February 9, 2009

The Corporation for National and Community Service honored California State University, Fresno with the Presidential Award for General Community Service. Fresno State was one of only three colleges and universities to earn that distinction. The award was presented Feb. 9 at the American Council on Education annual conference as part of the third annual President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

“The Presidential Award is a very special recognition of the outstanding commitment the university and our community partners have made to service,” said California State University, Fresno President John D. Welty. “It has long been our goal to be one of the leading engaged institutions in the nation, where our teaching, research and service is aligned with the needs of the community. This honor demonstrates that Fresno State is an institution committed to our region.”

The Honor Roll’s Presidential Award is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovativeness 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.

Fresno State’s notable community service achievements involved 10,520 students, nearly half of those enrolled, during the 2008 Honor Roll period. These students provided in excess 667,000 hours of service during a one-year period. The type of service ranged from the Bulldog Pantry, an emergency food pantry organized and operated by Fresno State students, to an international service-learning project where students taught English to over 250 children in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning coordinates the university’s programs.

“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 Nicola Goren, acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute these colleges and universities 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 Presidential Award winners were presented during a ceremony at the American Council on Education’s annual meeting in Washington. ACE CEO Molly Corbett Broad noted how impressed she was with the commitment of all the award winners.

“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,” Broad said.

In addition to Fresno State, the Presidential Award for General Community Service went to Emory University in Atlanta and Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI.

The Presidential Award for Service to Youth from Disadvantaged Circumstances went to Brookhaven College, Farmers Branch, TX; Duke University, Durham, NC; and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Overall, 83 schools were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members. In total, 635 schools were recognized.

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 Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, Campus Compact, and the American Council on Education.

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.