10:14 a.m., Feb. 10, 2009----The University of Delaware has been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America's communities.

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The recognition by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) 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 innovation 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.

“We are extremely pleased that the University of Delaware has been named to the 2008 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service,” said Havidán Rodríguez, vice provost for academic affairs and international programs. “This is the second consecutive year that we have achieved such an honor.”

Rodríguez said the honor speaks to the University's commitment to civic engagement, the valuable service that UD students provide locally, nationally, and internationally, and recognition of the importance and value that UD staff and faculty place on service learning.

“The Office of Undergraduate Research and Service Learning, under the leadership of Lynnette Overby and Sue Serra, has played a critical role in this process,” Rodríguez said. “Student, faculty and staff engagement in these and other initiatives is one of the core values and guiding principles under UD's Path to Prominence^TM. We are certainly moving in the right direction and we congratulate our University community.”

The Honor Roll, launched in 2006, is a program of the CNSC, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. This year's Honor Roll was presented during the annual conference of the American Council on Education on Feb. 8-9.

“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 Stephen Goldsmith, vice chairperson of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute the University of Delaware for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”

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 CNSC'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.

CNSC 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 the CNSC Web site [www.nationalservice.gov].

Article by Martin Mbugua