Wallace Goode, Jr., has been tapped to head the University Community Service Center (UCSC). The U of C is known territory for Goode, who grew up and currently lives minutes away in Woodlawn.

Goode is arriving at the University already seasoned with his experience working for the City of Chicago. During his seven-year stint, Goode directed the mayor’s Workforce Solutions Division, acted as assistant commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, and served as the executive director of the Empowerment Zone.

Having a commitment to community service, Goode also is a former Peace Corps volunteer who has remained active in the service. He previously worked in the Central African Republic and the Solomon Islands and currently serves as the vice-president-for-life for the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association Board.

The new UCSC director was previously assistant dean of students at both Earlham College and the Illinois Institute of Technology and dean of off-campus and international programs at Allegheny College.

Because of Goode’s work in Chicago and connections with the Hyde Park community, he is a wellspring for students wanting to work find community service opportunities.

“If someone comes into my office and tells me how they want to volunteer—that, for example, they want to work as a writer for an arts organization on the southwest side—I can get on the phone and help put them in touch with an organization that will need their help,” Goode said in a release. “Creating meaningful connections between our students and the community is a really exciting part of the job.”

Bill Michel, assistant vice president for Student Life and associate dean in the College, echoed Goode’s assessment of his own strengths, saying in a release that the new UCSC director “will be a tremendous resource for us. His experience working with the city, with such a wide variety of community organizations and in such a wide variety of neighborhoods will really be a great asset to UCSC and our students.”

In his new capacity as director of the UCSC, Goode hopes to encourage more students to step outside of the ivy-covered U of C campus and participate more in the community. Believing that interaction with different cultures and groups of people is a mutually beneficial process, Goode said in a release that he wants to encourage more “cross-cultural dexterity.”

In some ways Goode has come full circle in accepting the new position. When he was a teenager at Mount Carmel High School, Goode was tutored by two University students and sometimes studied with them at Ida Noyes Hall.

Goode will be present at UCSC’s open house today from 4 to 6 p.m. at 5525 South Ellis Avenue.