Canned foods and books sit on the steps in front of the Oviatt Library. The Unified We Serve volunteer program collected around 16,000 items in this years 3rd annual CSUN Campus clothing and food drive. Thursday, Nov. 17. Photo Credit: Andres Aguila / Daily Sundial

California State University, Northridge is one of the 14 CSU campuses that have been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll –– the highest federal honor universities can receive for their commitment to service learning and civic engagement.

The Corporation for National and Community Service recognized nearly 700 colleges and universities for exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

“It is a great honor to be recognized as a campus for our dedication to getting students involved in serving the community at large,” said Travis White, programs assistant for Unified We Serve, a student-run organization that encourages students to engage in volunteerism. “Each year our clubs, organizations and our volunteer program, Unified We Serve, look for new and innovative ways to better understand and help the community around us.”

The corporation launched the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in 2006 to recognize institutions of higher learning that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs. The CSU’s 14 campuses are among 770 colleges and universities nationwide that were lauded for inspiring young leaders to address community challenges and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement.

“CSU campus community engagement programs have played a critical role in helping the university prepare students to be successful, informed, active and committed leaders,” said Judy Botelho, the CSU’s director of the Center for Community Engagement. “With a mission of serving the people of California by providing accessible and high-quality educational opportunities, the CSU is honored to be nationally recognized for our accomplishments.”

CSUN students performed 80,000 hours of service to the community in 2014. Subsequently, Northridge joined 14 other CSU campuses that were recognized on the President’s Honor Roll for their leadership in general community service, economic opportunity and education.

The CSU was the first higher education system in the nation to establish an office supporting service learning and community engagement. According to the CSU Center for Community Engagement, more than 63,000 students had the opportunity to participate in 2,985 service-learning courses across the system in 2012-13. Today, more than half of the CSU’s 450,000 students are engaged in some type of community service, totaling 32 million hours of service annually.

Students, Unified We Serve, Volunteers