Articles of Interest

National Volunteer Week at the White House

Volunteering and national service were front and center at the White House yesterday, as President Bush welcomed volunteer leaders, national service particpants, and Peace Corps volunteers to the East Room for a celebration of National Volunteer Week.

In his remarks, the President thanked America's 61 million volunteers for the vital role they play in saving lives and strengthening communities, described Administration initiatives to support volunteering including USA Freedom Corps and the PResidnt's Council on Service and Civic Participation, and urged Americans to visit volunteer.gov to find opportunities to serve. Prior to his remarks, he presented President's Volunteer Service Awards to Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini, who has led the company to commit one million hours of volunteer service by its employees for its 40th anniversary, and Deloitte CEO Barry Salzberg, who has led teh compnay to commit to providing pro-bono services worth up to $50 million for the nonprofit sector over the next three years.

In his closing remarks, the President said: "I believe strongly in the admonition, "To whom much is given, much is required." Those of you here today are living up to that noble calling. And you carry on the best traditions of American citizenship. In my first inaugural address, I said it's important to be a citizen, not a spectator. And there's no better way to be a citizen than to be a soldier in the armies of compassion, a foot soldier. And so today we commemorate your work and the work of volunteers all across teh country here at teh White House. I appreciate thelasting legacy that you've helped create in the hearts of our fellow citizens."

Click below for the President's full remarks and other information:
Remarks: President Bush Discusses National Volunteer Week
White House Fact Sheet: National Volunteer Week
Freedom Corps Press Release
Ask the White House with USA Freedom Corps Director Henry Lozano

Volunteering 61 Million Strong; Need and Momentum Grow

New web site gives most detailed information ever on how and where Americans volunteer in over 160 cities; Utah is top volunteer state, Provo and Twin Cities lead metro areas.

The most comprehensive research on U.S. volunteering ever assembled shows volunteering in America is strong and poised for growth, as momentum for service grows across the sectors and the need for volunteers is heightened by the economic downturn.

Nearly 61 million Americans volunteered in their communities in 2007 giving 8.1 billion hours of service worth more than $158 billion to America's communities, according to the Volunteering in America report released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Announced today in partnership with USA Freedom Corps at the White House, the report reveals an increase of one million volunteers over five years, as Americans answer President Bush's 2002 national call to service.

The Volunteering in America report contains six years of data on volunteering, rankings of states and cities, and volunteer trends and demographic information for every state and 162 large and mid-sized cities at a new interactive website www.VolunteeringInAmerica.gov.

Education through Service

Powell: Education through service

From the Education Commission of the States

This paper, produced by ECS' National Center for Learning and Citizenship, translates service-learning's research-based evidence for education leaders and identifies best practices and policies. Learn more about the five critical components for effectiveness: vision and leadership, curriculum and assessment, community-school partnerships, professional development and continuous improvement.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/78/58/7858.pdf

Serve America Act Will Increase Community and National Service Opportunities for all Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today introduced the “Serve America Act,” a bill to expand national and community service opportunities for all Americans. Sens. Mikulski, McCain, Dodd, Cochran, Reid, Gregg, Durbin, Wicker, Murray, Snowe, Kerry, Lincoln, Cardin, Rockefeller, Schumer, Whitehouse, Menendez, Bayh and Landrieu are also sponsors of the legislation. The goal of the legislation is to encourage 175,000 more Americans to give a year of service to address specific national challenges such as strengthening our schools or increasing economic opportunities, thereby expanding the number of such service participants to 250,000. The legislation will also increase opportunities for individuals to serve at any stage of their life, from childhood through retirement, and will support social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to tackle our most pressing problems. To read more Click Here.

New York Time's Op-Ed, Volunteer to Save the Economy

THIS week, President Obama called upon all Americans to volunteer, to pitch in and give back. We hope that the president is serious about this challenge, because providing more opportunities for national and community service won’t just lift the nation’s spirit, it could help save the economy. To read more Click Here.

The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act Passes the House and the Senate!

For a detailed summary of the bill go to the Corporation's website, www.cns.gov and click on National Service Bill.

President Obama Issues FY10 Budget Request for National Service Administration

Highlights of the President's budget include: AmeriCorps: Creates 10,000 new AmeriCorps positions, the first step towards the Serve America Act's goal of 250,000 annual members by the year 2017.

• $372.5 million for AmeriCorps State/National grants to support 74,861 members, $101 million or 37% increase over the FY09 enacted level.
• $97.9 million to support 5,980 full time AmeriCorps VISTA members and 1,690 Summer Associates, a $1.8 million increase over the FY09 enacted level.
• $26.3 million to support 1,030 full-time NCCC members (and 90 Summer of Service members) on five campuses.
• National Service Trust: $195.6 million for the Trust, including the first increase in the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award since the program's inception in 1993.
• Senior Corps: $220.9 million to support nearly 500,000 Senior Corps volunteers, a 3.3% increase over the FY09 enacted level.
• Learn and Serve America: $39.5 million to support 1.3 million Learn and Serve participants, $2 million or 5% increase over FY09.
• Social Innovation Fund: $50 million to take successful projects and programs to scale and leverage additional capital from the private sector.
• Volunteer Generation Fund: $10 million to support grants to states and nonprofits to recruit, manage and support volunteers and strengthen the nation’s volunteer infrastructure.
• State Commission Administrative Grants: $16 million to help support the commission's increased workload.

Corporation for National Community Service: Includes needed resources to strengthen the capacity of CNCS as their mission and services expand. Provides funds for a national Call to Service campaign and a new National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11. The President’s budget submission is just one early step in a lengthy appropriations process. Voices for National Service will remain engaged, reaching out to the Administration and the Congress, urging them to approve a substantial investment in national service that will help to make the Serve America Act a reality. For more information click here.

New publication from AAC&U: The Handbook of Practice and Research in Study Abroad: Higher Education and the Quest for Global Citizenship

This publication is a comprehensive survey of the study abroad and global learning fields. Each chapter conveys an enthusiasm for study abroad alongside a critical assessment of the most up-to-date research, theory, and practice. The volume brings together the insights of expert academics, senior administrators, practitioners of study abroad, and policy makers from across the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world. Among its many chapters, the book includes a chapter on globalizing the curriculum co-authored by Kevin Hovland and Caryn McTighe Musil of AAC&U, along with Ellen Skilton-Sylvester at Arcadia University and Amy Jamison at Michigan State University. For more information visit this site.
Cultural-Based Service Learning
Service-Learning: What Motivates K-12 Teachers to Participate In and Sustain Service-Learning Projects?

New Journal Now Available & National Learn & Serve Challenge Update

The National Service-Learning Partnership is pleased to announce the release of Information for Action: A Journal for Research on Service-Learning for Children and Youth, Volume I, Number 2. The Journal is a peer-reviewed publication that features relevant, methodologically sound studies of service-learning impacts and examples of innovative instruction written by experts, scholars, practitioners, and youth. The Journal is filled with important reports from a variety of perspectives and includes information that contributes to the growing literature on service-learning research. In it, you will find studies from collegiate researchers, practitioners, and youth. Articles included:
Service-Learning as Creative Productivity
Cultural-Based Service Learning
Service-Learning: What Motivates K-12 Teachers to Participate In and Sustain Service-Learning Projects?
Nuestros Niños: Preparing Pre-service Teachers to Educate Latino Migrant Children and Youth through Service-Learning
A Young Person’s Perspective on Youth-led Action Research, Planning & Evaluation (Youth REP) as a Vehicle for Service-Learning and Community Change
Book Review: Youth Participatory Evaluation: Strategies for Engaging Young People

PS to Research University Engaged Scholarship Toolkit

The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN) has recently released an online toolkit on engaged scholarship comprised of an annotated bibliography of published articles, links to online resources, and a set of original essays. For more information go to http://www.compact.org/initiatives/civic-engagement-at-research-universities/trucen-overview/