NSU receives national recognition for community service

(Tahlequah, Okla.) The second time is charmed for Northeastern State University as the institution joins nationwide peers on the 2010 Presidents Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The university received the prestigious honor first in 2009.

Administered by the Corporation for National Community Service (CNCS), the federally recognized honor touts Northeastern as a leader among institutions of higher education for their support of volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

CNCS, which has administered the Honor Roll since 2006, admitted more than 600 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from literacy and neighborhood revitalization to supporting at-risk youth.

Being selected for this nationwide honor out of nearly 800 submitted institutions clearly shows that the students, faculty and staff of Northeastern are dedicated to making place matter for their institution, the surrounding communities and the world, said Laura Boren, Dean of Student Affairs.

The Corporation oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact, and the American Council on Education. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

In 2010, members of the Northeastern family amassed nearly 155,000 community service and volunteer hours in several highlighted programs, including:

Speech-Language Clinics.
Northeastern faculty, students and community members all reaped the benefits of more than 2,000 hours of speech-language pathology services offered last year on the Tahlequah and Muskogee (McAlester Rite Care Outreach Speech and Language clinic) campuses (NSU-Broken Arrow clinic began in 2011). The full-service speech-language clinics offer service-learning opportunities with diagnosis and therapy, as well as a limited audiology clinic. SLP majors also participate in academic service learning through their work with area schools and eldercare programs.

The Big Event.
Held the last Saturday in March, the Big Event is a one-day service project planned and executed by students. In 2010, a record 620 participants racked up more than 2,500 hours tackling job submissions which ranged from cleaning elementary school yards to weeding flower beds at local nursing homes.

NSU Oklahoma College of Optometry Rural Eye Clinics.
Students and staffers for NSUOCOs 12 Rural Eye Clinics logged 149,440 hours last year treating American Indian populations in a 14-county area. Teams delivered quality eye carediagnosis, treatment and preventative measureswhile engaging students, faculty and staff in the preparation of the next generation of optometrists for professional careers.