Vanderbilt recently launched Get Connected, a website that connects individuals to volunteer opportunities, in an effort to increase accessibility and efficiency when it comes to enabling campuswide service involvement in the local community.
The program will enable students to more readily access local service opportunities and organize volunteer engagements with nonprofits in Nashville, many of which have been involved in the Vanderbilt community in the past but will now be connected through a more streamlined process.
Kathleen Fuchs Hritz, senior director for community relations for Vanderbilt’s Division of Government and Community Relations, said the platform is meant to be a first step for individuals looking to get involved and volunteer in the Nashville community.
“We’re looking for best practices and ways to strengthen relationships, build partnerships and deepen collaboration. That two-way communication can be hard with nonprofits,” Hritz said. “[Get Connected] creates, in some ways, a front door for both campus and community to connect with one another. We want to shorten the learning curve and address real needs in the community.”
Hritz said the platform itself is also designed to be user-friendly, allowing users to create a customizable profile denoting service preference, organizations of interest and past volunteer experience.
“If you’re particularly passionate about the environment, or you like working with veterans or serving in youth development and education, you can highlight that in your profile,” Hritz said.
Robert Moxley, community engagement manager at local education nonprofit PENCIL, said the platform has helped the organization with their goal of increasing volunteers at Metro Nashville Public Schools.
“I love Get Connected. It allows PENCIL to share our in-school volunteer opportunities with students at Vanderbilt and other universities across Nashville,” he said. “Last year, we rolled out our new site on Get Connected and had 847 people register for volunteer events in 4 months. This school year, we’ve had 423 in just over one month. It’s allowed us to grow the number of volunteers we’re able to place in schools greatly.”
Faith Lindsey, a 2026 Peabody graduate student in the community development and action program, is an intern in the Division of Government and Community Relations office who worked on implementing the project. She said the platform is a great way for students to broadly explore their service interests.
“It’s super exciting not only for specific opportunities but more for the general knowledge of students to get to know the Nashville community,” Lindsey said. “I think this is a really great entry point for students who just want to see what’s out there and may not necessarily want to get involved with one specific thing.”
Dior Williams, a senior working in the GCR division office, emphasized that the platform resolves the logistical challenges that often prevent consistent student engagement in service work.
“In the experiences I’ve had in student org[anizations] when we’re trying to do service, the hardest part is getting connected and then following all the correct protocols with Vanderbilt,” Williams said. “This [platform] streamlines everything for you. All the answers are right there on one platform.”
Hritz encourages students interested in the Get Connected platform to attend the Student Organizations, Leadership, and Service service fair on Oct. 7 from 1 to 3 p.m., which will feature organizations using the Get Connected platform. Hritz hopes Get Connected will help facilitate lasting connections, regarding both the volunteer work itself and the interactions behind it.
“I hope our community partners or the nonprofit organizations, some that are already involved at Vanderbilt, will have deep and continuous engagement with the Vanderbilt community, including students, staff and faculty,” Hritz said. “I hope we are able to build relationships that go beyond the tech platform.”
