University of San Francisco students’ commitment to community continued
to draw commendation in 2008, with the university making the
President’s Honor Roll for Community Service for the third year running.
USF
was among the top 89 schools to be honored “with distinction” or better
by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees
the honor roll. A total of 635 schools made the honor roll. Eight
California institutes of higher education, including USF, were
recognized “with distinction,” behind only California State University,
Fresno, which was one of six universities nationwide to win the honor
roll’s most prestigious Presidential Award.
“Recognition by
the Corporation for National and Community Service acknowledges that
very few schools blend (academic rigor and community service) as
successfully at USF,” said USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. “The
city of the San Francisco and the university are both better served by
USF's purposeful education.”
Launched in 2006, the President’s
Honor Roll for Community Service is the highest federal distinction a
school can achieve for its commitment to volunteer work,
service-learning, and civic engagement. Honorees are chosen based on a
series of criteria.
“Reasons for (USF’s) selection include the
large number of students engaged in service-learning and community
service in a single year, 3,572, the total number of hours USF students
were so engaged, 216,648, the exemplary nature of USF’s community
service projects, and the quality of projects that addressed the year’s
special focus on service to improve high school graduation and college
readiness for youth from disadvantaged circumstances,” said Alan
Ziajka, USF director of institutional research.
Both the number
of students taking part in community service and the hours worked have
increased steadily in recent years, climbing from 3,428 students and
199,900 hours in 2007.
“We salute the University of San
Francisco for making community service a campus priority, and thank the
millions of college students who are helping to renew America through
service to others,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the board of
directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Overall,
six schools were honored with Presidential Awards. An additional 83
were named as “Honor Roll With Distinction” members, and 546 schools
were name honor roll members. A total of 635 schools were recognized in
2008.
The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the Corporation for
National and Community Service, the U.S. Department of Education, the
Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the
President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
