Local colleges named to federal community service list

The School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute, Missouri State University and College of the Ozarks were named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Education. A total of 642 schools were named to this year's Honor Roll.

Honorees were announced March 12 in Los Angeles during the American Council on Education's 94th annual meeting. The President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognizes higher learning institutions for community service and outcomes of that service. The Honor Roll, which has been administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service since 2006, was inspired by the efforts of college students responding to Hurricane Katrina.

The School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute received the recognition of distinction along with four other colleges in the state. Of the 642 schools on the Honor Roll nationwide, 110 were marked with distinction.

Seattle University, University of Pennsylvania, Miami University, Carson Newman College (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and North Carolina State University received the Presidential Award, the Honor Roll's top accolades, according to the award Web site.

“Through service, these institutions are creating the next generation of leaders by challenging students to tackle tough issues and create positive impacts in the community,” said Robert Velasco, acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, in a news release. “We applaud the Honor Roll schools, their faculty and students for their commitment to make service a priority in and out of the classroom.

"Together, service and learning increase civic engagement while fostering social innovation among students, empowering them to solve challenges within their communities.”

MSU officials said in a separate news release that during the 2010-11 academic year, nearly 6,000 MSU students participated in 382,895 service hours.

"Through their civic engagement, our service-learning students generated more than $1 million worth of service for our community," said Rachelle Darabi, MSU associate provost for student development and public affairs, in the release.[[In-content Ad]]