Although this AdvancingWVU campaign has concluded, if you would still like to make a donation to support this cause, you may always do so here.

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#AcademicserviceWVU

WVU service-learning students completed 10,236 hours of service this spring semester.  Students from 9 different colleges completed service as part of their academic coursework this semester. Collectively the 1,400 students enrolled in service-learning courses completed 10,236 service hours for 95 different community organizations. This is an impressive contribution of $209,532 worth of service to our community.

In addition to the service contribution, students learned valuable skills such as creative problem solving, to see themselves as developing professionals, to communicate with a wide variety of audiences and more about different needs in the community.

#WVFloods Effort

The WVU Center for Service and Learning (CSL) along with students, faculty and staff quickly mobilized this summer in reaction and support of the devastating southern WV floods.  Early in the response, a collection drive with many community partners, businesses, student organizations, and volunteers from all over campus was coordinated and executed.  The CSL coordinated a central collection, staging, and deployment location for goods and money collected June 25-July 11th which included over 20 trucks (including 8 53' semi-tractor trailers) that were deployed to locations in southern WV where the goods were most needed. Success of the effort can be contributed to the great support and communications provided by many WVU units, including the President's Office, Student Government, the Center for Service and Learning, Student Life, and more.

Our flood relief effort included hundreds of volunteers and an estimated 3,500 hours of volunteer time in just a short time period.  Student leaders, extension specialists, and even President Gee himself deployed to visit with residents, distribute supplies, and eventually trips that included heavy "muck out" for homes in partnership with organizations like Team Rubicon and Volunteer WV.  Currently, the CSL is organizing deployment of students to continue with flood recovery projects and supporting the efforts in terms of resources and deployment of students.

#MillionHrMatch Initiative

The Million Hour Match is a collaborative initiative between West Virginia University, Volunteer WV, and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). WVU students invite West Virginia residents to match them in completing one million hours of community service, for a total of two million hours to inspire learning and promote civic engagement. This initiative strengthens WVU’s commitment to connect available resources to citizens and communities throughout the state. In doing so, students have the opportunity to better realize the importance of civic engagement, as well as make a significant impact in creating a more sustainable economic and cultured environment for all of West Virginia.

By leading this initiative, WVU would be the first public institution to make this kind of commitment to its state and residents. WVU has the opportunity to develop a sustainable model that will revolutionize campus-community connections, paving the way for unprecedented growth and opportunity for West Virginia.

#iservewvu

iServe (iserve.wvu.edu) is WVU’s online service management system, and is the only system of its kind utilized by a intuition of higher education. Launched in August of 2011, it has tracked, recorded, and verified 387,565 service hours for over 15,000 students. This initiative will encourage all service hours completed through WVU to be tracked with iServe, positively impacting WVU’s continued eligibility for the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification, an honor only held by 6% of all universities nationwide.