The Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) will relocate its headquarters to the Lincoln Filene Center, home to the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS). The move, scheduled for Oct. 3 this year, will bring LCS on campus from its current location at 17 Chetwynd Road.
LCS Vice President Stacey Kokaram said the organization's "impact on the Tufts student body will be greater" as students will find it easier to stop by the new office.
Even though LCS and UCCPS will share the same building, there is no plan to change the independent status of LCS.
"[UCCPS] and LCS have agreed they will be co-located in the building and the move is not going to change their relationship," LCS president Lisa Fishlin said. "The two are going to remain completely separate entities."
Kokaram acknowledged that the similar goals and missions of UCCPS and LCS may cause confusion regarding their work. According to the representatives, the mission of UCCPS is "to provide support for strengthening education for active citizenship" while that of LCS is "to try to create a more socially responsible world".
While UCCPS supports and provides for student organizations, LCS is an umbrella organization that provides long and short opportunities for students to volunteer through 37 different programs.
What separates LCS from UCCPS is that LCS is completely student run.
"No one is going to have influence on it other than the students," Kokaram said.
Robert Hollister, Dean of UCCPS, emphasized that fact. "The continued independent operation of LCS and the UCCPS is built into the structure of governance of both organizations," he said. "I, and everybody else at Tufts, feel strongly that an impressive strength of LCS is its independence and its tradition of being entirely student-led."
Hollister said there is a possibility that UCCPS funding for LCS may increase in the future, though no definitive decision has been made. He suggested that funds and resources of UCCPS will be able to strengthen LCS activities.
In the past, LCS has received funding from UCCPS mainly for educational programs such as retreats. Fishlin said she hopes it stays that way.
"It's a very small fraction," of the total LCS budget, she said.
Overall, both parties are happy with the move. Hollister said that "providing a more central, accessible location for LCS represents a big vote of confidence from the administration and faculty. The prospect of creative opportunities and synergies of working together is very exciting."
Fishlin agreed. "LCS staff members are also very excited about the move," she said.
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