Duke Honored for Community Service
National honor roll cites university for domestic and international work
For the second consecutive year, Duke University has made the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, given to universities that make distinctive contributions to service in their communities.
Launched in 2006, the President's Honor Roll recognizes institutions of higher education that support innovative, effective and exemplary community service programs. Honorees for the various award levels were selected based on a series of factors, including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers service-learning courses. The award considers community service in the broadest sense, including international service.
In all, 528 universities were cited by the program. In both years of the list's existence, Duke was named at the level of Honor Roll with Distinction.
"It's a wonderful way to acknowledge all the work that students, faculty and staff do not only with the local community and internationally," said Elaine Madison, director of the Duke Community Service Center, which submitted the university's nomination.
Making a Difference, Duke's current strategic plan, cites knowledge in the service of society as one of the signature components of a Duke education. The goal is to create a culture of public engagement that is interwoven with education and research in all of the university's schools.
The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, through its Learn and Serve America program, and the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, Campus Compact, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, "Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country."