MSU Community Service Efforts Repeat with National Honors

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) — Recognized once again for continuing commitments to community engagement and service-learning, Mississippi State is listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

In addition to placing in the economic opportunity and education community service categories, the university now has earned a General Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction designation.

All of the national recognitions resulted from activities performed during the 2013-14 academic year, and mark MSU’s fifth consecutive honor roll inclusion since 2009.

Since its inception in 2006, the presidential award program annually has recognized “institutions of higher education that support exemplary community service programs and raise the visibility of effective practices in campus community partnerships.”

The honor roll is part of the federal Corporation for National and Community Service’s strategic commitment “to engage millions of college students in service while celebrating the critical role of higher education in strengthening communities.” For more, visit the CNCS website at www.nationalservice.gov/special-initiatives/honor-roll.

Meggan Franks, assistant director of student leadership and community engagement, cited numerous service projects and programs that helped continue MSU’s string. They include the Maroon Volunteer Center, Mississippi Delta Alternative Break Network and History Class and Day One Leadership Community program, she said.

Also, there were the university-administered Youth Environmental Science, or YES, environmental science program for Starkville School District third-fifth-graders; leaderSTATE summer residential camp and fall outreach program; and the long-running Wood Magic Science Fair.

In addition to MSU, other Magnolia State institutions cited for the “general community service honor roll with distinction” included Mississippi University for Women and Mississippi College. Within the Southeastern Conference, honorees include Auburn University and the University of Alabama.

“More than 5,883 MSU students, faculty and staff engaged in community service last year and worked hard to receive this award,” Franks said, in expressing gratitude to the “community agencies who graciously opened their doors to us.”

The General Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction designation speaks to the “culture of service here at Mississippi State, where students, faculty and staff have invested in long term efforts of making our community and our state a better place for others,” Franks emphasized.

Visit www.slce.msstate.edu to learn more about student leadership and community engagement at MSU. Also, follow the Maroon Volunteer Center online at www.mvc.msstate.edu.

Find out more about Mississippi’s flagship research university online at www.msstate.edu.