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KsCC eNews

Volume 2, Issue 3

1) Announcements: President's Honor Roll Distinguishes 141 Schools for Community Service

2) New Program in the Spotlight: VISTAs Organize USM Winter Alternative Break to New Orleans

3) Program Updates: Youth Service Corps, M3C Fellows AmeriCorps*VISTA, and WaterLINK Updates

4) New Calendar Events: Sixth International Service Learning-Research Conference

5) Award Opportunities: Alec Dickenson Servant Leader Award

6) Funding Opportunities: Clay Aiken Able-To-Serve Grant

7) Other Opportunities: United States Public Service Academy

8) New Publications: Generation Y Gets Involved, College Volunteerism Up Sharply, and Others

1) Announcements:

President's Honor Roll Distinguishes 141 Schools for Community Service

Six colleges and universities received top recognition for extraordinary community service – three for aiding hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast and three for helping close neighbors – as the first-ever President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll was announced in Chicago today.

“Higher education is a powerful engine of civic engagement and is central to achieving the President's vision of active citizens and connected communities,” said Stephen Goldsmith, Chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency tasked with fostering an ethic of volunteerism and service in America. “We applaud America’s college students and the universities they attend for stepping up to help people in need.”

Goldsmith presented the awards at the Campus Compact 20th Anniversary. In addition to the top honorees, nine schools received Katrina Compassion Awards for helping Gulf Coast communities recover, 10 others were named finalists for general community service, and 141 colleges, universities and professional schools were recognized for distinguished community service. In total, 492 schools were recognized on the first President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

For more information on Announcements, click here.

2) New Programs Spotlight:

VISTAs Organize USM Winter Alternative Break to New Orleans

The Service-Learning Center and Campus Ministry at the University of Saint Mary are co-sponsoring an Alternative Break to New Orleans to help with hurricane recovery. Sara Denny and Melissa Netzer from the Service-Learning Center and Heather Coates from Campus Ministry are coordinating the trip.

They have invited other schools to join USM on this trip. For each school, there is space for 5 students accompanied by a faculty/staff member from the sponsoring institution or campus organization. Participation with students for pre-service reflection and orientation is also requested. There will be a $50 deposit and the sponsoring institution/organization will need to arrange for transportation to Leavenworth. USM will work with each leader to coordinate transportation to New Orleans, the final cost and pre-reflection details.

For more information on the Programs Spotlight, click here.

3) Program Updates:

AmeriCorps*Kansas Campus-Community Youth Service Corps

Congratulations to AmeriCorps Alumni

Congratulations to Alex Serra, Matt Johnson, and Vivian Highfill (all from Manhattan, Kansas) the first alumni of Campus-Community Youth Service Corps!

Recruiting More Team Sites

KsCC is still looking for Cc Youth Service Corps campus sites. Students who have internships, practicum, clinical hours, and/or teacher education requirements are encouraged to check the AmeriCorps*Kansas program listing to see how to earn a $1000 Education Award as they complete course and degree requirements. We also encourage faculty and staff who oversee internships, practicum, or other types of experiential learning to check the AmeriCorps*Kansas program listing.

AmeriCorps Members Training

Facilitators of the Kansas Youth Leadership Academy (of Fort Hays State University) will be providing specialized training to K-State's Youth Service Corps on January 19, 2007. Training will prepare the team as they help youth identify community needs and implement a service project to address those needs.

AmeriCorps*National Midwest/Campus Compact Citizen-Scholar Fellowship

Attention TRIO Programs:

If you have a TRIO program on your campus, an M3C Fellows program may benefit your first generation students. Here are a few things to think about…

- 7% of a campus’ Work Study needs to be done in the community. You can combine a Fellows' Work Study and M3C volunteer hours. This means they can be working as well as getting credit towards their 300 hours of service needed for the M3C program.

- Fellows who have successfully completed this program are awarded a $1,000 voucher to be used towards tuition, student loans etc. The M3C program is bringing in a minimum of $7,000 additional aid to colleges because most Fellows use the vouchers towards their current tuition.

Fellows need to be enrolled by January 31, 2007 in order to be eligible for this year’s program. Don’t forget, they still have one complete calendar year to complete their term – they don’t have to finish by the end of the school year.

Favorable Results on GPA and Retention

Preliminary survey results from 27 of the 46 schools enrolled in the M3C program this academic year show that M3C Fellows have:

- GPA averages of 3.1, compared to 2.9 for the comparable group of Pell grant recipients

- 86.9% return to college rate, compared to 69.7 % for the comparable group of Pell grant recipients

GREAT NEWS!!! Congratulations to all of you who have helped make this program a success. Just think of all the things we can do now that we have a year under our belts!

KsCC AmeriCorps*VISTA Project

Kansas Campus Compact is pleased to report that initial planning and review of the future years of our KsCC AmeriCorps*VISTA Project is complete and, pending approval from our member college/university presidents, we are ready to move ahead with our VISTA recruitment campaign for the 2007-2008 year.

The Corporation for National and Community Service has approved the KsCC VISTA Project to enter the cost-sharing phase of VISTA grants, which will allow Kansas Campus Compact to continue providing Volunteers In Service To America to member colleges/universities and the communities they serve.

KsCC WaterLINK Project

With 18 projects completed to date, the EPA-funded project to improve water quality through campus-community partnerships has really taken off. Find innovative current and past projects at WaterLINK. WaterLINK is currently taking mini-grant proposals for Spring 2007 courses with an application deadline of January 3, 2007. We encourage you to consider this exciting option for your upcoming courses.

4) New Calendar Events:

Sixth International Service Learning-Research Conference

The Sixth International Service Learning-Research Conference had 425 registrants from 17 countries, with six pre-conference workshops and over 150 presentations in verbal, roundtable, poster and plenary formats, including the new strands of “Emerging Scholars” and “Master Classes."

The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse has offered to post the presentations made at the 2006 conference. Presenters have been invited to send the slides they used for presentations to the Clearinghouse for posting to its website.

The 2007 International Service Learning-Research Conference will be held in Florida, hosted by Florida Campus Compact and a consortium of Florida universities. Details on dates and location will be forthcoming; announcements will be posted on multiple listservs.

For more information on the Events Calendar, click here.

5) Award Opportunities:

Alec Dickenson Servant Leader Award

Applications are being accepted for the Alec Dickson Servant Leader Award, which honors exemplary leaders who have inspired the service-learning field, positively impacted the lives of young people, and motivated others to take up the banner of service. Awards will be presented at The 18th Annual National Service-Learning Conference to honor youths and adults for their commitment to education, service, community, and service-learning.

The application deadline is January 22, 2007. Please consider applying or nominating someone for his or her leadership and commitment to service-learning.

For more information on Award Opportunities, click here.

6) Funding Opportunities:

Clay Aiken Able-To-Serve Grant Funding Now Available

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation and Youth Service America (YSA) are pleased to announce grants of up to $1,000 to support youth-led service projects in which youth with and without disabilities serve their communities together.

These grants support youth (ages 5-25), teachers, youth-leaders, youth-serving organizations, or organizations that serve people with disabilities in implementing service projects for National and Global Youth Service Day, April 20-22, 2007. Projects can address themes such as the environment, disaster relief, public health and awareness, community education, hunger, and literacy, and any issues youth identify as a community need. The receipt deadline is November 30, 2007 .

For more information on Funding Opportunities, click here.

7) Other Opportunities:

United States Public Service Academy

This Academy will be a four-year, public-service-oriented undergraduate school modeled on the military service academies. Students will get a free education; in return, they will serve for five years in public service jobs following graduation. You may learn more about it at www.uspublicserviceacademy.org.

To help with this exciting project, contact the Chris Myers Asch of the U.S. Public Service Academy.

8) New Publications:

Journal & Newspaper Articles

Chronicle of Higher Education, "Volunteering Grows in Popularity Among College Students," article.

USA Today article, "Generation Y Gets Involved," takes a look at our young volunteers.

Marietta Times article, "Once the 'Me' Generation, Now the 'We,'" describes college volunteers.

Associated Press article, "College Volunteerism Up Sharply," addresses volunteerism.

Inside Higher Ed article, "Student Volunteerism is Up," takes a closer look at college volunteerism.

Monterey County Herald article, "A Feather in Service-Learning Cap," looks at an Honor Roll recipient.

Salt Lake Tribune article, "Students Eager to Give Time," speaks of community service in college.

Daily Oklahoman article, "College Students Volunteer More," describes the next generation.

For more information on Publications, click here.

Kansas Campus Compact

Educating Citizens. Building Communities.