Syracuse University has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the fourth consecutive year. SU is one of only 12 institutions in New York state to receive the recognition with distinction.
The honor roll, launched in 2006 by the Corporation for National and Community Service, recognizes colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs. SU has received this recognition each year since the program’s inception.
SU was recognized for the work done by the more than 7,000 students engaged in public scholarship during the 2008-09 academic year, supporting the University’s vision of Scholarship in Action.
The scope of this work included collaboration on entrepreneurial projects; providing multiple kinds of literacy tutoring in schools, community-based organizations and churches; providing legal services to low-income clients; enhancing civic participation around relevant issues through public scholarship in the arts, humanities and design; creating innovative sustainable architectural designs and building models; and performing community benchmarking that helps local governments and nonprofits improve performance and accountability.
“This renewed recognition was earned, and is shared, campus wide,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “Student and faculty engagement with our local and global communities is woven into SU’s fabric. Its breadth and depth, as well as the deeply reciprocal nature of our relationships with partners from across the public, private and nonprofit sectors, reflect the essence of our identity as a public good.”
“The partnerships, programs and projects across campus continue to grow as faculty, staff, students and community work together tackling the serious social issues of our time,” says Pamela Kirwin Heintz, associate vice president for engagement and director of the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service. “You all commit significant time and energy to the amazing partnerships that make this public scholarship possible, and for this, I extend sincere thanks and appreciation.”
During the program’s first year, SU was named to the honor roll with distinction in two categories: general community service and a special category for Hurricane Relief Service. For the 2007 awards, SU was one of the top three national winners to receive the honor roll’s highest recognition, the President’s Award for Service to Youth From Disadvantaged Circumstances. SU’s 2008 award was for service with distinction performed for a variety of service projects in conjunction with the University’s Scholarship in Action vision.
“Congratulations to the awardees and students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” says Patrick Corvington, the corporation’s CEO. “Our nation’s students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service.”
In total, more than 600 institutions were honored for service in 2009, with six given the Honor Roll’s Presidential Award. For a complete list of colleges and universities named, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.
The honor roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service and is sponsored by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, in partnership
with Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, the corporation engages four million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.
