Spartan Echo

Section: News

Norfolk State University was named to the second annual President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The university received an official certificate recognizing its achievement in 2007.

The certificate reads as follows: "The President of the United States of America hereby recognizes and congratulates Norfolk State University for the extraordinary and exemplary community service contributions of its students, faculty, and staff in meeting critical community and national needs."

In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, "Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country."

In all, 528 schools were listed on the Honor Roll for their community service activities during the 2006-2007 academic year. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

Launched in 2006, the President's Honor Roll recognizes institutions of higher education that support innovative, effective, and exemplary community service programs. Honorees for the various award levels, including the Presidential Award, were selected based on a series of factors, including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers service-learning courses.

"There is no question that the universities and colleges who have made an effort to participate and win the Honor Roll award are themselves being rewarded today," said David Ward, President of the American Council on Education. "Earning this distinction is not easy. But now each of these schools will be able to wear this award like a badge of honor."

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. Students who participate in service-learning are more likely to continue service in college.

In 2005, the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute reported that two-thirds of entering college students believed it was very important to help others, which is the highest percentage in the last 25 years.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools