UM recognized for community engagement

UM was selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for the prestigious 2008 Community Engagement Classification.

Institutions are chosen for the classification in one of three categories: Curricular Engagement, Outreach & Partnerships, or Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships.

UM was one of only 68 public institutions to receive the 2008 Community Engagement Classification in the Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships category. Fifty-one private institutions were awarded the 2008 classification in that category.

The Community Engagement Classification relies on voluntary participation by institutions of higher education and permits analysis of attributes that are not available in national data. Since its beginning in 2006, nearly 200 institutions have received the classification.

UM’s application was submitted by the University’s Service Learning Advisory Board, chaired by Davidson Honors College Dean James McKusick, and the Office for Civic Engagement. OCE, a department of the Davidson Honors College, is the University’s primary agent of community activism.

“Achieving this distinction is truly an impressive milestone for The University of Montana, one that recognizes UM as standing at the vanguard of U.S. colleges and universities for its commitment to public service and community engagement,” McKusick said.

In a letter to UM President George Dennison, Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement Classification officials noted that UM’s application “documented excellent alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resource and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement.”

The newly classified institutions represent 34 states and Puerto Rico. A complete listing of selected institutions is on the foundation’s Web site at http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/classifications.

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University named to service honor roll

The Corporation for National and Community Service honored UM earlier this month with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities.

UM students engaged in academic service learning provided more than 30,500 hours to the Missoula community during the 2007-08 academic year. The students also participated in nearly 5,000 hours of extra-curricular volunteering and in more than 34,000 service hours through the AmeriCorps national service program, which helps with tuition support.

According to Andrea Vernon, director of UM’s Office for Civic Engagement, UM student service to the Missoula community during the 2007-08 academic year equated to an economic impact of nearly $875,000.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering.

More information is online at http://www.nationalservice.gov.