Indiana State University Newsroom

Indiana State University has once again been named to the 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.

The 2009 Honor Roll, released this week, recognizes community service during the 2008-09 academic year, during which nearly half of all Indiana State students are estimated to have been involved in public service or community engagement. Indiana State has been an Honor Roll institution each year since the program was launched in 2006.

"Congratulations to Indiana State 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."

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.

"We estimate that 5,100 students participated in some kind of public service or community engagement activity during 2008-09. Of those, we have documented that 2,100 students participated in community engagement through their ISU curriculum," Nancy Rogers, associate vice president for public service and community engagement, said.

Highlights of ISU community engagement during the year included:

• Donaghy Day - 500 new students and 20 faculty/staff provided 3100 hours of community service to non-profit organizations in the area surrounding campus and beautified the campus. Established in 1976 as a day set aside to beautify the campus, Donaghy Day is now part of the annual new student orientation program
• Sycamore Service Corps - 60 members provided 21,651 hours of service via the ISU-sponsored AmeriCorps program, including 30 members who provided 5500 hours of mentoring to low-income youth in area youth centers
• Liberal Learning in Action, a service-learning program associated with general education, provided opportunities for 250 students to complete service-learning projects focused on poverty, diversity, and environmental issues
• 850 education students provided 34,000 hours of service through the Professional Development Schools partnership
• Indiana State Reading Corps provided 1,440 hours of tutoring.

"We're proud to be on the Community Service Honor Roll for the fourth consecutive year," ISU President Dan Bradley said. "Our faculty, staff and students have established a tremendous record of public service. As we implement our new strategic plan, we will see an even greater commitment. We want every student to have at least one community engagement experience. We want to see more faculty and staff hold positions of leadership in the community and the university will reach out to serve more businesses and community organizations."

The Honor Roll recognizes more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. Nationwide, 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service during 2009, 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 for National and Community Service is a federal agency that 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 corporation engages more than 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. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.

Contact: Nancy Rogers, associate vice president for public service and community engagement, Indiana State University, 812-237-2474 or nancy.rogers@indstate.edu