Northwestern recognized for student service

Northwestern College is included on the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in recognition of its strong commitment to volunteerism, service-learning and civic engagement.

This is the eighth consecutive year Northwestern has been recognized.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized 766 colleges and universities for their role in solving community challenges. Honorees were chosen from applicants based on a series of factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which service-learning is embedded in the curriculum, commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships, and measurable outcomes.

“It is exciting to see Northwestern receive this award again,” says Kendall Stanislav, Northwestern’s justice and service ministries coordinator. “We work hard to give our students the opportunities to put their faith into action through community service, and it is rewarding to see them take those opportunities seriously. When they are engaged in this type of service, they are not only living out their faith but are also continuing their education by seeing new places, hearing from new people and experiencing new ways of living.”

During the 2012-13 academic year, Northwestern students provided more than 52,000 hours of service.

Over 430 Northwestern students were enrolled in one of 35 courses containing a service-learning component. In addition, 546 students were involved in non-academic community service projects, including participation in Spring Service Projects, the Summer of Service program or Project Serve.

A new program implemented this year also served as a way for students to fulfill academic service-learning requirements. Northwestern education professor Derek Brower secured a grant for teaching engineering in elementary classrooms. Students are able to fulfill their required education practicum while simultaneously introducing elementary-aged children to engineering concepts. Classroom teachers are also given the curriculum to keep, modify and continue using as they see fit.

“The service opportunities our students participate in are an integral part of a Northwestern College education,” says Patrick Hummel, Northwestern’s director of missions. “I routinely hear from partners across the country and around the world thanking our students for their service and encouragement. In tangible ways our students are fulfilling Northwestern’s mission to pursue God’s redeeming work in the world.”

Northwestern employs two full-time directors to coordinate the college’s co-curricular community service and its academically based service-learning efforts. The college also has nine student leaders who help coordinate community service opportunities.

According to the most recent Volunteering and Civic Life in America report, in 2012, 3.1 million college students contributed more than 118 million hours of service to communities around the country—service valued at more than $2.5 billion.

The Corporation for National and Community Service oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact, he American Council on Education and the Interfaith Youth Core. More information is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.