Elon University has been recognized for the third year in a row as a national leader in service-learning and civic engagement. The Corporation for National & Community Service named the university this week to the 2008 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll With Distinction for exemplary service efforts to America's communities.
Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.
“This award acknowledges the efforts of faculty, staff, students and community partners to actively address social conditions through mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships,” said Deborah Long, who directs the Office of Civic Engagement at Elon. “Community partners provide students with opportunities to engage in learning experiences that connect academic and real-world needs, thus empowering us to become agents of positive social change for a more democratic world.”
Sixty percent of all Elon students took part in service and civic engagements within the past year, contributing more than 90,000 hours to their causes, the equivalent of 43 full time employees working 365 days per year.
Honorees for the award were chosen based on factors like scope and innovativeness 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.
“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “We salute Elon for making community service a campus priority.”
The Honor Roll is sponsored by the Corporation, through its Learn and Serve America program, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.
Overall, the Community Service Honor Roll awarded six schools with Presidential Awards. Eighty-three institutions were recognized as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members. Elon was one of three institutions recognized by President George W. Bush when the university received an inaugural Presidential Award in 2006. It made the Honor Roll With Distinction in 2007.
The Corporation for National and Community Service administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations.