Cal Poly Named to President’s Honor Roll for Community Service for Third Year

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly and 15 other California State University campuses were named this week to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

students with teddybears for children It’s the third straight year Cal Poly has been named to the honor roll, which was created in 2006 to recognize colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs.

At Cal Poly, 9,500 students performed 223,525 hours of volunteer work in and around San Luis Obispo in the 2007-08 academic year, according to data Cal Poly’s Student Community Services program collected for applications for the honor roll.

The state’s official estimate for the value of one hour of volunteer work in the community is $21.97, putting Cal Poly students’ 2007-08 efforts at $4.9 million.

Cal Poly and the other CSU campuses are among 635 institutions nationwide named to the 2008 president’s honor roll.

"I am proud of the outstanding service our students provide to their communities on a daily basis,” CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said. “Nearly 50 percent of our students now participate in service, which equates to 32 million hours of service for an economic impact of $624 million. Our faculty and staff are equally engaged, providing leadership and innovative teaching practices.”

“It’s an honor to be on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll,” said Adam Serafin, Cal Poly’s Student Community Services advisor. “I believe Cal Poly students have a genuine passion for service and civic engagement that stems from the university motto of ‘Learn by Doing.’ ”

Students at Cal Poly volunteer through the university’s Community Based Learning classes, Student Community Services programs and projects, the Alternative Breaks program, university sponsored Days of Service, and philanthropy projects run by clubs, fraternities and sororities on campus.

Eleven CSU campus, including Cal Poly, were named as honor roll members. The others are: Chico, Fullerton, Humboldt, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Jose, and Stanislaus. In addition, four CSU campuses received the designation of “Honor Roll with Distinction.” They are Monterey Bay, Northridge, San Marco and San Francisco. And CSU Fresno was awarded one of the six top Presidential Awards.

The honor roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. A full honor roll list is available at http://www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

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