Feb. 26, 2010                                                                               

The University of Findlay Named to Presidential Honor Roll for Community Service

    Findlay, Ohio – The Corporation for National and Community Service selected The University of Findlay for a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities for the second consecutive year.
    “Congratulations to the entire UF community and the Findlay-Hancock County community for this distinction,” said Crystal Weitz, coordinator of Campus Compact. “This is a testament to the strong partnership between The University of Findlay and the local community. We seek to have mutually beneficial relationships that serve our community and educate our students at the same time.” 
    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 were chosen based on a series of selection factors including the 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.
    During the 2008-2009 academic year, UF students engaged in 13,373 hours of service. At UF, faculty members work both independently and with Campus Compact to develop academic service-learning opportunities for students. Students can also participate in co-curricular service-learning projects and volunteer opportunities.  
    Three civic engagement opportunities highlighted on The University of Findlay’s application were the Orientation Service Project, the Service Ambassadors Program and Academic Service-Learning in the Liberal Arts Curriculum.  
    The Orientation Service Project sends all first-year students out on one day of service to their new community during orientation weekend in August. The Service Ambassadors Program pairs two students from two different cultures to serve together in the community for an entire semester. The College of Liberal Arts offers many academic service-learning classes in the communication, English, art, Intensive English Language Program and psychology departments.  
    For more information on service opportunities or Campus Compact, contact Weitz at campuscompact@findlay.edu or 419-434-6671.
    The Campus Compact Center for Service and Learning focuses on many types of civic engagement, including volunteerism, co-curricular service-learning, and academic service-learning. The Campus Compact Center links the campus to the community by working in partnership with local non-profit agencies, schools and churches. The University of Findlay is a member of the Ohio Campus Compact and the National Campus Compact, an organization that promotes volunteer service that develops students’ citizenship skills and values, encourages collaborative partnerships between campuses and communities, and assists faculty who seek to integrate public and community engagement into their teaching and research.
    The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. The Honor Roll includes six colleges and universities that are recognized as Presidential Awardees, with an additional 115 named to the Distinction List and 621 schools named as Honor Roll members. 
    The corporation oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.
    College students make a significant contribution to the volunteer sector; in 2009, 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according to the Volunteering in America study released by the corporation. 
    The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov. 
    The University of Findlay is a comprehensive university with a hands-on approach to learning located in Findlay, Ohio, approximately 45 miles south of Toledo. With a total enrollment of approximately 4,100 full-time and part-time students from 40 states and approximately 25 countries and territories, The University of Findlay is noted for its innovative, career-oriented programs in nearly 60 majors and nine graduate and professional degrees. Founded more than 125 years ago, the University has a tradition of academic excellence.

Friday, August 21, 2009
New UF Students to Serve at 51 Community Locations
Written by:  UF Public Information
        New students at The University of Findlay will get their start in their new home Saturday by reaching out to the community to assist with more than 50 service projects throughout the day. 
        More than 500 new students, accompanied by faculty and staff volunteers and upperclass students, will spend three hours each helping to clean, paint, landscape, inventory, visit with senior citizens and build a new play area for a YMCA camp, among many other projects. 
        The service day is supported by Coca-Cola, which donated 480 bottles of water to support the project. 
        Each year, new UF students have the opportunity, before they even step into a classroom, to give back to their new community by volunteering. During 2008-09, UF students volunteered more than 11,000 hours of service. For a full list of projects and further information, please contact Suzanne English, director of public information, at 419-434-4425 or 419-306-7552. 
        This winter, The University of Findlay was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts. 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.