Southeastern Selected for President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll

Press Release Date: 11-06-2006

Southeastern Oklahoma State University recently earned distinction as one of only three Oklahoma four-year public universities to be selected to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

This nation-wide award program is a response to President Bush’s call for students to be more service oriented. The program is designed to increase the public’s awareness of the civic engagement mission of universities and the contributions that students are making in their local communities and across the country through volunteer service. More than 500 universities and colleges nationwide applied to be considered for the President’s Honor Roll.

“This is a significant honor,” said Southeastern President Dr. Glen D. Johnson. “One aspect of Southeastern’s educational mission is to provide our students with opportunities to develop skills and habits that promote responsible citizenship. Our selection to the President’s Honor Roll demonstrates our commitment to student learning, student development, and civic engagement.”

Southeastern has taken many steps to ensure that it is among the leading universities in fulfilling its civic engagement mission. In 2005, Southeastern Oklahoma State University recommitted itself to this mission by establishing the academic excellence goal of creating an educational culture that supports civic engagement through community-based problem solving. Earlier, in 2001, President Johnson publicly affirmed the university’s commitment to the development of responsible citizenship by signing the Presidential Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education. This declaration has been signed by 539 colleges and universities and is sponsored by the national Campus Compact organization.

“Our faculty and staff deserve recognition for their efforts in creating an environment where students see needs in a community and actively seek opportunities to provide assistance through service,” said President Johnson.

“Today’s college students expect universities to offer volunteering opportunities,” added Dr. Shannon McCraw, Southeastern’s Director of Civic Engagement. “For more than fifteen years now, high schools nationwide have made volunteering and community-based learning part of the curriculum. Southeastern is capitalizing on our students’ expectations and Southeastern’s faculty and Student Affairs professionals are committed to providing opportunities for community-based learning.”

As part of class assignments or involvement in extra-curricular activities, Southeastern students participate in numerous community service projects that focus on tutoring and mentoring local school children, food collection and distribution, and raising awareness about local non-profit organizations. Students have also participated in service projects designed to provide assistance to those who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The 2006 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the USA Freedom Corps, and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development.