Iowa college students part of national $5.7 billion effort in community service

As a new semester begins, students from 19 Iowa colleges and universities are engaging and volunteering as part of a national effort providing over $5.7 billion annually in service to their communities.

The institutions are part of Iowa Campus Compact, a consortium of public and private colleges that came together in 2003 to promote the public purpose of higher education to educate students for civic and social responsibility and to help improve Iowa’s communities.

Cornell College President Les Garner is chair of the executive board of Iowa Campus Compact.

Since 2007, more than 250 college students have served in the Iowa Campus Compact AmeriCorps Program, logging more than 75,000 volunteer hours and recruiting an additional 2,500 college students to volunteer.

“We exist to increase service learning courses among our campuses and to serve our communities by mobilizing volunteers, marshaling financial resources, and building partnerships,” said Garner, who chairs the Iowa Campus Compact Board that includes the presidents of all 19 member colleges and universities.

This year the Compact has 23 AmeriCorps VISTA members serving in their local communities. Since the beginning of this academic year, those VISTA members have recruited over 5,000 volunteers who have served in excess of 25,000 hours of service. They also garnered more than $27,000 of in-kind and cash resources for the community.

The organization’s new executive director, Rachel Manuel, serves the 19 colleges in Iowa Campus Compact, part of a coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents in the national Campus Compact network.

“Our presidents make civic and community engagement an institutional priority and educate their college students to become active citizens who are well-equipped to develop creative solutions to society’s most pressing issues,” Manuel said.

On March 29, Iowa Campus Compact will partner with the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability on a Going Green event at the state capitol, promoting the role and responsibility of higher education in building a sustainable future for Iowa.

Iowa Campus Compact member institutions are AIB College of Business, Allen College, Buena Vista University, Central College, Clarke College, Coe College, Cornell College, Dordt College, Drake University, Grand View University, Iowa Wesleyan College, Iowa Western Community College, Loras College, Morningside College, Northwestern College, Simpson College, St. Ambrose University, University of Iowa, and Wartburg College.