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University of Montana Named to Community Service Honor Roll

The Corporation for National and Community Service honored The University of Montana http://www.umt.edu on Monday, Feb. 9, with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities.

Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service learning and civic engagement.

Honorees are 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.

"Student community engagement is an important priority for the University,” said Andrea Vernon, director of UM’s Office for Civic Engagement http://www.dhc.umt.edu/oce/ . “We are honored to receive this distinction from the Corporation for National and Community Service.”

UM students engaged in academic service learning provided more than 30,500 hours to the Missoula community during the 2007-08 academic year. The students also participated in nearly 5,000 hours of extra-curricular volunteering and in more than 34,000 service hours through the AmeriCorps national service program, which helps with tuition support.

“Taking into consideration the current dollar amount attached to a volunteer hour in Montana, UM student service to the Missoula community during the 2007-08 academic year equated to an economic impact of nearly $875,000,” Vernon said.

“Given the current economic challenges, the value – both monetary and social – of the service students provide has escalated rapidly, making a critical difference for people in need,” agreed UM President George Dennison. “But of even greater importance, the students involved have benefited immensely in terms of personal growth that comes with service to others and the development of those ‘habits of the heart’ that power the ethic of civic engagement.”

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 http://www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

“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. “College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges. We salute The University of Montana 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 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.

"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.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. More information is online at http://www.nationalservice.gov.

http://news.umt.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4936&Itemid=9

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