Volunteer at The Aurora Center!
Learn, advocate, educate.
The Aurora Center offers volunteer opportunities at The University of Minnesota that are focused on providing support to survivors and education around campus. All positions are designed to foster leadership and professional skill development for volunteers.
Applications for Special Projects Volunteers open in late spring semester (for training in June).
The application for Direct Service Advocates and Violence Prevention Educators opens in fall (for training in January-February). Applications to participate in Aurora's Volunteer Program for the 2024-25 year are now closed.
Learn more about these volunteer opportunities below!
Direct Service Advocate
Direct Service Advocates (DSA's) are trained as confidential crisis counselors to listen, provide support, and explain options to victim/survivors and concerned folks on our 24-hour helpline after business hours. They also respond to campus hospitals to provide support during medical forensic exams. This position requires 40 hours of training, which is provided to selected volunteer applicants by Aurora staff in December-February.
Read more about the DSA volunteer position in the Volunteer Informational Packet.
Violence Prevention Educator
Violence Prevention Educators (VPE's) facilitate workshops on campus and educate on the issues of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, and other related topics. VPE's are confidential advocates trained to facilitate conversations that follow Aurora's Power of Respect Curriculum. This position requires 40 hours of training, which is provided to selected volunteer applicants by Aurora staff in December-February.
Read more about the VPE volunteer role in the Volunteer Informational Packet.
Special Projects Volunteer
Looking to get involved with our office? Would you be interested in representing The Aurora Center by staffing various events across campus?
Special Projects Volunteers (SPV's) serve as our lead volunteers for staffing tables at events across campus. SPV's also coordinate our involvement in new student orientation, Welcome Week, Homecoming and Paint the Bridge activities throughout the summer and fall. Many incoming students and their families learn about Aurora's services at these events during this summer, so we depend on our SPV's to serve as ambassadors of Aurora.
This role requires 6 hours of training that takes place in June.