About Us
Student Volunteer Campus Community (abbreviated SVCC, and formerly SVCC Language Schools) is a non-profit organization run by volunteers located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and operates at the University of Alberta as a student volunteer group.
Mission Statement
The objectives of SVCC are:
to provide participants with an opportunity to experience language in a discussion-like setting,
to integrate volunteer activities as a part of everyday student life at the University,
to develop cooperative learning between participants through peer-education,
to introduce members of the international community to Canadian culture through language education, and
to promote multiculturalism and the respect of the variety of cultures in Canada.
History
SVCC Language Schools was founded in 1980 under the name "Student Volunteer Campus Community," by the late Father Firth and Rita Chow. Originally, SVCC was an English Language School intended for new immigrants from Vietnam and other parts of Asia learning English as a second language.
Those English as a Second Language classes were originally held at St. Joseph's College, a small college also located on the University of Alberta Campus. When the English Language Group hosted five classes, SVCC relocated to the Education Building on the University Campus in 1984, where it continues to operate today.
In 1984, SVCC opened their second language program as the "Cantonese Language Group" for children.
As time went on, SVCC expanded to incorporate a Mandarin Language Group (2005), French Language Group (2007), Japanese Language Group (2008), Korean Language Group (2009), and most recently, a Spanish program in 2013.
In the Fall semester of 2013, SVCC marked its 100th session in operation.
Basic Structure
SVCC is currently comprised of three main operational committees and hosts sessions for seven languages. We are organized as follows:
Executive Committee:
President
Treasurer
Operations Committee:
Internal Operations Leader
External Operations Leader
Peer Language Mentor Committee (English, French, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, & Korean):
Lead Language Mentor
Peer Language Mentor