Awards
The Corporation for National and Community Service named the University of Virginia in February, 2008, to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth. This is the second time that U.Va. has been recognized by CNCS for achievements in community service. Included in the award recognition were the hours of mentoring and tutoring service U.Va. students contribute through the Day in the Life Program, administered by the Community Relations Office.
The five initiatives that earned U.Va. recognition in the Honor Roll included:
• The Day in the Life Program, organized by the Community Relations Office, through which U.Va. students provide mentoring and tutoring to area youth. To date 1,419 U.Va. students have provided 35,892 hours of mentoring and tutoring assistance to 2,299 local youth.
• Madison House, a student-run organization that coordinates the work of more than 3,300 student volunteers each week. Student volunteers annually contribute 110,000 hours of service as tutors, construction workers, peer counselors and day care and patient-service providers.
• The Remote Area Medical Clinic, a partnership serving the healthcare needs of residents of southwest Virginia, through which more than 130 student volunteers contributed 5,700 hours and served approximately 3,000 uninsured patients.
• ecoMOD, a joint project of the Architecture and Engineering schools through which students contributed 10,000 hours to design, build and evaluate eight modular homes that were transported to bordering U.Va. neighborhoods.
• The University Internship Program, which last year contributed 55,000 hours of service to meet a variety of community needs.
The Day in the Life Program also received the Virginia Governor’s Community Service and Volunteerism Award in 2005. It was cited as an example of an outstanding service program using AmeriCorps VISTA workers.
Since 2000, the Community Relations Office has received more than 40 awards recognizing excellence in implementing the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC), an annual workplace-giving program through which state employees donate to charities of their choice. Each year, U.Va. employees give hundreds of thousands of dollars through the CVC to help those in need.
In recognition of its service model, the Community Relations Office has been visited by teams of governmental and community relations professionals from other colleges and universities. In addition, the office’s staff members speak at regional and national conferences. |
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