The Corporation for National and Community Service recognized the University last week for its dedication to community service and welcomed it to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
Of the more than 500 colleges and universities that applied and were recognized, the University was one of 127 institutions named to the "Honor Roll with Distinction," according to Siobhan Dugan, public affairs specialist for the CNCS.?
Dugan explained that there are several qualities taken into consideration by the corporation for the distinction, including the number of students involved in service, their time commitment, the number of people reached and the results of the projects undertaken. Dugan stressed that these qualities develop into a vital awareness of a university's surrounding community.
"Each college or university is located within a larger community, and one of the things the honor roll is meant to recognize is how colleges build on and improve the [surrounding communities]," she said.
University Outreach Director Megan Raymond said University student groups have integrated their efforts to better Charlottesville into daily University life through an assortment of community service projects, noting that she has collected over 300,000 documented hours of service in the last academic year from student organizations. She added that this figure "is the tip of the iceberg" because the number is based solely on the organizations that chose to respond to the survey.
While many organizations contributed to the total hours, five formally recognized groups on the CNCS application were the School of Law Pro Bono Project, Madison House, the Women's Center for Counseling Services, the University Medical School's Social Issues in Medicine course and the Men's Leadership Project.?
This year, the award application's area of focus dealt with programs "helping youth from disadvantaged circumstances," Raymond said.
Madison House Executive Director Kelly Eplee said about 60 percent of their programs are devoted to helping disadvantaged youth through avenues such as mentoring and tutoring as well as recreational therapy.
Eplee added that motivations for service change over time, noting that some students enter into their service work to boost their résumés but may end up continuing their involvement because of personal attachments to the program or people they have served.
According to Raymond, students want their efforts to make an impact, and they want to be a part of a larger community.
"Our students are hard-wired for service," she said. "They have an amazing capacity and energy for this work"
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