Central receives prestigious award for community service

Central College was named a Finalist for the Presidential Award by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Central was one of only 14 schools in the nation—and the only one in Iowa—awarded the distinction.

“To be named a national finalist is, indeed, an elite honor,” said Mark Putnam, Central College president. “So many members of our academic community model this behavior, extending the reach of Central’s commitment to service far outside our own community’s borders. Experiential learning and participation in civic and social engagement, in partnership, are ever-expanding emphases within our core mission and programs.”

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognize institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities. More than 750 schools applied, including elite universities like Stanford, Cornell and Vanderbilt.

Central College was especially noted for its work improving the educational and developmental outcomes for children in Iowa’s most distressed communities.

“We are delighted that our civic engagement initiatives at Central College have been acknowledged with this honor,” said Cheri Doane, director of the Center for Community-Based Learning at Central College. “Even more, we’re pleased that our college community has the opportunity to engage in the very good work of our 90 community partners in Central Iowa.”

The Center for Community-Based Learning (CCBL)—an example of the institutional support for service at Central College—listens to the needs of the community partners, as well as the academic goals of students, when setting up the long-term partnerships. More than 40 courses in 15 departments include a component of sustained, semester-long service. In addition, all eight Central College Abroad programs offer service opportunities.

“These efforts for community engagement are incredibly collaborative,” said Doane. “Faculty and community partners together really make these fabulous things happen for our students.”

During the 2010-2011 school year, more than 300 students participated in service-learning with community partners, non-profit organizations in central Iowa that serve at-risk populations or promote the arts, sustainability or other important causes. These students completed 42,969 hours of academic service-learning and 60,598 hours of total community service. Based on the United Way’s estimate of the worth of an hour of community service, these hours amount to $994,255.12.

One notable cause that Central students have been active in is refugee support. CCBL partnered with the Des Moines Unitarian Church to establish a refugee program that is now a fully functioning nonprofit agency. Central students also provide English-as-a-Second-Language education, childcare and tutoring, grant writing and assistance with job and citizenship applications. The college furnishes transportation for the students, faculty and staff who serve in Des Moines.

Through work with 16 community partners in Des Moines, Central students also serve at-risk youth on the north side, providing weekly mentoring and tutoring sessions for preschool through sixth-grade students, as well as supporting English-language learning for nonnative speakers. Through this support, 95 children from diverse nationalities showed an increase in English language learning and 180 elementary students exhibited a significant increase in pro-social behaviors.

Homeless youth are another focus. Central students serve this population in a variety of ways, including tutoring and mentoring, street outreach, providing childcare so teen parents can attend career preparation classes and offering support to students in alternative high schools.

Although Doane is proud of the work her students do for the central Iowa community, she explains that the partnerships benefit Central as much as they do the nonprofit agencies.

“Service is sometimes portrayed as ‘we’re going to help you,” said Doane. “We look at it as reciprocal. “We try to figure out the best way to leverage expertise of community partners in ways that will be beneficial to students.”

Research demonstrates that students who engage in service, especially academic service-learning paired with classroom work, have a more positive sense of personal efficacy, personal identity and spiritual growth. Service-learning builds leadership and communication skills and has a positive effect on social responsibility. Research also shows that service-learning can facilitate cultural and racial understanding.

Finally, because service-learning often takes place within a student’s chosen major or field—education students doing tutoring or accounting majors filing tax returns—students get to apply their skills and classroom learning to the “real world.”

CNCS oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education. 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 the service.

“Preparing students to participate in our democracy and providing them with opportunities to take on local and global issues in their course work are as central to the mission of education as boosting college completion and closing the achievement gap,” said Eduardo Ochoa, the U.S. Department of Education’s assistant secretary for postsecondary education. “The Honor Roll schools should be proud of their work to elevate the role of service-learning on their campuses. I hope we’ll see more and more colleges and universities following their lead.”