While it may seem simple, logging service hours, arts points and athletic credits for graduation has previously been a complex and inconvienent procedure for CESJDS students. As a response, the administration switched from the traditional Google Form system to the online platform MobileServe this year.
“It was a huge pain for students that they had to print something out, get it signed, take a picture of that piece of paper and then submit that piece of paper on a Google form,” Dean of Experiential Leadership and Service Learning Tori Ball said.
The MobileServe website houses students’ service hours, arts and athletic credits, while also serving as a hub to track club participation. At JDS, the requirement for athletics is one point, with fall athletic team participation ranging from 0.25-0.5 points. For arts credit, it is ten points. Previously, these credentials were tracked on PowerSchool, and club information often went unrecorded.
Ball heard about MobileServe at a meeting with other educators and was intrigued. She recognized that there were issues with the system JDS was already using, and thought that MobileServe would be a more efficient option.
One feature that Ball finds helpful is that MobileServe allows students to log service hours on-site. Students previously had to undergo a longer process to log hours, making it difficult for many to get verification from the organizations they had volunteered with. The new system allows for students to use their phones to access the MobileServe website and quickly have their supervisor sign off on their hours.
“[MobileServe] gives people really easy, instantaneous ways to make it clear that they did their service. It’s a lot faster and easier for students to document their service,” Ball said. “It made me upset how many people were having a really hard time just submitting their hours.”
MobileServe is also being used to track club attendance and participation. Dean of Students Roz Landy had encountered issues where students wanted to receive credit from club activities they had participated in, but the adviser had not taken attendance so there was no record of their involvement. Landy had originally looked into another company, but when she heard that MobileServe was being implemented, she asked if club logistics could be tracked there as well.
Since the platform wasn’t originally designed to facilitate this type of data tracking, taking club attendance on MobileServe is still a work in progress, according to Ball. However, while MobileServe has only been active for a few weeks, Landy has already seen improvement in the management of clubs.
“We have required students to sign up [through MobileServe] if they wanted to run a club, and if they didn’t have an adviser, we’re not allowing the club to go,” Landy said. “Without an adviser, then we don’t have any means of tracking [attendance], so we’ve already gotten a little bit more control over things.”
Many students are indifferent. MobileServe hasn’t been in place for a long time, so most students haven’t really been able to feel its effects. However, there are some aspects that students are already enjoying.
“Being able to see all my total community service hours and seeing where they’re from and what dates and if they’re indirect or direct, that’s really helpful for when I apply to schools,” junior Liem Elgrably said.
At its core, Ball said that the reason for using MobileServe was to make processing things easier, both on the side of students and administrators, and that she “felt really strongly that it was the best possible way to keep track of community service.”