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The highest Federal recognition any university can obtain for its voluntary community service, civic engagement and a commitment to learning and serving the society at large has been awarded to the Brevard College. This college has been named to the Community Service Honor Roll of the 2009 President’s Higher Education.

The community service honor roll initiative was launched in the year 2006. This is one of the highest and most prestigious recognitions awarded to schools for their excellent and dedicated commitment to civic engagement and service learning.

A host of factors are involved in the honourees’ selection process. This includes service incentives, student participation percentage in activities related to community service, innovation, scope and creativity in service projects and the academic inclusion of service learning courses.

According to Drew Van Horn, the President of Brevard College, focus of their mission is to inspire students to learn by serving and leading in today’s world that is ever changing and diverse. The recognition is also a standing testimony to the faculty, staff and students of Brevard College and their commitment to learning based on community service.

All the activities of this college reflect their commitment to service. During the year 2008-2009, 3,150 hours of community service was performed by a total of 531 Brevard students. The service areas included both inside and outside the County of Transylvania. Students have to spend an entire day in community service during their first orientation year.

Other than this, a host of students from this college perform services including clothing and food drives. They also offer student mentoring to poor students in the area. The Office of Service Initiatives in the college offer support and coordination to students as they engage in these services.

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Patrick Corvington, Brevard College deserves recognition for their dedicated commitment and service to improve local communities.

He also added that students are a vital part of our nation and they must be actively engaged in addressing some of our most pressing and demanding challenges and problems. Brevard College has indeed shown the nation that it is possible to significantly impact results and have shown us the value of practicing learning while serving.

The volunteering sector sees a significant contribution from college students. At least 300 million hours of service was contributed by 3.16 million students in the year 2009 according to a recent study by the Volunteering in America. At least $150 million is invested every year by this corporation to encourage service culture in colleges. This is done through awarding grants as a part of different programs.

The honor roll is overseen by this corporation which works in conjunction with American Department of Education, American Council on Education, Campus Compact and Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Programs such as AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America see a massive participation of at least five million Americans in service. These programs are an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which is a Federal Agency.