UIS named to President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for seventh year

The University of Illinois Springfield has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for a seventh consecutive year. The award is one of the highest federal recognitions a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

During the 2012-13 academic year, UIS students spent 66,070 hours engaged in community service. A total of 905 students engaged in some type of community service, with 440 students volunteering at least 20 hours.

“To provide some perspective on this number, 66,000 hours of service represents between $600,000 and $1,000,000 of value to our community, and most of that is being directed toward nonprofit and community-based agencies right here in Springfield,” said Mark Dochterman, director of the UIS Volunteer & Civic Engagement Center.

Highlights of 2013 UIS volunteer efforts include students collecting over 200 pounds of toiletries and supplies for veterans and $200 in cash donations in support of American Legion Post 32 in Springfield. Students also collected 11,140 pounds of food for the Central Illinois Foodbank as part of the Trick or Treat for Canned Goods event.

In April 2013, over 200 UIS students participated in the Habitat for Humanity Brush with Kindness Program and made significant exterior renovations to five Springfield homes.

UIS students also traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey in May 2013 to help with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Over the course of one week the UIS volunteers helped rebuild four homes damaged by the hurricane.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which has administered the Honor Roll since 2006, annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement by recognizing institutions that achieve meaningful, measureable outcomes in the communities they serve.

Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which service-learning is embedded in the curriculum, the school’s commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships, and measurable community outcomes as a result of the service.

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Campus Compact.

For more information on the award, contact Mark Dochterman, director of the UIS Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center at 217/206-8448 or mdoch2@uis.edu.