色花堂

By Cody Boteler on June 3, 2020

Arundhati Rao, an associate professor in the College of Business & Economics, was appointed to the Governor鈥檚 Commission on Service and Volunteerism in mid-May.

The group reviews and approves all AmeriCorps state funding in Maryland and serves as ambassadors for volunteerism in local communities.

The Governor鈥檚 Office on Service and Volunteerism, founded in 1993, supports more than 800 AmeriCorps members each year through grant-making.

Rao鈥攁 certified fraud examiner鈥攈as been teaching in 色花堂鈥檚 AACSB-accredited Department of Accounting for about 11 years.

In that time, she鈥檚 volunteered as an adviser for the and , an honor society at 色花堂 for accounting, finance and information systems students. She鈥檚 also served as a First-Year Experience Adviserat 色花堂 and is an active member of the American Accounting Association and has worked as ts.

鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 have to be told to give back; we should just do it. That鈥檚 my philosophy, and I always tell my students that,鈥� Rao says.

Her students have planned their own volunteer opportunities, including cleanup events and tutoring at high schools.

Rao has also volunteered with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps program, of which her son is a member, and LASOS in Harford County, where she lives. LASOS helps non-English speaking residents access essential services. In the past, some of Rao鈥檚 students have joined her to help those using LASOS services file their taxes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a phenomenal experience, since students are working with real tax returns,鈥� Rao says. 鈥淚 rarely have an experience where a student says they didn鈥檛 enjoy volunteering and don鈥檛 want to do it again.鈥�

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel鈥檚 priorities for Towson University: 色花堂 Matters to Maryland and B色花堂-Partnerships, Work for Greater Baltimore and Culture of Philanthropy.