2010
UMass Dartmouth Earns Place on Presidential Honor Roll for Community Service
Campus receives highest federal recognition for commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has been named to the 2009 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. This is the second year in a row that UMass Dartmouth has been named to the honor roll.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. On campuses across the country, thousands of students joined their faculty to develop innovative programs and projects to meet local needs using the skills gained in their classrooms. Business students served as consultants to budget-strapped nonprofits and businesses, law students volunteered at legal clinics, and dozens of others organized anti-hunger campaigns.
"Congratulations to UMass Dartmouth and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities," said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "Our nation's students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service."
"We are so proud of our students, faculty and staff who every day demonstrate an exemplary commitment to the community,'' Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. "Every year, members of the university community are serving as mentors and tutors for young people, providing health care to seniors, assisting non-profit organizations with their business plans, operating food pantries, and engaging in many other efforts that build the social capital of the Commonwealth. We are very appreciative that these efforts have been recognized on the President's Honor Roll.''
At UMass Dartmouth, community service and civic engagement activity is coordinated by the Center for Civic Engagement which is housed in the School of Education, Public Policy and Civic Engagement (www.umassd.edu/seppce/civicengagement. Matthew Roy, Assistant Provost and Director of the Center for Civic Engagement said, "The President's Honor Roll is the result of a culture of service which has inculcated the entire UMass Dartmouth campus. Our students understand that they should use their gifts to benefit the community."
College students make a significant contribution to the volunteer sector; in 2009, 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according to the Volunteering in America study released by the Corporation. Each year, the Corporation invests more than $150 million in fostering a culture of service on college campuses through grants awarded by its programs; the education awards that AmeriCorps members receive at the conclusion of their term of service to pay for college; and through support of training, research, recognition, and other initiatives to spur college service.
The Corporation oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.
The Honor Roll includes six colleges and universities that are recognized as Presidential Awardees, with an additional 115 named to the Distinction List and 621 schools named as Honor Roll members. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service learning courses.
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The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. On campuses across the country, thousands of students joined their faculty to develop innovative programs and projects to meet local needs using the skills gained in their classrooms. Business students served as consultants to budget-strapped nonprofits and businesses, law students volunteered at legal clinics, and dozens of others organized anti-hunger campaigns.
"Congratulations to UMass Dartmouth and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities," said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "Our nation's students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service."
"We are so proud of our students, faculty and staff who every day demonstrate an exemplary commitment to the community,'' Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. "Every year, members of the university community are serving as mentors and tutors for young people, providing health care to seniors, assisting non-profit organizations with their business plans, operating food pantries, and engaging in many other efforts that build the social capital of the Commonwealth. We are very appreciative that these efforts have been recognized on the President's Honor Roll.''
At UMass Dartmouth, community service and civic engagement activity is coordinated by the Center for Civic Engagement which is housed in the School of Education, Public Policy and Civic Engagement (www.umassd.edu/seppce/civicengagement. Matthew Roy, Assistant Provost and Director of the Center for Civic Engagement said, "The President's Honor Roll is the result of a culture of service which has inculcated the entire UMass Dartmouth campus. Our students understand that they should use their gifts to benefit the community."
College students make a significant contribution to the volunteer sector; in 2009, 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according to the Volunteering in America study released by the Corporation. Each year, the Corporation invests more than $150 million in fostering a culture of service on college campuses through grants awarded by its programs; the education awards that AmeriCorps members receive at the conclusion of their term of service to pay for college; and through support of training, research, recognition, and other initiatives to spur college service.
The Corporation oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.
The Honor Roll includes six colleges and universities that are recognized as Presidential Awardees, with an additional 115 named to the Distinction List and 621 schools named as Honor Roll members. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service learning courses.
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The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve.