Volunteers, Youth, and Students

Experiences for volunteers, youth, and students are an important component of archeology outreach. They enable participants to learn more about archeology, while supporting NPS goals for strategic archeological resource management. Opportunities range from fieldwork, to collections management, to site monitoring, interpretation and education, and research.

Keep in mind that like NPS employees, volunteers, youth and students have workplace rights, including protection from harassment. For guidance, see Guide to Understanding National Park Service (NPS) Preventative and Response Measures to Harassing Conduct During Archeological Field Schools, National Park Service.

Volunteers

Volunteers are not paid. The public finds volunteer opportunities through the NPS Volunteer with Us website. Volunteers may range from those who have no experience with archeology, to those with substantial experience.

Parks may engage retired professional archeologists, certified avocational archeologists, and amateur archeologists. They may also work with individuals who have special skills sets (such as metal detecting). The skill level and commitment of volunteers may still vary greatly. Because advanced volunteers bring experience and deeper knowledge, they may potentially be assigned more complex tasks, or possibly be afforded more autonomy. NPS staff must retain control over decisionmaking in keeping with NPS policy and procedure.

For More Information

• Volunteer Management, National Park Service
• VIP Policy and Guidance, National Park Service
• Director's Order 7: Volunteers and Reference Manual 7: Volunteers-in-Parks, National Park Service
• Volunteers-in-Parks, NPS Management Policies (2006), National Park Service

Youth

Youth are individuals age 15-34. Youth may be unpaid volunteers, or be paid a wage or be otherwise compensated through participation in a federal youth employment program or a partner working on NPS land. The public finds youth opportunities through the NPS Youth Programs website. For the most up-to-date information on policy and administration, refer to Youth Programs guidance on InsideNPS.

For More Information

• Youth and Young Adults Program, National Park Service
• Director's Order 26: Youth Programs, National Park Service

Students

Students are enrolled in a school, college, or university and seek a degree. They may be unpaid volunteers, or be paid a wage or receive an educational stipend. There is no age restriction. Student opportunities are listed on the NPS Jobs and Internships website. For the most up-to-date information on policy and administration, refer to Youth Programs guidance on InsideNPS.

For More Information

• Youth and Young Adults Program, National Park Service

Best Practices

NPS archeologists must drive a project and are responsible for quality control over the results. Parks should not undertake volunteer, youth, or student programs if a professional archeologist is unavailable to give the time, attention, and supervision necessary. Every project and program should be supervised by a professional archeologist as defined in Appendix E of DO28. Some projects, such as the curation of artifacts, may be supervised by professionals in appropriate fields. Projects with volunteers, students, or youth should only take place when an archeological can supervise them.

When creating and carrying out archeological projects with volunteers, students or youth, keep in mind that they:

• Must earn trust.
• Require consistent training and supervision.
• Should not make archeological resource management decisions.
• Should not supervise other volunteers, youth, or students.
• Should not access sensitive archeological data.
• May publish findings through an agreement with the park, which retains control over the subject matter, especially sensitive data such as site locations

Volunteers, youth and students make valuable contributions to NPS archeological resource management, inspire staff and bring a fresh perspective, and may go on to become archeologists, themselves.