For all students figuring out how to pay off their student loans after graduation, there is an option that rewards students just for doing their normal volunteer work. This program is called AmeriCorps...

...The only requirements for joining AmeriCorps are being a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident, age 17 or older, enrolled in or connected to an Iowa Campus Compact member college or university and being interested in serving the community...

Economic news today is filled with discussion about whether the United States has entered a recession. For me and other presidents of public colleges and universities, however, whether the downturn can be labeled a recession is far less important than dealing with the effects of economic conditions on our institutions. How do we set priorities among the variety of worthwhile demands on university resources and protect the long-term interests and quality of our institutions?

Providence, RI — Three leaders in the higher education and financial services communities have been elected to Campus Compact's national Board of Directors. The Board guides the organization in implementing its mission of deepening higher education's ability to improve community life and educate students for civic and social responsibility.

The three new Board members are Dr. James B. Dworkin, Chancellor of Purdue University North Central; Dr. James T. Harris III, President of Widener University; and David L. Giunta, President and Chief Executive Officer of Natixis Global Associates — U.S. They join a distinguished group of leaders from across the country representing all segments of higher education as well as the philanthropic and business communities. Their terms will begin on July 1.

"We are thrilled to have these three dedicated leaders join our Board," notes Campus Compact president Maureen F. Curley. "All have strong backgrounds not only in leading organizations but also in creating sustainable structures for strengthening communities. Their commitment and experience will allow them to bring both inspiration and practical knowledge to the table."

Chancellor Dworkin of Purdue North Central University has been a member of the Presidents and Chancellors Board of Indiana Campus Compact (INCC), one of 33 state Campus Compact offices, since 2000 and will be Board Chair of INCC beginning in July. He is also a member of the INCC Fund Development Committee of the Board and is an active participant in the organization's events and programs. In recognition of his leadership, INCC recently awarded a three-year grant to Purdue North Central to develop a service-learning and civic engagement infrastructure.

"Campus Compact has led the way in establishing service-learning as a way of life on university campuses," says Dworkin. "Through service-learning, students experience the positive aspects of helping others and hone their organizational, leadership, and communication skills. Our students welcome the opportunity to be involved in their communities. Our communities have come to see students as a vital part of their community, too."

President Harris took the helm at Widener University in 2002 after eight years as president of Defiance College. At Widener, Harris is a strong advocate for civic engagement, and frequently works alongside students on community service projects and participates in the university's alternative spring break. In 2007, Washington Monthly magazine named Widener as one of the top 50 universities that do the most for our nation.

A long-time member of Campus Compact, Harris is past chair of Pennsylvania Campus Compact and currently serves on the board of directors. He was also a member of the Ohio Campus Compact while at Defiance College. In addition, he is on the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and serves on the President's Council for Project Pericles. Recognition for his public work includes being named one of the top 50 character building university presidents in the United States by the John Templeton Foundation.

David L. Giunta is President and Chief Executive Officer of Natixis Global Associates — U.S., where he oversees business activities of the firm's U.S.-based asset management affiliates. Giunta has wide experience in financial services and philanthropy. Before joining Natixis, he was president of the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, a donor-advised fund and one of the largest public charities in the United States. Giunta also headed Fidelity Charitable Services, a leading provider of administrative and other services to charitable organizations such as private foundations and donor-advised funds, including the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund.

Giunta joined Fidelity in 1994 as vice president for the Fidelity Personal Investments and Brokerage Group. Later he served as senior vice president in charge of Fidelity's Eastern Region Investor Centers, director of Fidelity's Private Wealth Management Products & Services Group, and senior vice president of the Fidelity Managed Money Group for Personal Investments.

An independent, nonprofit higher education association, Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents—representing some 6 million students—who are committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of higher education. As the only national association dedicated to this mission, Campus Compact is a leader in building civic engagement into campus and academic life. For more information, visit http://www.compact.org/.

Washington D.C. — AmeriCorps is building a powerful pipeline for public servants, civic leaders, and social entrepreneurs, finds a new longitudinal study released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Released in coordination with a Brookings Institution briefing this morning, the study, Still Serving: Measuring the Eight-Year Impact of AmeriCorps on Alumni, is the most rigorous evaluation ever conducted on AmeriCorps' long-term impacts on its members. Based on data collected eight years after members completed their year of service, the study conclusively demonstrates that AmeriCorps causes long-term positive impacts on the civic attitudes and behaviors of the program's alumni. AmeriCorps alums are significantly more civically engaged and more likely to pursue public service careers in the government and nonprofit sector than their counterparts in the scientifically crafted comparison group, which has also been tracked for eight years. They are also significantly more likely to be happy and satisfied with their lives. The report, executive summary, and other information is at www.NationalService.gov/research.

"Even those of us who started off believing that intense service can make better citizens have been astonished at the strength of these findings," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps. "With more than 60 percent of our alums working in nonprofits or government, these results are way more than statistically significant. AmeriCorps is becoming America's most important pipeline to careers in nonprofits and government -- this at the same time that crisis level shortfalls in leadership and workforce are looming in these areas."

The study and its implications for the future of AmeriCorps are under discussion at a Brookings Institution forum this morning as part of a nationwide series of events marking the second annual AmeriCorps Week. Speakers include Reps. Gwen Moore, (D-WI) and Christopher Shays (R-CT); E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and Brookings Institution; David Eisner, Corporation for National and Community Service CEO; Paul Light, author and New York University professor; Janet Murguia, President and CEO, National Council of La Raza; Roxanne Spillett, President and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America; and Stephen Goldsmith, Board Chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service and Daniel Paul Professor of Government, Harvard University.

The study, conducted in partnership with the independent research firm Abt Associates Inc., tracked more than 2,000 AmeriCorps members in the State and National and the AmeriCorps National Civilian Corps (NCCC) program who served between 1999 and 2000. The study compares these AmeriCorps members with a group of like individuals who were interested in serving in AmeriCorps but did not, looking at changes in civic outcomes and career choices over time. Key findings of the study include:

• AmeriCorps makes alumni more likely to enter into nonprofit or government careers, with 60 percent of AmeriCorps alumni choosing to work with a nonprofit organization or public agency.
• AmeriCorps has an even greater relative impact on the career choices of minority members and individuals from disadvantaged circumstances. Minority AmeriCorps members in the State and National program are significantly more likely to choose a career in public service than similar members of the comparison group (44% compared to 26%). AmeriCorps members from disadvantaged circumstances are 20 percentage points more likely to be employed in a public service field (46% compared to 26%).
• AmeriCorps has a significant positive impact on members' attachment to community, their understanding of community problems, their sense of efficacy in working to address community needs, and their participation in community meetings and events.
• AmeriCorps exposes members to new career opportunities and is beneficial to them in the job market. About 80 percent of members reported that their service exposed them to new career options (83% of NCCC members and 79% of State and National members), and more than two-thirds of the former members report that their service was an advantage to them in the job market.
• Members who served in AmeriCorps are more satisfied with their lives eight years later than individuals who did not end up serving in AmeriCorps. Ninety percent of NCCC and 86 percent of State and National alumni, for example, are satisfied with their careers.

"This study shows that AmeriCorps opens the doors to lifelong public service and motivates alumni to continue serving their communities through their careers and in their personal life," said Paul Light, author of "A Government Ill Executed" and professor at New York University. "These findings offer public agencies and nonprofit organizations renewed hope as they work to address the coming workforce crisis. AmeriCorps is a powerful booster shot to address this crisis and help build the next generation of public servants and social entrepreneurs."

Light and other experts have pointed to a looming crisis in the nonprofit and government workforce due to the aging the Baby Boomers, competition from the private sector, burnout and retention issues, and other factors. The federal Office of Personnel Management projects that more than 550,000 federal employees - almost one third of the federal workforce - will leave government in the next five years, and by 2016, nearly 40 percent of current federal workers will retire. The U.S. will need 2 million new teachers in the next decade, and 1.2 million new nurses and 250,000 public health workers by 2020.

"AmeriCorps is perhaps the best pipeline for helping the nonprofit sector recruit its next generation of leadership. AmeriCorps is a sleeping giant of a solution with 75,000 members each year being directly exposed to nonprofit and public service," said Paul Schmitz, CEO of Public Allies and Chair of the Nonprofit Workforce Coalition. Public Allies reports that 80 percent of its 2,200 AmeriCorps alumni have entered careers in public service. Many national nonprofits including Habitat for Humanity, Points of Light & Hands On Network, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America see AmeriCorps as a vital source of future staff for their organizations and the nonprofit sector at large.

Giselle John, a Public Allies AmeriCorps alum, is one example of this pipeline effect. After spending seven years living in foster care, she joined Public Allies as an AmeriCorps member in 2000. Public Allies placed her with Voices for Youth, an organization focused on helping other people leaving foster care, where she now serves as Program Director. Nathan Rothstein, who joined AmeriCorps in 2006 to serve in the Katrina recovery effort, created New Orleans Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals as a way to help young professionals find ways to connect with each other and find the resources they need to stay in the city. Katrina "is our generation's civil rights movement," says Rothstein, 23. "People come from all over to make an impact, to have a part in history."

More than 540,000 women and men have served in AmeriCorps since the program's inception in 1993, providing more than 705 million hours of service. AmeriCorps members serve with more than 4,100 nonprofit and faith-based groups expand their reach and better meet their mission. AmeriCorps members recruit volunteers, expand services, build capacity, and create innovative and sustainable programs. Last year AmeriCorps members mobilized or managed 1.7 million volunteers for the organizations they serve.

AmeriCorps Week will be marked by hundreds of events across the country, including a Habitat for Humanity blitz building project featuring 700 AmeriCorps members on the Gulf Coast and a closing ceremony in Miami where more than 600 AmeriCorps members will restore an historic beach park. An AmeriCorps Week website, located at AmeriCorpsWeek.gov, features a database of events, news, stories, and information about how to join.

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year the Corporation engages more than four million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet local needs through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

More than 10,000 hours of volunteer work was celebrated Thursday at AIB College of Business on Des Moines' south side.

The college's service learning program since 2005 has placed students in volunteer roles at 41 nonprofit agencies in central Iowa.

...Programs similar to AIB's are catching on elsewhere in Iowa and the United States, said Sandra Hansen, executive director of Iowa Campus Compact, a network of college and university presidents who promote public service.

Providence, RI — Campus Compact's latest annual member survey reveals a strong commitment to service and civic engagement on the part of students and others on campus. Among the 6 million students at Campus Compact's 1,100+ member colleges and universities, nearly one-third participated in campus-organized service and service-learning projects during the 2006-2007 academic year, contributing $7 billion in services to their communities. These students provided key assistance in areas such as tutoring, health care, hunger, homelessness, the environment, economic development, and senior services.

In addition to providing an average of 5 hours a week of service, students are increasingly involved in decision-making and administrative processes guiding their campuses' community engagement efforts. Among other work, students serve on service or civic engagement committees (75%), work in community service/service-learning offices (68%), and act as liaisons to community agencies (67%).

"These results speak not only to commitment of our member campuses to building strong communities but also to their desire to prepare students to be active members of our democracy," says Campus Compact president Maureen F. Curley. "Students who have worked to address social issues — and especially those who are able to assume a high level of responsibility in performing this work — will graduate well equipped to be the next civic and community leaders."

Overall, the survey results demonstrate that service, service-learning, and civic engagement have not only become standard facets of the higher education experience but are continuing to advance. Nearly all member campuses offer support mechanisms for community engagement, both locally and globally. Support for such efforts includes on-campus service opportunities (offered by 89% of responding schools), opportunities for staff and faculty to serve alongside students (85%), one-day student service projects (85%), student service awards (71%), and alternative breaks (67%), in which students work on projects in near or far-flung communities instead of taking a traditional vacation.

Other highlights of the 2007 survey include:

• Among responding campuses, 90% include service or civic engagement in their mission statement; 83% include it in their strategic plan.
• Member campuses offer an average of 36 service-learning courses, which incorporate community work into the curriculum.
• In a key indicator of commitment, 85% of member campuses reward community-based research or service-learning in faculty review, tenure, and/or promotion decisions.
• On average, campuses have 77 community partnerships each involving a range of nonprofit/community-based organizations, K-12 schools, faith-based organizations, and government agencies.

Full survey results by year are available at http://www.compact.org/about/statistics/.

Ohio Campus Compact, a non-profit membership organization of 49 Ohio colleges and universities with strong community service, service-learning, and/or civic engagement programs on their campuses, has received special grant funding from Fifth Third Bank and State Farm Insurance. Each company is providing four legacy grants of $500 for outstanding college student service leaders to award to their community partners through the Charles J. Ping Student Service Award. The following individuals will be competing for this grant money for 2007-08:

The Charles J. Ping Award was designed to recognize and honor undergraduate students' outstanding leadership and contributions to community service on their campus and within their community. This award is granted annually to undergraduates from Ohio Campus Compact member institutions who exhibit outstanding leadership in their community service endeavors both on their campus and within their community.

Candidates must be nominated by the president of their college or university. Candidates should meet the following criteria: 1) Evidence of exemplary community service during each student's undergraduate years should reflect the student's efforts to meet needs in his or her community. The Ping award recognizes student efforts, from individual commitment to service and community, to the ability to create an organization and to involve others. 2) Although outstanding community service of any kind will qualify, Ohio Campus Compact is especially interested in efforts that have connected service with academic study or designed programs with long-term community support.

From the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 to the launch of the President's Volunteer Service Award in 2003, this timeline provides a select glance at key dates and milestones.

Leech Lake Reservation — About a dozen students have been working for months on a modest, two-bedroom house that sits on blocks at the edge of the Leech Lake Tribal College campus.

The students started construction last fall, and now they're nearing the end, putting on siding and installing doors and woodwork inside.

What's special about the project is these students are building the house for their elders. By June, the house will be trucked north to the neighboring Red Lake Indian Reservation, where there's a severe housing shortage...

...Creating that team concept is one of the goals of the program. Catherine Day, director of Minnesota Campus Compact, a non-profit group that administers the program, says connecting those teams to a community service project makes learning more relevant.

Tufts University plans to help pay off the loans of its students who go into public service after they graduate, as well as of its alumni in public-service jobs, the university announced on Tuesday. Both undergraduate and graduate students across all schools and disciplines will be eligible for the plan if they work for a nonprofit or public-sector employer, with the amount of loan reimbursement dependent on their loan burdens and income levels...

Rockford College students Brenda Branham and Damir Utzran of Rockford, Jennifer Eller and Nicole Cabe of Machesney Park, Aaron Powers of Belvidere and Matt Edwards of Byron have been named to the Midwest Campus Compact Citizen-Scholar Fellows Program. The fellows program is committed to integrating education with civic engagement in campuses across the Midwest.

BURLINGTON -- The kick-off event for Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) in Vermont will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on April 26 at Roosevelt Park (across from the Boys & Girls Club)...

...Vermont Campus Compact was recently selected as the lead agency for GYSD in Vermont...

...Those of us who are baby boomers once defined civic participation narrowly as political activism. Now, researching a definition of "civic engagement," I realize how much younger generations have redefined the concept. My oldest daughter is a good example. She pursued community service in college (her major was Russian language), worked two years for the AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program, earned an M.B.A. in sustainable enterprise, and now works in "green" financing.

Danielle Beckey feels like she's come a long way from her Brighton High School days, when she was an involved student, but still a follower.

The 2005 Brighton High School graduate, now a 21-year-old junior at Central Michigan University, has stepped to the front and is blazing her own path...

...Her efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Beckey recently received the Heart and Soul award from the Michigan Campus Compact as part of its annual Outstanding Student Service Awards event. The award is given to students in recognition of their personal commitment through service.

Former Billings City Administrator Dennis Taylor called his two years of service with VISTA in the early 1970s "one of the most formative experiences of my life."

It brought him to Montana, for one thing, and it brought him into contact with the woman who would become his wife. It also quickened his interest in working in public service, leading to a 30-year career with state and local government. Last month, he came out of retirement to accept an offer to become executive director of the Montana Meth Project...

...Cody Lillstrom, AmeriCorps VISTA program manager for the Montana Campus Compact, said Taylor is one of many high-profile Montanans who got their start in public service through VISTA.

Matthew Barison has seen a lot of the world in the last few years: Raised in Massachusetts; college in Hartford, Conn.; Peace Corps stints in Uzbekistan and Romania; and currently right here in Lewiston as a VISTA leader (working with other VISTA volunteers and the Maine Campus Compact to expand college opportunities for Mainers).

Providence, Rhode Island, March 5th, 2008: Governor Donald L. Carcieri, Johnson & Wales University President Irving Schneider, Rhode Island School of Design President Roger Mandle and University of Rhode Island President Robert L. Carothers will be among the featured speakers at a special meeting of the state's PK-16 Council this Friday, March 7th at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence beginning at 9:00 a.m.

The meeting's sole agenda item is the presentation of a preliminary report detailing the partnerships between Rhode Island's institutions of higher education and K-12 schools in Rhode Island. The report was prepared as a collaborative project led by the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, the Rhode Island Independent Higher Education Association and Rhode Island Campus Compact.

Two higher education institutions — Providence College and the University of Rhode Island — will each give brief presentations about one of their partnerships. Providence College's presentation will focus on its work with the Providence After School Alliance. The University of Rhode Island's presentation will focus on its work with Central Falls High School.

The project was funded by the Rhode Island Foundation, the Rhode Island Commodores and the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Approximately 125 people are expected to attend.

Tennessee Campus Compact will be launched at the upcoming Gulf-South Summit, which will be held March 13-15 at Belmont University.

This public beginning actually culminates more than a year's worth of planning on the part of colleges and universities across the state, headed by Tennessee State University President Melvin Johnson and coordinated by Tennessee Academic Civic Engagement Program director, Mani Hull.

Nationally, Campus Compact is a coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents — representing some 5 million students — who are committed to promoting community service, civic engagement and service-learning in the context of higher education. As the only national association dedicated to this mission, Campus Compact is a leader in building civic engagement into campus and academic life by deepening their ability to improve communities and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. Thirty-one other states already have Campus Compact organizations supporting the infrastructure for service.

It is a huge milestone for Tennessee Campus Compact to be launched at the Gulf-South Summit, which brings together more than 350 practitioners to share best practices, research and a professional network dedicated to service-learning.

Volunteer Tennessee's Deputy Director for Service-Learning, Meredith Freeman, shares her enthusiasm about the upcoming event.

"This is such an exciting opportunity to build partnerships in higher education -- not only in Tennessee, but also throughout the region," she said. "We are very fortunate that this year's event will be held in Nashville so that Tennessee practitioners can demonstrate their commitment to furthering the practice of and our leadership in the field of service-learning."

As many in the Wartburg community know, Engaging Students: First In the Nation is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Wartburg College and Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H. The project is focused on educating and engaging students and the public regarding the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary during the 2008 presidential election cycle.

San Francisco, CA — California Campus Compact (CACC) has selected ten professionals for the inaugural class of the Bridge-Building Leadership Initiative (BBLI). This year-long comprehensive program will bring together emerging and seasoned leaders of color who integrate service-learning agendas with the interests of stakeholders in diverse communities. With funding from the National Service-Learning Partnership, the National Youth Leadership Council, Learn and Serve America, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, CACC will train and support participants to guide the expansion of the service-learning field.

As a part of this Initiative, participants will engage in leadership theory and application, public service and best practices for service-learning, and the contextual diversity that exists within academic and multicultural institutions. Participants will identify personal leadership strengths and identify skills for further development. The group will hone their observational skills to discover how culture impacts leadership while analyzing models and techniques for leading people through multicultural lenses. The program will explore the historical context of service-learning and its strengths/gaps today.

The participants were chosen because of their deep commitment to promoting diversity, multicultural inclusion, equity, and/or multicultural building work. Participants include:

• Ms. Maria Alderete, Assistant Director of the Center for Service and Action at Loyola Marymount University;
• Ms. Perla Barrientos, Manager/Director of Community Service Learning Institute of Civic and Community Engagement at San Francisco State University;
• Ms. Ming Dang, Service and Outreach Coordinator, Cal Corps Public Service Center at University of California, Berkeley;
• Dr. Norris Dorsey, Lecturer, College of Business and Economics at CSU Northridge;
• Ms. Maribel Martinez, Program Coordinator, Associated Students, Cesar Chavez Community Action Center at San Jose State University;
• Ms. Alexis Moreno, Assistant Director, Center for Community Based Learning at Occidental College;
• Ms. Pilar Pacheco, Assistant Director, Center for Community Engagement at CSU Channel Islands;
• Dr. Octavio Pescador, Associate Director, Center for Community Learning at University of California, Los Angeles;
• Ms. Rowena Tomaneng, Co-Director, Institute of Community and Civic Engagement at De Anza College; and
• Dr. Larry Trujillo, Executive Director, Student Academic Support Services at University of California, Santa Cruz.

Committed to their personal development, the participants will develop and adapt their personal styles to become more effective leaders. Each plans to apply the program's key concepts to their own work and life in support of their personal growth and the development of their campuses' university-community partnerships.

California Campus Compact (CACC), a membership organization, builds the collective commitment and capacity of colleges, universities, and communities to advance civic and community engagement for a healthy, just, and democratic society. With more than 55 member colleges and universities, CACC is one of the largest state Compacts as well as one of the first. CACC has offered ground-breaking initiatives and publications related to national and community service, diversity, risk management, partnerships, and college access. Membership in California Campus Compact includes membership in national Campus Compact, comprising a service-learning network of offices in 31 states and more than 1,000 public and private two- and four-year member colleges and universities across the nation.

For additional information, contact Elaine Ikeda, 415-338-3983, or visit www.cacampuscompact.org.