On a Roll
Southeastern earns spot on national community service honor roll for fourth consecutive year
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Southeastern's spirit of community service has been recognized with a spot on the President's Higher Education Honor Roll for Community Service for the fourth consecutive year. The list recognizes institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.
This year's honor was earned thanks to more than 4,500 Southeastern students who provided approximately 120,000 hours of voluntary service to national and area non-profit agencies and other organizations. Combined with 12,000 faculty and staff volunteer hours, the estimated value of this work is $2.8 million.
"Southeastern is proud to again be listed on the national President's Higher Education Honor Roll for Community Service," said Southeastern President John L. Crain. "Southeastern's community of students, faculty and staff have a strong history of service and have consistently demonstrated a spirit of volunteerism. Their willingness to give back to the communities in which we live and work is evident and is highly valued."
Tena Golding, director of the Center for Faculty Excellence, said the culture of service at Southeastern is evident in the growth of student-led projects. Community service projects and events during the honor roll year included:
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The Big Event, a Student Government Association-sponsored initiative, attracting approximately 600 students to complete projects such as painting, landscaping, trash pickup and more in the Hammond area
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Teacher candidates tutoring hundreds of at-risk students through programs like After School Achievement Program, Project Step Up, and Reach Out and Read
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A student food pantry being established with funds from the university's inaugural student philanthropy project following a survey that revealed 60 percent of students had dealt with food insecurity or knew someone who had
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The student-led "Swabbin' for Robin" campaign, garnering awareness and support for the "Be the Match" national bone marrow donor program to honor Southeastern alumna Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America" and collecting 500 swabbed samples for national bone marrow database
Southeastern was recognized for both its community service activities – general service projects not linked to any specific course work – as well as its service-learning projects, which are integrated with academic courses and strongly tied to course objectives. Through service-learning, the academic theories and principles of the classroom are used in real world applications. According to Southeastern's report, in 2012-2013, service-learning activities were incorporated into 71 academic course sections involving more than 2,400 students.
