RVCC Makes President’s Honor Roll

BRANCHBURG -- The Corporation for National and Community Service has named Raritan Valley Community College to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction for general community service and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The college joins a number of four-year colleges and universities, as well as community colleges, across the country in receiving these honors.

The awards recognize the collective efforts of many college students, faculty, administrators and police recruits who have contributed to service learning and community service projects for the 2005-06 academic year.  More than 1,300 students provided over 32,500 hours of service, donating the economic equivalent of almost $600,000 in services to the community.  The police recruits were enrolled at the Somerset County Police Academy, which is located on the main college campus.

Model service learning and Somerset County Police Academy projects involved students in activities that addressed many important community issues through the curriculum, such as literacy, aging, health, safety, the homeless, disadvantaged youth, disaster preparedness and Hurricane Katrina relief.  Many of the projects were sponsored by the Supporting Actions for Engagement grant project – funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service – which involves students in service learning activities that address disaster preparedness.  Final products and services developed and disseminated to the community included workshops, information brochures, fact sheets, power point presentations and training sessions.

Through numerous academic courses, students provided assistance to community organizations that lessened some of the pressures in dealing with current social issues, helping organizations meet their objectives.

As well, many students assisted various nonprofits, schools and government agencies with different projects.