Opportunities From: University of Colorado Colorado Springs Alumni & Friends Volunteer Program

About: We are seeking volunteers to help us review student scholarship applications. The review process includes using a scoring rubric to rank student short question and essay responses.

Time Commitment: All scholarship reviews will be done virtually from the comfort of home! Review Period 4 will take place March 26th to April 9th. You must be able to commit to those dates for review, but you are free to review on your own time (morning, days, evenings, weekends) whatever works best for you. Volunteer sign-up closes March 16th. Volunteers should plan for this volunteer opportunity to take a maximum of six hours to complete. 

Volunteer Expectations: Volunteers are expected to comply with the instructions and guidance provided via email on the first day of the review process. Your email will arrive in the early morning hours on the first day of the review period. The email will say something like "you have been assigned X number of applications to read." Within that initial email various trainings, videos, and resources will be offered so you can feel confident with the process, rubrics, and software before beginning the reviews. 

Qualifications: Volunteers can be both alumni and friends of UCCS. We cannot accept volunteers who are current or incoming undergraduate students or family members/parents of current or incoming undergraduate students. Volunteers must have access to a computer, laptop, tablet and an internet/wifi connection to review their assigned applications.

Impact: The student population at UCCS benefits tremendously from scholarships which play a critical role in helping them reach their educational dreams. Scholarships provide access to many students who might otherwise not be able to afford to go to college. Bringing in alumni and friends volunteers to the scholarship review process also broadens the reviewer pool to be more diverse and representative of our current student population. The staff and faculty members at UCCS greatly appreciate the additional help with the review process. 

 

 

About: We are seeking volunteers to help us review student scholarship applications. The review process includes using a scoring rubric to rank student short question and essay responses.

Time Commitment: All scholarship reviews will be done virtually from the comfort of home! Review Period 3 will take place March 10th to March 25th. You must be able to commit to those dates for review, but you are free to review on your own time (morning, days, evenings, weekends) whatever works best for you. Volunteer sign-up closes March 2nd. Volunteers should plan for this volunteer opportunity to take a maximum of six hours to complete. 

Volunteer Expectations: Volunteers are expected to comply with the instructions and guidance provided via email on the first day of the review process. Your email will arrive in the early morning hours on the first day of the review period. The email will say something like "you have been assigned X number of applications to read." Within that initial email various trainings, videos, and resources will be offered so you can feel confident with the process, rubrics, and software before beginning the reviews. 

Qualifications: Volunteers can be both alumni and friends of UCCS. We cannot accept volunteers who are current or incoming undergraduate students or family members/parents of current or incoming undergraduate students. Volunteers must have access to a computer, laptop, tablet and an internet/wifi connection to review their assigned applications.

Impact: The student population at UCCS benefits tremendously from scholarships which play a critical role in helping them reach their educational dreams. Scholarships provide access to many students who might otherwise not be able to afford to go to college. Bringing in alumni and friends volunteers to the scholarship review process also broadens the reviewer pool to be more diverse and representative of our current student population. The staff and faculty members at UCCS greatly appreciate the additional help with the review process. 

 

 

 * Volunteers cannot be staff/faculty members of UCCS. They must be UCCS alumni/friends *

About: In December 2015, the Executive Board of the UCCS Staff Association elected to rename the outstanding staff award in honor of Officer Garrett Swasey. Officer Swasey (pronounced /Sway’zee/) was a UCCS police officer who responded in support of Colorado Springs Police to an active shooter situation on November 27, 2015. He was killed in the line of duty.  UCCS officers are sworn, state-certified police officers. Officer Swasey was on duty at the campus and responded in support of Colorado Springs Police.  Officer Swasey was a six-year veteran of the UCCS Police Department.   The Garrett Swasey Outstanding Staff Award acknowledges the outstanding achievements and contributions of a UCCS staff member who exemplifies excellence in service to the campus and community. 

If you choose to volunteer for this selection committee you will be contacted the week of March 9, 2026 via email from Committee Chair with the instructions on how to review files through UCCS LionShare system. Selection committee volunteers can download and review nomination materials securely and confidentially via email. Margie Oldham is the person who will be emailing you with more information.  

After you read and review each nomination you will be asked to provide your top choices via the process outlined below:

Feedback is requested via email for the top three candidates by each selection committee volunteer. Once nominations and supporting letters are reviewed, volunteers rank their top three (1st, 2nd, 3rd)  choices in an email with the top three individuals listed in rank order. It is helpful to highlight some of the key phrases which stood out in the letters of recommendation and nominations of the top three candidates.  Comments which speak to the winner’s excellence help with writing a citation for the Chancellor as a summary of the award winner’s outstanding qualities. This email is to be returned to Committee Chair to score and determine the award recipient by Friday, March 27, 2026.

Guidance for how to determine your top choices: The recipient of the award demonstrates: exceptional commitment which exceeds job expectations; continual service to the UCCS community through various activities (e.g., committee work, staff involvement, community relations, etc.); positive working relationships with students, colleagues at all levels, and other constituents of the campus; and an active and ongoing commitment to the betterment of UCCS. In all ways, nominees "go above and beyond the call of duty."

More information:  https://staff.uccs.edu/employee-awards/garrett-swasey-outstanding-staff-award

Expectations: Volunteers are expected to keep in mind that the higher education eco-system is complex and the types of work each team member does to make UCCS a great place to learn and work varies greatly from person to person, but all staff members come together to fuel student success. Although, not all staff members work directly with students they all make an incredible impact! 

Time Commitment: We are seeking alumni volunteers to review nominations and help us select our award winner for 2026. The review process should take approximately four hours or less. 

Qualifications: This volunteer opportunity is only available to those who work outside of UCCS or those who have not worked at UCCS in the last two years.

Impact: Our staff has worked harder than ever in the last two years to make UCCS a great place to learn and work. Supporting this review committee helps us celebrate and recognize the important work our staff does. 

More About Garrett Swasey: 

Garrett Preston Russell Swasey (November 16, 1971 – November 27, 2015) was an American competitive ice skater, figure skating coach, and police officer. As an ice dancer, he won the 1992 U.S. junior ice dance title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and went on to participate twice more at the senior level. Swasey was shot and killed in the line of duty during the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting in 2015.

About: Take our beloved mascot, Clyde on an adventure and then document it and share with us! Respond to this social media volunteer opportunity by clicking the gold "Respond" button. From there you will be prompted to provide your contact/mailing info so we can mail you your very own Flat Clyde! Mailing takes approximately 5 business days. Then start planning where you want to take Clyde. As you take him places make sure you take photos to document it. Share your photos with us by emailing them to us or put them on your social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using #FlatClyde. 

Expectations: Volunteers are expected to represent UCCS well in their postings, following social media courtesy and respecting the rules of the social media platform being used to post.

Time Commitment: This is very low time commitment opportunity; it only takes a few minutes to snap a photo and post it. This is an ongoing opportunity so please share pictures as often as you like.

Impact: Sharing Flat Clyde on social media helps spread the good word about UCCS on social media and helps Clyde see the world!

 

About: We are always looking for nominations of alumni who are achieving success since earning their degree from UCCS. Please consider your friends, colleagues, and classmates who we could highlight in our recruitment publications, on our website, and on social media.

Click the image below to nominate someone and click here to read some of our latest success story features. 

Volunteer Expectations: Volunteers are expected to provide as much information about the nominee as possible, the more contact info you provide for them the more likely we are to be able to connect with them.

Time Commitment: This is very low time commitment opportunity; it only takes a few minutes to share a brief description on our nomination form. is an ongoing opportunity so please continue to nominate anyone who comes to mind in the future.

Impact: Nominating a friend, fellow alum, or colleague can help us learn about the great things alums are doing! Often times we get nominations for incredible alums who we never would have known about had it not been for someone thinking to share their story and celebrate their accomplishments.