Campus Compact VISTA - University of Massachusetts Amherst

Campus Compact Ameri Corps VISTA program places Ameri Corps VISTA members in full service with our campus and community partners for a one-year period. During this year, members spend 35 hours per week on their host site’s campus or with one of that campus’s community partners to work on building systems and programs that support low-income college students and community members.

The VISTA member’s work is to build capacity, meaning that rather than directly serving the community, they’re enhancing or creating systems, structures, and resources that support the direct anti‑poverty work. Campus Compact functions as the central VISTA program hub, performing program administration, offering training and support to VISTA members and their projects, and connecting the work happening in individual projects both to similar work happening nationwide and back to Ameri Corps.

For detailed program information and FAQs, please visit our website.

This position will support UMass Amherst Basic Needs Initiatives in expanding sustainable, evidence-based systems that help lower-income students identify needs, access critical supports (e.g., SNAP, emergency aid, FAFSA assistance, essential supplies, case management), and persist to graduation. The VISTA will strengthen cross-campus partnerships, training and curriculum, outreach, and data visualization to increase the scale and effectiveness of basic needs services, ensuring accessible support both in person and virtually.

They will develop a comprehensive resource map and collaboration toolkit linking campus units and community agencies, and co-design high-impact initiatives such as Just-in-Time One-Stop Days, competency-based training modules, a peer mentor curriculum, and an asynchronous Canvas mini-course that improve students’ ability to navigate basic needs resources. The position will also create communication assets, presentation materials, and an annual implementation plan.

• Health Coverage*
• Relocation Allowance
• Choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend
• Additional host site non-cash supports
• Childcare assistance if eligible
• Training
• Living Allowance

• Permits attendance at school during off hours
• Permits working at another job during off hours

• Education
• Community Outreach

• General Skills
• Writing/Editing
• Non-Profit Management
• Computers/Technology