NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS)
Date: February 11, 2009
Margo Hamm, 606-759-7141, margo.hamm@kctcs.edu
Maysville Community and Technical College Named to Presidential Honor Roll For Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service honored Maysville Community and Technical College today with a place on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America's communities.
According to Dr. Ed Story, President and CEO of MCTC, "Community Service projects originated with a College initiative have been very well received by both students and the community. These service activities have given students another very important avenue to pursue as they complete their career plans on each of the MCTC campuses. Real life experiences do allow students to internalize concepts learned in the classroom setting. Service learning has been actively supported by faculty, staff, and students and the administration of MCTC. We as a College will continue to refine Service Learning as it becomes even more meaningful to a student's campus life."
Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.
In 2008, approximately 800 MCTC students participated in academic serve-learning initiates logging over 4,000 hour of volunteer service. Academic service-learning is defined as service that is integrated with academic course content. It may involve direct or indirect service and may include academic research. For example, MCTC partnered with the Library of Congress's Veterans History Project to offer students the opportunity to take part in an important national initiative to honor American war veterans and civilians who worked in support of our armed forces. By recording the oral histories of local residents and preserving stories of their service to our country, MCTC students have provided a priceless and important community service. Oral history projects can be accessed at
http://www.loc.gov/vets/.
"In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges," said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. "We salute Maysville Community and Technical College for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others."
Overall, the Corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, 83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members. In total, 635 schools were recognized. Maysville Community and Technical College is the only KCTCS College to receive this honor. Other Kentucky colleges recognized were Berea College, Centre College, Georgetown College, Kentucky State University, Louisville Technical Institute, Morehead State University, Spencerian College, Thomas More College, and University of the Cumberlands, University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University. A full list is available at
www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.
The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is presented during the annual conference of the American Council on Education.
"I offer heartfelt congratulations to those institutions named to the 2008 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. College and university students across the country are making a difference in the lives of others every day - as are the institutions that encourage their students to serve others," said American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad.
Recent studies have underlined the importance of service-learning and volunteering to college students. In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave more than 297 million hours of volunteer service, according to the Corporation's Volunteering in America 2007 study. Expanding campus incentives for service is part of a larger initiative to spur higher levels of volunteering by America's college students. The Corporation is working with a coalition of federal agencies, higher education and student associations, and nonprofit organizations to achieve this goal.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations. For more information, go to
www.nationalservice.gov.
For most Kentuckians, higher education begins at KCTCS. Our statewide system of 16 colleges and 65 campuses provides citizens throughout the Commonwealth with a quality education that is both accessible and affordable.