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West Virginia University at
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NEWS West Virginia University at Parkersburg
300 Campus Drive Parkersburg WV 26104
Phone: 304-424-8203 | Fax: 304-424-8315
February 16, 2009
WVU Parkersburg named to Presidential Honor Roll for Community Service.
CONTACT: Anthony Underwood, dean of students, 304-424-8209.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWest Virginia University at Parkersburg has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its exemplary efforts and service to the Mid-Ohio Valley.
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.
"We are honored to be recognized. The college is committed to modeling the importance and value of service learning and engagement in our communities," said WVU Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage.
Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the college offers academic service-learning courses.
In addition to a number of service-related projects, WVU Parkersburg was recognized for its "A Day On, Not A Day Off" project coordinated by the college's Student Services Division in which WVU Parkersburg students, faculty, and staff volunteer in service projects at local elementary schools on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever," said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll.
"College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges," he added. "We salute WVU Parkersburg for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”
In addition to WVU Parkersburg, other West Virginia institutions recognized as Honor Roll members include West Virginia University, Shepherd University, University of Charleston, and West Virginia Northern Community College.
Overall, the Corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, 83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members. In total, 635 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.
The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, 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 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 the Corporation’s Volunteering in America 2007 study. Expanding campus incentives for service is part of a larger initiative to spur higher levels of volunteering by America’s college students. The Corporation is working with a coalition of federal agencies, higher education and student associations, and nonprofit organizations to achieve this goal.
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.
cd02/16/09
For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
WVU Parkersburg
Executive Director
Institutional Advancement
(304-424-8203)
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