Five Avenues of Service - Vocational Service

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VOCATIONAL SERVICE

 Vocational Service calls every Rotarian to:

  •  aspire to high ethical standards in their occupation;

  •  recognize the worthiness of all useful occupations, and;

  •  contribute their vocational talents to the problems and

     needs of society.

CLASSIFICATION

When professionals join a Rotary club, they do so as a representative of their classification –their particular business or profession.  Rotarians have the dual responsibility of representing their vocation within the club and exemplifying the ideals of Rotary within the workplace.

ETHICS

One of the central goals of Vocational Service is to promote and advance Rotary’s high ethical standards. Two useful tools Rotarians have to assess these standards are The Four-Way Test and The Declaration of Rotarians in Business and Professions.

VOCATIONAL SERVICE and RI PROGRAMS

Several of RI’s programs offer opportunities to exercise Vocational Service, including:

•  Rotary Volunteers: put your vocational talents to work on a service project

•  Rotary Fellowships: start or join a vocational fellowship group

•  RYLA: teach young people leadership skills

•  Rotary Friendship Exchange: conduct vocational exchanges with Rotarians in around the world

LOCAL VOCATIONAL SERVICE 

As business leaders, Rotarians share their skills and expertise through vocational service. Our vocational service efforts play a vital role in improving the quality of life for those hardworking members of the community who need direction and expertise. By participating in a number of vocational service activities — mentoring, career days, vocational awards, business assistance, or even talking about our jobs at a club meeting — our experiences turn  into an invaluable resource for others.

Establishing a Community College for Houma is one example of our dedication to Vocational and Technical Education for our people.  A community college for Houma had been a top priority for Rotarian L. J. Folse for many years. Earlier efforts were met by concerns of negative impact on Nicholls University enrollment. With adoption of Louisiana’s Master Plan for Higher Education in 1995, the stage was set for a successful effort. Rotarian Folse agreed to chair The Chamber Post Secondary Committee in November of 2001, a goal was set to obtain a commitment in two years. With guidance from Rotarian Travis Lavigne, Dean of the Fletcher Technical College, and from William Clifford Smith, member of the Louisiana Board of Regents, the committee chose to focus exclusively on the Community College issue. A concept was advanced by the LA Technical & Community College System (LCTCS) to expand the Fletcher Campus into a Technical Community College with its own Chancellor, reporting directly to the system president.