Volunteers
Individuals
All students of the UF College of Engineering are welcome to volunteer at GatorTRAX sessions. You may dress casually, and some students choose to wear clothes representing their respective organizations. Simply sign up and come to to a GatorTRAX Saturday session at 9:45am and we will let you know what to do.
Volunteers please sign-up here.
Organizations
All student engineering organizations are eligible to volunteer to host GatorTRAX sessions. Available dates are established one semester in advance, and signup is done on a first come, first serve basis. Organizations should sign up at least one month in advance, and ideally 2-4 months in advance.
When hosting a Saturday session, an organization agrees to divide the responsibilities for running the session between itself and the GatorTRAX team.
The GatorTRAX team typically handles the following:
- Scheduling the session and reserving the room(s)
- Notifying students and parents
- Providing most of the student volunteers for the session
- Consulting with the organization to assist it in developing the activity for that session
- Providing part of the funding for the development of a particular module (funding is not always available)
The volunteering organization typically handles the following:
- Developing an activity for the students with the guidance of the GatorTRAX team
- Providing enough volunteers to effectively lead the Saturday session
- Providing part or all of the funding for developing the new activity
- Providing detailed documentation of everything related to the activity
GatorTRAX activities are unique in that they must be developed specifically around mathematics. While other outreach programs start with engineering concepts and then add in the math, we begin with concepts in mathematics and develop engineering applications around them. An organization should use resources such as Florida course curricula in identifying the concepts they will teach, and then teach those concepts as quantitatively as possible. The GatorTRAX team will provide assistance in identifying the concepts to be taught, as well as the applications that will be used to teach them.
Once the session is completed, the GatorTRAX team will usually collect the materials related to the activity and store them in the GatorTRAX supply office. That way, the team has the ability to offer the activity again in future semesters. Documentation related to the activity may also be posted online to be downloaded and used by other outreach programs around the country.
In return for managing a GatorTRAX session, the volunteering organization is given as much credit as possible for their work, including publicity at the session and on the GatorTRAX website. If the activity is repeated in future semesters, the organization is given credit again for developing the activity, and it is also given priority to lead that future session.
Organizations interested in volunteering should begin by emailing the Saturday session coordinator and setting up a preliminary meeting. To email the coordinator, see the Contact Info page.