MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. – The Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, has named Tufts University to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for its exemplary volunteer service.
Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on 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.
Tufts was selected because of such programs as the Tisch College Citizenship and Public Service Scholars Program, in which Tufts students develop skills to become active leaders in community work; the Tufts Leonard Carmichael Society, which pairs student volunteers and coordinators with programs serving at-risk children and youth; and Jumpstart, which is part of a national program that partners students with low-income, preschool children to help them build literacy, language and social skills.
"Tufts has made civic engagement a defining commitment," said Rob Hollister, dean of Tisch College. "Civic engagement elevates the quality of teaching and learning. We also produce graduates with both hands-on competence in their fields and a personal commitment to being agents of social change."
Tufts was one of four Massachusetts institutions named to the Honor Roll with Distinction. Overall, the corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards and named 83 as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members. A full list of all schools recognized is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.
The Corporation for National and Community service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov.
About Tufts University
Tufts University, located on three Massachusetts campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged.
