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Identifying the Causes of Nontraditional Civic Engagement among Students

This study investigates which factors cause college student to express an interest in participating in what we classify as nontraditional community service opportunities. The particular form of community service that we examine—participation in a volunteer computing project—differs from traditional forms of college student volunteerism in that it involves no face-to-face contact with others, requires a minimal time commitment, is a small part of a highly technical enterprise and focuses on the global rather than the local community. We find that some of the variables that explain participation in traditional forms of community service, in particular belief that one can make a difference, also explain a penchant for nontraditional participation. We also discover that there are some unique influences on the willingness of students to do community service in this alternative form. Finally, we explore the pathways by which the influence of personal characteristics operate in order to address how and why these factors matter in promoting nontraditional forms of community service.