Ohio Wesleyan Earns Presidential Recognition for Community Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio Wesleyan University is being honored for the fourth consecutive year with inclusion on the national 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction.
Ohio Wesleyan earned recognition this week from the Corporation for National and Community Service for its strong commitment to community service, service-learning, and public partnerships that produce measurable benefits for those they aid.
“The Honor Roll schools should be proud of their work to elevate the role of service-learning on their campuses,” said Eduardo Ochoa, the U.S. Department of Education’s assistant secretary for postsecondary education. “Galvanizing their students to become involved in projects that address pressing concerns and enrich their academic experience has a lasting impact – both in the communities in which they work and on their own sense of purpose as citizens of the world. I hope we’ll see more and more colleges and universities following their lead.”
During the 2010-2011 academic year, Ohio Wesleyan students volunteered more than 44,300 hours to help others locally, nationally, and internationally.
“Ohio Wesleyan strives to educate the next generation of global leaders, and this includes a historic emphasis on community through service,” said Rock Jones, Ph.D., president of the university. “It is an honor for Ohio Wesleyan students to be recognized for four years in a row for the selfless outreach and assistance they provide every day. They mentor children, build houses, improve the environment, and so much more. They change lives.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which has administered the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll since 2006, recognized 642 colleges and universities nationwide on the 2012 list. Of that total, 110 (including Ohio Wesleyan) received Honor Roll recognition with distinction.
Overall, the 642 colleges and universities reported nearly 1 million students engaged in service-learning last year with more than 1.6 million participating in other forms of community service. The students contributed more than 105 million volunteer hours to help others.
According the annual CNCS “Volunteering in America” report, all U.S. college students, including those attending schools not included on the new Honor Roll, contributed more than 312 million hours of service across the country last year with a monetary value of more than $6.6 billion.
CNCS oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact, and American Council on Education. Honorees are chosen based on 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.
In 2009, Ohio Wesleyan was one of three colleges and universities nationwide to receive a Presidential Award for Excellence in General Community Service.
Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 47 states and 57 countries. Ohio Wesleyan was named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.