On Wednesday, NC Campus Compact welcomed Carolyn Byrne as our new
VISTA Program Coordinator. Byrne brings a bevy of public service and
higher education experience to the role. She served two terms as an NC
Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA in UNC’s APPLES Service-Learning Program
(2009-2011); worked as a student services specialist at UNC’s Carolina
Center for Public Service; and recently completed a Masters in
counseling at UNC Greensboro.
Just as she is familiar with AmeriCorps, Byrne is no stranger to Elon
University, which hosts the Compact’s state office. An Elon alumna
(’09), Byrne got her start in campus-community engagement as an
undergraduate leader in the Alternative Breaks and LINCS programs at the
Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement.
As VISTA program coordinator, Byrne will support a cohort of 18
full-time VISTA volunteers building campus-community partnerships at 13 campus and community sites.
“When this position became available… it felt like coming home to
AmeriCorps,” says Byrne. “But also it was a chance to take four years of
experience and new skills and understanding of personal and
professional development and take that up a notch in working with VISTAs
across the state.”
As a VISTA and later staff member at UNC Chapel Hill’s APPLES Service
Learning Program and the Carolina Center for Public Service, Byrne
helped expand community-based serving learning placements and student
internships. Byrne oversaw student leadership teams for alternative
breaks and internships, managing more than 150 community partnerships in
the process. In May 2013, she was honored with UNC’s Student
Undergraduate Staff Award.
In her most recent work at UNC Greensboro, Byrne worked as a graduate assistant and counseling intern at the Students First Office, where she provided academic counseling services and helped coordinate other interventions for struggling students.
Byrne is looking forward to working with VISTA members but also with supervisors and community partners.
“At UNC, my role involved working deeply with community partners and
getting to see what they were working toward and supporting their
mission with the institution’s resources … it felt like good and
meaningful work,” Byrne recalls. “I reflect back on how impactful those
relationships were but also how long and how much intention it takes to
build them.”
“I’m excited to think about how to make NC Campus Compact an
important part of the VISTA experience and a resource for VISTAs and
supervisors.”
Chad Fogleman, who has managed the Compact’s VISTA program since
2012, will remain with the organization in the expanded role of
assistant director, overseeing communications, network events, awards,
and other programs. Learn more about our staff.