Day of Service planned as part of UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration
Day of Service planned as part of UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration
The University of Northern Iowa is planning for perhaps its biggest coordinated volunteer effort to date — one that may even rival the annual Pack the Dome event. This special Day of Service will take place on April 8, 2026 as part of the UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration.
“The Day of Service is really an opportunity for the UNI community faculty, staff and students to think about giving back to the Cedar Valley and surrounding areas in a meaningful way that enhances our learning and development as citizens,” said Julianne Gassman, director of Community Engagement at UNI, who is leading the charge.
During the Day of Service, the campus community will have a variety of opportunities to choose. Although the specific volunteer projects will not be determined until next year, Gassman believes examples may include packing food for the food bank or cleaning up local parks. There will also be an option to participate in what Gassman describes as an ideation session where participants will focus on brainstorming solutions to a problem affecting the community.
UNI classes will not be canceled on the Day of Service, but faculty are being encouraged to incorporate service into their students’ learning that day.
The Day of Service is part of a wider spring semester-long initiative for the campus community to “Spring into Service.” The hope is the Day of Service will become a new tradition that is held annually for the UNI community.
“If we pause as a campus and give back in a meaningful way, we could really make an impact on this community and people who live here,” said Gassman. “I’m really excited to support our nonprofit organizations, our businesses, our cities, our neighbors in a way that at the end of that day on April 8, people say, ‘Wow, it’s pretty amazing what we were able to accomplish today.’”
Gassman explains including a Day of Service as part of the UNI Sesquicentennial Celebration was essential given UNI’s deep relationship with community engagement. Having worked at UNI for nearly 30 years, she’s witnessed this emphasis firsthand.
“My whole job is to think about how UNI and the community come together to benefit both,” she explained.
Pack the Dome is the perfect example of this. Not only is this the largest volunteer effort in the Cedar Valley — which can bring in nearly 2,000 volunteers alone — but it also bolsters the Northeast Iowa Food Bank’s efforts. In a single day, volunteers pack two-thirds of the food the food bank uses for the entire year! Several years ago, the event began with a student organization leading the charge, and it has grown exponentially since.
For nearly 20 years, UNI has been a Carnegie Classified Institution for Community Engagement. Gassman explains UNI received this classification in 2006, which was the very first year an institution could apply for this prestigious designation showing just how seriously an institution takes community engagement.
Something else unique about UNI is its formal partnership with the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley. Gassman said she is not aware of another university that has solidified its partnership with a local volunteer organization the way UNI has. The Volunteer Center of the Cedar Valley is in Maucker Union twice a week for 16 hours each week to help connect the campus community with volunteer opportunities.
“The way the UNI community gives back and is embedded across our state comes from every corner of this campus,” said Gassman. “It is embedded in strategic plans of every college and many departments and units on campus. It is what our UNI centers and institutes are all about.”
The numbers magnify just how deeply embedded service is in the UNI culture. During the 2023-24 academic year, UNI students contributed more than 500,000 hours of service.
To Gassman, community engagement is an essential part of the learning experience because it goes beyond teaching students how to be good professionals — it teaches them to be good citizens who are active in their communities.
No matter what a student’s major may be, Gassman emphasizes that community engagement is for them.
“Going and doing a particular job is really only part of someone's life, happiness and well-being,” she said. “Being a member of a community and thinking about the role you have as a citizen in that community is crucial to a well-balanced life. This day really lifts that up.”
