CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota, Crookston was one of five campuses in Minnesota named to the Honor Roll with Distinction as part of the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2012. The campus has been on the Honor Roll every year since 2006 with the exception of one, but this is the first year the campus has been recognized on the Honor Roll with Distinction. Other Minnesota campuses honored with the distinction designation include Augsburg College, College of St. Benedict, Metropolitan State University, and Winona State University.
To be named to the Honor Roll, a school must demonstrate that its students, faculty, and staff are engaged in meaningful service that achieves measurable results in the community. This national level honor recognizes a college or university for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. A total of 642 campuses were recognized on the 2012 Honor Roll from across the country.
Honorees are chosen based on a series of 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 service.
At the U of M, Crookston in 2011, students tallied 59,683 hours of service through academic service-learning courses, club and individual community service, community-based work study primarily through the America Reads Program, community service internships, and AmeriCorps. They served on their campus, in Crookston, in their local communities, and across the country. Service-learning courses are found across all departments, and each of the nearly 40 student clubs and organizations strives to complete two service projects per semester.
Lisa Loegering, who directs efforts in service learning and civic engagement on the Crookston campus, says meaningful service in the lives of students is invaluable. “Students engaged in service learning or in community service gain context for study in the classroom,” Loegering says. “Their student experience is enriched as they discover the power of commitment to helping others and improving the community in which they live. We hope our students take these service experiences with them wherever they go.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Education announced the 2012 Honor Roll recipients at the American Council on Education’s 94th Annual Meeting “Ahead of the Curve” on March 12, 2012, in Los Angeles, Calif. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, launched in 2006, annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement by recognizing institutions that achieve meaningful, measureable outcomes in the communities they serve. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov/HonorRoll.
Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 26 bachelor’s degree programs, 18 minors, and 36 concentrations, including 10 online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology. With an enrollment of 1,600 undergraduates from 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree. “Small Campus. Big Degree.” To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.
