about the psc

Mission & History

Mission

The MIT Public Service Center exists to motivate, facilitate, and celebrate the ethic and activities of public service at MIT.

Our aim is to enrich the education and life experiences of students and other MIT community members – faculty, staff, affiliates, alumni, spouses, partners, and others – through leadership and service opportunities that match the innovative culture of MIT. To that end, we provide the guidance, resources, and support to find or create fulfilling service experiences, locally and around the world.

We model and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation, facilitate partnerships, integrate service with education and research, celebrate excellence, and cultivate confidence and imagination.

Through innovative service learning curricula, the IDEAS Competition, our international fellowships program, and local and international grant-funded service opportunities, we attract and educate MIT students through reciprocally valuable community service work worldwide. As well, the MIT PSC has begun to develop an international reputation for innovative program models and research strategies through collaborative work with the Edgerton Center, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, among others. We have established the groundwork for important studies in engineering education, and we are working to expand our assessment and research capabilities to match future opportunities as well.

We envision MIT as a locus for an interconnected web of university-community enterprises that join universities and communities worldwide in a common effort toward positive change. We continue to transform ourselves as we enable students to do the same.

History

1988

The PSC is established to provide centralized institutional support for community service.

1990

The PSC Fellowships program is established, providing stipends that permit students to perform full-time community service in Cambridge Public Schools over IAP and in local community agencies over the summer..

1992

The first CityDays festival is held at MIT, with 500 elementary school children visiting the campus for a day of sports, crafts, and education. Currently, MIT students leave the campus to complete a service project at a local non-profit agency.

The LINKs program is also initiated to involve MIT students in Cambridge science classrooms.

The MIT Panhellenic Association and the PSC organize the first Giving Tree, in which MIT students, faculty and staff provide gifts to needy children during the holiday season.

1993

An MIT student initiates the KEYs program to provide mentors for girls with the goal of building self-esteem and provoking an interest in science and technology careers.

The first Science Expo is organized by students in the Educational Studies Program.

1997

The Volunteer Community Connection is established with support from the PSC, and then wins the MIT $50K Competition. Today, it continues to facilitate volunteer placements through the United Way.

1998

ReachOut: Teach A Child to Read is initiated at MIT as part of the national AmericaReads program.  Student Financial Services and the PSC jointly sponsor the program.

2001

CommuniTech becomes a becomes a PSC-sponsored program with an aim to involve more MIT students in digital divide issues.

The Public Service Fellowships program offers international fellowship opportunities.

The PSC and Edgerton Center collaboratively initiate MIT's  Service Learning Initiative with grants from the Massachusetts Campus Compact through the Learn and Serve America Program and the d'Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education.  The d'Arbeloff grant also enables the start of the MIT IDEAS Competition.

2002

The PSC initiates a research and evaluation component to our programs and activities, and establishes a tracking system to improve volunteer placement.

2003

iMath, developed by MIT graduate student, John Velasco, is launched.

The PSC celebrates its 15th anniversary.

2004

The National Science Foundation awards the PSC and the Department of Mechanical Engineering a grant of $100,000 for service learning.

Just Deserts: Making Ethical Reflection Palatable at MIT, a series of evening events at MIT, is offered jointly by the Technology and Culture Forum and the PSC.

2005

The number of students participating in the IDEAS Competition doubles.

The PSC adds a permanent Service Learning Coordinator to its staff but loses its part-time assessment staff member.

The PSC launches the Outreach Database to enable the public to access MIT's public service opportunities.

The International Development Initiative (IDI) brings together PSC and Edgerton Center programs that offer hands-on engineering education and community service experiences through international development.

2006

The PSC restructures its Volunteer and Outreach support system to better serve all student service groups, finding new homes for its existing service programs and establishing new methods for communicating with and supporting student initiatives.

More than $50,000 in PSC grants is distributed this year, breaking the previous record amount of $20,000.

2007

iHouse, the International House for Global Leadership, begins as a living-learning community focused on leadership experiences through international development.