According to Miami estimates, 12,920 students performed 387,600 hours of service during the 2010-11 academic year.
“So often this kind of good work is hidden and people have no idea it’s going on,” Miami President David Hodge said.
“It’s a moment to sit back and be proud,” Hodge said, “but also a moment to be inspired to work even harder.”
Miami’s honor was given by the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, and specifically recognized the university’s programs in early childhood education.
The award also was received by Seattle University, the University of Pennsylvania, Caron Newman College and North Carolina State University. It is the highest federal recognition a college or university can achieve for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.
“Those programs provide direct and immediate service which makes an impact for people,” Hodge noted.
“And it’s not just that we provide the services, there is a lot of innovation in those programs,” he said. “They allow us to continue to find new ways of building a protocol others can use.”
Miami programs serving children include the Talawanda-Miami Partnership, in which 1,900 Miami students gave 9,000 hours and 75 faculty members gave 750 hours tutoring, mentoring, training, collaborating and providing opportunities for the arts to the Talawanda School District.
The CNCS recognized the partnership as anchoring Miami’s efforts in advancing early childhood literacy.
Another program is the Urban Teaching Cohort, a community-based approach to teacher education involving high-need schools; Miami Connections, an alternative school program in which Miami students assisted academically challenged ninth- and 10th-graders in their transition to high school; and the Butler County Success Program, which involves 40 schools in seven school districts.
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