducing contributions to the local landfill. There are 4 indoor donation stations, which are strategically located to make the donation process as simple as possible. This program is a collaborative partnership with our local Goodwill providing the collection boxes and managing the collection process. Students can donate everything from gently used clothing to furniture and household items. For questions about the USD Move Out Donations program, donatable items or where to donate, please contact our office at [email protected].