Springfield College Named to Presidential Community Service Honor Roll
February 9, 2009SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 9, 2009 – Springfield College was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its exemplary community service programs in ceremonies today by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in Washington, D.C.
Springfield College President Richard B. Flynn responded to the award saying, “Service is an essential component of learning, student life, and the values that guide Springfield College students and graduates. On behalf of the college and our students, who devote their ability, energy and time to building our community, we are honored by this recognition.”
Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a college can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Awardees are chosen on the basis of the scope and innovation of their service projects, percentage of student participation in service, incentives for service, the extent of academic service-learning courses, and other criteria.
Among the examples that Springfield College cited are that 93 of its academic courses involve learning through service, and more than 85 percent of the college’s 5,000 students perform community service. The students annually perform more than 133,000 hours of service.
In the Springfield College AmeriCorps Program alone, 100 students serve at more than 40 schools, hospitals, community centers, and community organizations. They perform academic coaching, counseling and case management, youth leadership development, and increase the capacity of not-for-profit entities to provide services.
“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 CNCS board of directors, which oversees the honor roll. “We salute Springfield College for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”
The Honor Roll is a program of the CNCS, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is presented during the annual conference of the American Council on Education.
“I offer heartfelt congratulations to those institutions named to the 2008 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. College and university students across the country are making a difference in the lives of others every day – as are the institutions that encourage their students to serve others,” said American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad.
Recent studies have underlined the importance of service-learning and volunteering to college students. In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave more than 297 million hours of volunteer service, according to a CNCS 2007 study. Expanding campus incentives for service is part of a larger CNCS initiative to spur higher levels of volunteering by America’s college students. The CNCS is working with a coalition of federal agencies, higher education and student associations, and nonprofit organizations to achieve this goal.
