North Central College earned national recognition for community service
North Central College again has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The 2012 Honor Roll recognizes higher education institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve significant outcomes. North Central College was honored for engaging its students, faculty and staff in meaningful service that achieves measurable results in the community.
North Central College was formally recognized at the American Council on Education annual conference in Los Angeles on March 12. Selection to the Honor Roll is recognition from the highest levels of the federal government of the College’s commitment to service and civic engagement on campus and around the nation.
The mission of North Central—to prepare informed, involved, principled and productive citizens and leaders over their lifetime—has not changed in the College’s 150-year history. Service to others and the community is a big part of that mission. Last year, 885 students, staff and faculty donated more than 14,000 hours of community service. This was in addition to the 4,100 hours logged by students involved in service learning as a component of their academic curriculum. North Central also requires its more than 50 student organizations to complete service hours.
Thousands of service hours were spent gathering food for distribution centers, which saw a 71 percent drop in government commodities; teaching ESL to refugee students; tutoring and mentoring at-risk K-12 students to raise graduation rates; rebuilding and constructing homes; working in clothing and food pantries; visiting orphans; building relationships with mentally disabled adults; and dancing with residents in an assisted living community.
North Central College also sponsors a broad array of local and global service clubs and programs, including the Uncommon Life Movement that focuses on community development, International Justice Mission that advocates for human rights, the Break Away alternative spring break trips, Circle K that’s affiliated with the Kiwanis Club, and Cardinals in Action, which serves weekly in local projects.
All local and global service opportunities are managed through the College’s Office of Ministry and Service.
CNCS oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which service-learning is embedded in the curriculum, the school’s commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships, and measurable community outcomes as a result of the service.
For more information visit NationalService.gov/HonorRoll.
—Released March 22, 2101 by North Central College
