CLU makes Community Service Honor Roll
University's service learning, volunteering highlighted
Students Sarah Muliadi, Lyra Porcasi and Alex Sherbetjian filter sediment and particles out of water collected from the Ventura River while chemistry professor Grady Hanrahan records measurements.
Photo: Brian Stethem(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - June 15, 2011) The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) honored California Lutheran University as a leader among higher education institutions for its support of volunteering, service learning and civic engagement.
CLU was included in the 2010 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for engaging students, faculty and staff in meaningful service that achieves measurable results in the community.
About 2,400 CLU students completed a total of about 40,000 community service hours during the 2009-2010 year.
CLU's commitment to service is woven throughout the curriculum. Graduate psychology students and faculty help low-income residents through the Community Counseling and Parent Child Study Center. Financial planning students and faculty provide free information to low-income women online. A chemistry professor worked with undergraduate students to study the water quality of the Ventura River, determine whether pollution levels differ in low-income areas and more affluent neighborhoods, and present the results at community forums. Global studies students have worked with agencies in Thai, Korean, Armenian and Persian immigrant communities in Los Angeles to identify problems and research solutions.
The Community Service Center and other campus organizations organize dozens of volunteer projects each year. Hundreds of incoming students clean trash from the Ventura River bed during orientation. Students serve meals at local homeless shelters and collect food for the hungry. Many spend their winter breaks helping victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their homes.
The Honor Roll, administered by CNCS since 2006, includes colleges and universities making an impact on issues ranging from literacy to neighborhood revitalization. Honorees are chosen based on a series of factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, integration of service learning in the curriculum, commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships and measurable impact on communities.
CNCS oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.
The CNCS is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs. It also leads President Barack Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve.