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NIU earns service honor

June 1, 2015

163087_14-NIU_Cares_Day-0412-WD-097_1008x672For the eighth year in a row, NIU has been recognized on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

This honor is awarded to universities and colleges around the country that set the example in civic engagement by creating meaningful and innovative community service opportunities for their students.

Eligibility for this award is based on an institution’s ability to prove its commitment to community service.

This commitment is evaluated using the institution’s mission statement, knowledge of how it supports staff who coordinate community service and service-learning opportunities, the degree of innovation seen in the applicant’s service projects, as well as the types of incentives provided to students to participate in community service. Community service activities include academic and co-curricular service learning, as well as Work-Study community service and paid community service internships.

NIU faculty and staff helped meet these criteria in a variety of ways through dedication, leadership and collaboration with numerous offices on campus. NIU students are strongly dedicated to giving back to the community. This is apparent by the more than 71,000 community service hours engaged in by NIU students during the 2013-2014 academic year. NIU hosts many premiere service programs on campus such as the NIU Cares Day, the Huskie Service Scholars Program, STEMfest, Sophomore Days of Service, Alternative Break trips and Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week just to name a few. Civic Engagement and volunteer programs such as these are High Impact Practices that give students direct experience with issues they are studying in the curriculum.

For more information on service opportunities in the NIU community, visit the Community Service webpage.