HSU has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal program launched in 2006 to foster community service and service-learning programs. Honorees are chosen on the basis of several criteria: the scope and innovation of service projects, the percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service learning courses.
The HSU Service Learning Center is the on-campus clearinghouse that coordinates students’ formal coursework with a host of community partnerships. The overall goal is to encourage student civic engagement and experiential learning with service assignments that promote social and environmental justice. For example, HSU students and faculty have contributed to the design of interactive exhibits for children at the Discovery Museum and helped youth to augment their academic and social skills in Arcata School District’s after-school programs.
Annie Bolick-Floss, Service Learning Center director, said, “We have fabulous, engaged faculty and wonderful community partners who help enhance students’ academic knowledge in serving local community needs.”
President Barack Obama has made service learning a priority of his administration and the recognition of Humboldt State by the Corporation for National and Community Service reflects the high level of student involvement in Redwood Coast communities. On-campus partnerships include 14 different student-run community service programs under the aegis of Youth Educational Services, as well as volunteer activities supported in the campus’s residence halls and many clubs.
Local community partners include YouthServe and Straight Up AmeriCorps, Eureka City Schools, United Way, Volunteer Center of the Redwoods, Food for People, Redwood Community Action Agency, United Indian Health Services, World Shelters and Friends of the Dunes, among others.
HSU has been named to the Honor Roll in the past for contributions, for example, to Hurricane Katrina relief. The Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” series has recognized HSU as a “College With a Conscience” for its commitment to social and environmental responsibility, set forth in the university’s annual Graduation Pledge.