College Named to Presidential Honor Roll for Community Service

Madison, Wis. (December 17, 2014) –  The Corporation for National and Community Service has honored Edgewood College with a place on the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for commitment to service, civic engagement and service-learning. The College has received this honor for the past several years.

This year’s award specifically recognizes three areas of the life of the College: COR 2, the Office of Science Outreach, and a wide range of student organizations.

COR 2 Curriculum

Drawing from our foundation in the Dominican tradition, the College places study, reflection, and action for the common good at the center of a liberal arts education. The heart of the general education program is the COR curriculum. COR experiences encourage students to examine the connection between their learning, beliefs, and actions in order to build a more just and compassionate world.

During sophomore or junior year, students partake in COR 2 and choose an intensive experiential learning pathway, like service learning, study abroad, undergraduate research, field experience or internships, and civic leadership opportunities.

Each COR 2 course intentionally partners with one or more community agencies and develops a plan through which students will meet community needs, while also learning course content through their service commitment to the organization. Examples include developing community awareness campaigns for healthy eating, volunteering in youth service programs, tutoring local immigrants in English, providing income tax assistance, and providing health screenings and hygiene lessons to children in Cambodia. During a recent academic year more than 400 students completed 7,552 hours of community service through their COR 2 courses.

Office of Science Outreach

The Office of Science Outreach supports science education and the creation of a scientifically literate population. The Office of Science Outreach assists faculty, staff and students to engage in science outreach activities targeted at our community’s adults and youth to increase their understanding and involvement in science and environmental issues.

A major focus of the science outreach work is reaching low-income students or students of color who are underrepresented in the sciences. Recently, the Office of Science Outreach facilitated community outreach events including Family Science Night, Science Olympiad, the ROSE Project and K-16 class partnerships. On Family Science Night ‘exploration stations’ are designed to give children from the community hands-on experience with science, engineering, health, or the environment.

The ROSE Project is an outreach program specifically designed for parents of students from groups underrepresented in science. The goals are to familiarize parents with opportunities for study and work in the sciences for their children, and learn of community resources and educational programs to support their children’s interest and development in the sciences.

Overall, Office of Science Outreach programs drew participation from 169 Edgewood College students for a total of 724 academic service hours.

Student Organizations

Service-based student organizations at Edgewood College run programs that provide service to local, national and international communities. Student organizations include Circle K, Rotaract, Achievement in Medicine, Child Life, Woods Edge, and Campus Activities Board.

The goals of each student organization are to meet the community needs identified by their primary community partners. For example, the Child Life student organization strives to meet the needs of critically ill children and their families through volunteer commitments to hospitals or out-patient medical facilities. The Achievement in Medicine student organization works to provide funds and support to medical research and medical education.

Circle K is a student organization affiliated with the national Kiwanis group. Circle K offered tutoring and educational services to more than 80 local children, while also coordinating the collection and donation of more than 100 units of blood to the local blood bank.

Rotaract is a student organization affiliated with Rotary International. Rotaract members focused on improving food security for the local community and provided more than 100 families with emergency food assistance at Dane County’s largest food bank.

Overall, student organizations at the College drew participation from more than 75 students who completed in excess of 2500 hours of volunteer service in local, national, and international communities.

About the Community Service Honor Roll

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 are 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.