Stetson University has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the fifth consecutive year by the Corporation for National and Community Services for commendable community service programs.

The Community Service Honor Roll annually recognizes institutions of higher education for their commitment and achievement in community service. This is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees were recognized the American Council on Education’s annual meeting in May and at this week’s National Conference of Volunteering and Service in New Orleans.

Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovativeness 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. Stetson has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll every year since the program first launched in 2006.

Stetson students and faculty at the DeLand campus provided more than 100,000 hours of community service during the 2010-11 academic year. Service highlighted in the application included the Greenfeather charity fundraiser, the Bonner Scholars program, Woodward Avenue Elementary Tutoring Program, Campaign for Adolescent and University Student Empowerment (CAUSE), and Kilometer Kids.

Stetson has a major commitment to service-learning through its academic courses. Faculty members involve their students in the community to address real-world problems. Student outreach includes counseling low-income entrepreneurs through the CHOMI Microcredit program, studying invasive species in Blue Spring, volunteering at local nonprofit agencies, and implementing community youth programs based on residents’ needs. At the College of Law in Gulfport/St. Petersburg and Tampa, all students do pro bono service.

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service and is sponsored by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the U.S. departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development.