Taylor Bembery
Associate Editor
The Spring 2014 Commencement is fast approaching and many students are scrambling to submit community service hours. The 120 community service hour requirement became mandatory for students enrolled after 2009. Transfer students have a mandatory 60 hour requirement.
April 15, 2014 is the deadline to turn in paperwork for students who earned community service hours from Jan. 11 through April 11, no exceptions. This service includes on campus/off campus community service, service learning, internships and field praticums.
Student Life has continued its push to help students find opportunities and locations to earn the required hours of service many eligible events that included participation in Alternative Spring Break, the 8th Annual Sweetness 5K Run/Walk/Ride & 1 Mile Fun, Latasha Norman 5K Run/Walk, the Women’s Emphasis Week toiletry drive and many more. Upcoming events include the Susan G. Komen Run/Walk, Keep Jackson Beautiful campaign, and the Tiger Fest.
“I encourage those students who have volunteered to continue to do so. It is our aim not only to educate our students but to also connect our students civically to the social issues that surrounds us daily,” said Eltease Moore, Community Service Coordinator for the Alice. V. Harden Center for Service and Community Engaged Learning. “It’s important for students to understand that these are real people and real issues and that need does not have a name. Today it’s them, but tomorrow it could be us. What better way to tackle this issue head on that right in our own communities.”
Moore added: “Of course the students know that hours earned January 11-April 11th are due by Tuesday, April 15 at 5:00pm. All hours verified by our office at that time will be posted to students transcripts by Friday, April 18, 2014. This date gives us time to effectively process all hours submitted, so that students who may have questions after that time may have their concerns addressed, before the semester’s end.”
Some students have had to make adjustments to their schedules to make sure they get the required community service hours.
Seberon Mackey, a freshman criminal justice major from the Bahamas said, “It is not difficult to earn community service hours in the fall during my off season from baseball; but during the spring semester it becomes very hard to earn hours, so I fit community service in where I can in my busy schedule.”
If you are planning to earn community service hours during the summer, Moore urges students to be aware of the Harden Center’s polices on approved locations.
“We encourage our students to remain actively involved in civic engagement whether summer, fall, holiday or spring break. However, whether in school or away, students completing summer community service must follow a few guidelines for submission,” said Moore.
The guidelines for submission are:
• All students must complete their service requirement through an approved non-profit (501c3) organization. Students may not use a summer internship, co-op or summer job as community service.
• Students have two options with choosing a site:
1. CSCEL Approved Agency List: All sites listed on our approved agency list have been validated of 501c3 status. If you choose a site listed on this list, prior site approval is not needed. Your next step is to contact your site to begin service.
2. Non-Profit Agency (not listed on the CSCEL Agency List): Students may choose to do service with an organization not listed on the CSCEL approved agency list, however, prior site approval is needed, before the start of service. We strongly encourage students to get their sites approved before leaving for the summer, however all sites must be approved before hours can be accepted from their site of choice. Please contact the Harden Center at 601-979-1294 for approval forms.
• All hours earned from May 5-August 22 are due to our office by Friday, September 12. Students don’t have to wait until that deadline to submit the hours, in fact, we encourage them to submit them often as possible to ensure that hours can be tracked more efficiently.
Students may obtain community service forms via the website at http://10.14.12.245/studentlife/community-service/ or from the Harden Center located in Suite 110, Reddix Hall. All submitted forms must provide original signatures. Students submitting forms from an out of state agency may mail forms to Jackson State University, P.O. Box 17084, Jackson, MS 39217. Faxed or scanned copies will not be accepted. For more information, please contact Eltease Moore at 601-979-1762.
Presiana Dawson contributed to this story
