Around the Campanile
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The UMass Dartmouth Community Service van got a new look this summer when Director Deirdre Healey (front, second from right) ran a contest to design artwork for the van. Contest winner and graphic design major, Kevin DiMattia ’12 (front, right) not only designed the artwork, he applied it.
is the co-chair of the Massachusetts Campus Compact, which works to engage higher education students, staff and faculty in community service, and recently moderated Governor Deval Patrick’s online civic engagement forum. Dr. Matthew Roy, Director of UMass Dartmouth’s Center For Civic Engagement, said the project will be a model for universities and colleges all across America. “We are going to connect 1,500 UMass students and 20 community organizations with people and neighborhoods from the SouthCoast to the Merrimack Valley, and from Boston to Worcester to the Pioneer Valley,” Roy said. The grant will support the expansion of activities such as: • Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) where UMass business students assist low income community members with filing taxes. This past year, VITA saved New Bedford residents more than $1 million in earned income tax credits. • The Workers Education Program, which is designed to educate citizens to compete for 21st century jobs and counts on help from UMass students acting as tutors. • LEADS, a Commonwealth Corp program that teaches leadership to middle school children through community service projects. The program was piloted in the Fall River and New Bedford middle schools this past year. This grant allows for the expansion of that program to middle schools throughout the state. UMass
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D a r t m o u t h
Student caps UMD career with U.S. Treasury internship Bryan O’Brien ’09 of Marshfield, was one of four students nationwide to earn the Washington Center Internship Scholarship presented by Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society. Describing the honor as an “awesome opportunity,” O’Brien said his internship at the U.S. Department of Treasury broadened his horizons professionally and personally. O’Brien worked as an employee and labor relations assistant during the summer before graduating from UMass Dartmouth in September. His job included managing employee and labor relations cases, conducting research, preparing and disseminating training materials, and assisting with special events organization. During his time at Treasury, O’Brien’s innovative style stood out. He created an employee/labor relations newsletter that will serve as a template for a monthly human resources newsletter. O’Brien also worked with a fellow intern to organize a brown bag lunch with Treasury Chief of Staff Mark Patterson, an alumnus of the internship program himself. Rhonda Coachman-Steward, director for Human Resources Operations for Departmental Offices said O’Brien was an “invaluable asset to the Department’s Employee and Labor Relations Program. His short time here will have a lasting and beneficial impact on the way this program functions.”
Calling his former student a “poster boy for UMass Dartmouth,” Associate Professor and Chairman of the Political Science Department Michael Baum described O’Brien as "very bright, personable and civic-minded.“ O’Brien, who is currently developing a fledgling consulting business in Japan, recruiting for the IT industry, said that his experience at UMass Dartmouth prepared him for the internship and life after
Bryan O’Brien with US Treasurer Rosie Rios
graduation by fostering not only his scholarly side but also his enterprising and entrepreneurial nature. “UMass really helped me develop a variety of skills through my academic courses, on-campus work experiences, and extracurricular activities,” O’Brien said. “Additionally, I feel as if my experiences at the university have instilled in me a great deal of initiative.” In addition to a double major in political science and economics and a minor in international business, O’Brien was a