Emory Receives Presidential Award for Community Service

Emory University has been honored with the 2008 Presidential Award for General Community Service -- the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. Emory is one of only three colleges and universities to earn this annual distinction from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

"We are humbled and energized by this recognition of our efforts," says Emory University President James W. Wagner. "Receiving this honor affirms Emory as a destination university for students who seek an education beyond the traditional classroom setting. We know that bright young scholars want to make a difference today, and trust that in the future they will continue to be drawn to educational settings like Emory. In turn, Emory is committed to providing our students with a world class education and the sense of responsibility to become scholar-citizens addressing opportunities to improve the human condition in myriad ways."

Emory -- one of the first schools to receive the Carnegie Foundation's "Engaged Institution" designation -- has made major investments in recent years to better prepare students to be engaged scholars with the critical thinking, hands-on experience and ethical leadership development to make a difference in the world.

The Presidential Award for General Community Service recognizes "the breadth and quality of an institution’s community service, service learning and civic engagement programs.” Three other colleges and universities received recognition for individual programs. View a full list of the 2008 Honor Roll, which includes several Atlanta-area schools.

Doing Well by Doing Good

In 2008, Emory students completed nearly 150,000 hours of service with more than 200 community partners on projects related to poverty, homelessness, chronic disease, medical services and environmental conservation throughout Atlanta and beyond.

Emory's Office of University-Community Partnerships (OUCP) helps coordinate these efforts and is establishing a continuum of engaged scholarship and service for all students. A capstone program is the yearlong Community Building and Social Change Fellowship, a national model for advanced service learning.

"Emory has made a significant commitment to enhance community-engaged scholarship, learning and service as part of its strategic plan. We are delighted that the vision, aspirations and initial successes of that effort along with Emory's longstanding tradition of civic engagement have earned the university this national recognition," says Michael Rich, OUCP co-founder and director.

In particular at Emory, students at all levels, from undergraduates to graduate students in law, medicine, humanities and theology, engage in service and research that provides direct and tangible benefits to metro Atlanta communities, Rich says.

Highlights of Emory's engaged scholarship and service in 2008, compiled by OUCP, include:

A full third of all students across Emory’s nine schools took part in academic service learning, including law students who provided 26,076 hours of pro bono work for local clinics and agencies.

More than 80 percent of Emory seniors reported serving as volunteers while in college.
In metro-Atlanta and statewide, Emory programs, mentors and tutors enrich the learning of K-12 students in more than 120 public schools, with a particular emphasis on science education.

Emory's outreach also includes hundreds of new immigrants now on the path to U.S. citizenship thanks to students who devoted 2,500 hours coaching English language learners of all ages.
Ninety-two percent of Oxford College students engage in community service, contributing nearly 10,000 hours of service in just one year.

Nearly all students in nursing and theology are required to complete community-based service work as part of their degree program.

National Trends Point to More Service

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 the corporation’s Volunteering in America 2007 study. Using Independent Sector’s estimates of the value of volunteer time, college student volunteering was worth more than $5.6 billion last year. The U.S. Department of Education found a growing service-learning trend, with more schools offering service learning as part of their curriculum.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The corporation 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. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.

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Georgia Southern University Freshmen BUILD Leadership Opportunities

This summer eighty Georgia Southern University freshmen will begin their college career with BUILD, a volunteer leadership and service opportunity that gives them a head start on their college experience. This is the third year Southern Pathways has conducted BUILD, an acronym that stands for Building Undergraduate Involvement in Leadership Development.

BUILD students will labor with two local organizations, Habitat for Humanity and Kingdom Builders during the day, then spend their evenings participating in leadership activities and talking over the experiences of their day. Two BUILD experiences are planned, one for July 27-31 and a second for Aug. 10-14. Both will take place in Statesboro Pointe.

“As they participate in the hands-on BUILD experience, students learn that leadership begins with service,” says Jodi Middleton, assistant director of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. “That’s the most important aspect of the program. At the end of the program, BUILD students will have logged more than 1,000 community service hours.”

Each day of the BUILD program focuses on a leadership theme: building community; ethical leadership; service learning; creating a vision and action plan; and diversity.

“When their semester starts, BUILD students are already familiar with the campus and community, and they’ve had an opportunity to get acquainted with other students,” says Diana Hensley, Coordinator of Civic Engagement in the Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement. “It’s a great way for students to transition from their hometowns, and it’s a way to get to know campus and community.”

BUILD students live in the same residence hall during the session to facilitate discussions of the days’ work and other leadership topics. Upperclass mentors serve as BUILD leaders, guiding the students’ conversation about their experiences.

Southern Pathways will also present Wilderness Introduction to Leadership Development –WILD – with the help of Campus Recreation and Intramurals. Eight students, led by CRI’s Dustin Sanderson, will take a five-day backpacking trip in the mountains of north Georgia. They will hike during the day and spend their evenings in leadership activities and discussions. Like BUILD, each day of the program focuses on a theme.