For a second year in a row, Miami University has been recognized and honored for the service efforts of its students and faculty.
Miami has received the designation of President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for service completed in 2008 alongside 635 other institutions.
According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, the award is split into three levels of honors given to colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs. The top six institutions receive the Presidential Award, while the remainder are divided between Honor Roll with Distinction and the Honor Roll.
A review and selection committee including the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, the USA Freedom Corps and the U.S. departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development choose award recipients.
Monica Ways, director of the office of community engagement and service, said although Miami made the honor roll in 2007, the first year of application, there were no guarantees Miami would make the list again for 2008.
"We were thrilled to once again receive the designation, because institutions must re-apply every year," Ways said.
Ways added the application process that took place in fall 2008 was difficult because a limited number of projects could be highlighted in the submission.
"Our students are involved in the full continuum of service projects, from one-time events to semester-long and longer term projects, both Greek and non-Greek," Ways said. "We try to provide a sense of the breadth and depth of service at Miami."
According to Ways, about 12,500 students participated in some form of community service during the 2007-08 academic year.
Hailee Gibbons, a 2008 Miami alumna, said she was engaged in community service throughout her time at Miami. Gibbons said she worked with Adopt-A-School, America Reads, Knolls of Oxford, EMPOWER and Living Water Ministries.
Gibbons said she still returns to the Knolls of Oxford and Living Water Ministries to maintain relationships she created during her service.
As a result of her positive experience with service, Gibbons said she wants to connect current students with various projects and help them find alternate ways to get involved.
Gibbons now works as Miami's Ohio Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA to promote community service and foster relationships between the university and the community. She said AmeriCorps is "like a domestic Peace Corps."
Since joining AmeriCorps, Gibbons said she has worked to coordinate service projects including America Reads, Adopt-A-School and Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Gibbons said she has committed to a second year of service with AmeriCorps.
According to Gibbons, the students she works with perform service for a variety of reasons including a desire to meet the needs of the community, the chance to gain career experience and the satisfaction of helping others.
"It doesn't matter why you get involved - just that everyone benefits from it," Gibbons said.
Ways said she believes volunteering supports Miami's goals and provides students with invaluable experience.
"Our mission is to educate students, and service provides students with the opportunity to test theories they have been exposed to in the classroom," Ways said.
Ways said the university is an institution for "organizational citizens" with a responsibility to serve as a "training ground for active citizen engagement-the foundation of our democracy."
"Our students don't do the work for recognition," Ways said, "but it is nice that the highest office in the nation recognizes their service."
