Spotlight on Rutgers Global Student Volunteer Corps

The Rutgers Global Student Volunteer Corps (SVC) is a vibrant group of Rutgers students who assist the Rutgers Global Programming & Events team each year in conceiving, planning, and executing fun and engaging campus events that serve to promote global awareness and cross-cultural understanding. The volunteers, who submit applications and interview with the team before being selected, help with all aspects of events, including planning, set-up, management, and more. These volunteers gain important benefits from joining the SVC, such as enhancing their intercultural communication skills, growing both personal and professional networks, learning how to work with teams, and gaining some excellent resume-building experience.

Shaili Halani, an international student from India who is studying computer science, joined the SVC this year and talked about her motivation: “I first learned about SVC when I was passing by the College Avenue Student Center and saw that Rutgers Global was hosting an event. They had a poster about the SVC, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to explore different communities and volunteering at the same time.” The experience has been enriching for her. Halani went on, “Through my volunteering with SVC, I got to know people from different communities and countries, and it was really interesting to experience their culture and celebrate it at the same time. Overall, it has been such a fun and meaningful experience, and I’m grateful for this opportunity.”

Greg Costalas, Assistant Director of Programs at Rutgers Global, explained that the SVC—then called the Student Advisory Committee—was formed in the spring of 2021, when there was an increasing need to transition from in-person events to virtual ones due to the Covid pandemic. “We wanted to keep our connection with the students, even during the lockdown, but wanted more insights on what sort of online programming would be engaging to our students,” remarked Costalas. “So, we decided to create a student volunteer committee to help brainstorm ideas for virtual programming.” A notable result was 2022’s “Rutgers Got Talent,” a talent show comprised of student-created videos that were submitted and shared with an audience in real time via YouTube for virtual voting, in the style of American Idol. It was an effective pivot during a challenging time, and the event was a success.

Ruth Sharon Raju, who obtained her Master’s in Data Science – Statistics in December, and grew up in Saudi Arabia, has thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the SVC. “I joined the SVC because I love learning about different cultures and languages and I believe the best way to do that is through immersion,” she said. “I loved the events that we have done, especially the Global Showcase event in April 2025, where we saw so many people learning about different parts of the world, whether by tasting snacks, trying to write the scripts of different languages, enjoying dance performances, or being quizzed on their general knowledge of the world.”

Raju was also very pleased with the Asian New Year Celebration in the spring of 2026. “I thought it was genius because we got to see how different countries and cultures celebrate spring.” She added that during the Korean culture event, she got to try on Hanboks with her friends, “which was something I’ll never forget!” Shaili Halani agreed, and said, “The moment of achievement for me was when I saw all the students enjoying the Asian New Year event that we worked so hard to set up. I thought it was the best event of the year—I saw people enjoying the event and learning about the Lunar New Year traditions at the same time, which made me so happy.”

Lauren Forsman, Program Coordinator at Rutgers Global, who works closely with Costalas and the SVC, noted: “Many of our SVC members are international students, and we love seeing them go from just attending our events to getting involved behind the scenes, giving their input, volunteering the day of, and how that changes their experience of Rutgers.” She added, “I also think about how serving on the SVC gives our students confidence to pursue other opportunities such as internships and more.”

In addition, the SVC has proved to be an important student “focus group” that Rutgers Global can turn to in order to receive an accurate assessment of how Rutgers students might react to everything from programming to social media posts and contests to graphic designs. “As a unit, we serve Rutgers students in a variety of ways and the SVC has become a trusted resource to get a sense of what will land with our students,” said Costalas.

Ruth Sharon Raju summed up the experience best when she noted, “All of these events helped expand my worldview and taught me that at the end of the day, human beings are more alike than different and that’s very special to me!”