The commitment to complete 15 hours of community service each semester in Honors provides opportunities for to students to contribute to society, develop empathy and expand cultural competencies necessary for engagement in a global society and in their chosen professions. 1. 1. Service hours for the Honors Program ought to be completed according to the policies of the Student Volunteer Center (hereafter 'SVC'). a. Service hours are for the direct or indirect benefit of a community partner. b. Service hours must not be done for pay. c. Service hours must be reported in the same semester they were completed through OrgSync. i. Descriptions of service hours ought to be detailed and understandable by a naive reader, as they will appear on an student’s co-curricular transcript. d. Hours must not be for the benefit of a friend or family member, be a part of your regular job expectations, or be intended for the benefit an RSO. i. Organizing service opportunities for an RSO counts as service hours, so long as the beneficiary of your activity is the community partner, not the RSO itself. ii. Hours completed as a part of the regular activity of the RSO (i.e. regularly scheduled meetings or E-Board meetings) do not count as service. e. All opportunities posted on the SVC website will count for Honors. i. Service hours completed as part of a service-learning class or curricular requirement can be counted for service hours. f. Alternative spring breaks can count for service hours. 2. Starting for the entering class of 2013, service hours completed for the benefit of the Honors Program, or any other on-campus community can count for no more than 5 of your total semester hours. 3. Mere participation in an endurance event - such as the 30 hour famine - does not count as full service hours, but students can count some fraction thereof. Work done during the organizational and fundraising period of these programs, however, will count as full service hours. 4. Service opportunities promoted by the Honors Program ought to exhibit each of the following properties: a. Engaged: inculcate recognition of one's civic responsibility as a member of a community. Students are encouraged to seek opportunities that will expand their understanding of and commitment to the community which may define their locale or career path. b. Practical: The service experience ought to be project-based, allowing the student the opportunity to apply intellectual skills to tangible problems; including the opportunity to formulate and test his or her ‘philosophy of service’ and provide that student the opportunity to act on that philosophy.
c. Challenging: The service experience ought to expand the student’s ethical and cultural perspectives by putting him or her in novel situations and/or environments. d. Inclusive: In accordance with University’s core value of Diversity, the Honors Program will only promote service opportunities that are made available to all our students, regardless of religious affiliation, sexuality, gender, race, class background, or other protected statuses or identities. In the rare situation where a service opportunity site may not be accessible for all volunteers, we will work with our community partners to find positions that can accommodate each of our students. 5. Students completing service hours for a different program on campus, whether curricular or co-curricular, may also count their hours for the Honors program as well. This includes, but is not limited to: a. Other RSOs b. Academic programs with service requirements, such as Nursing c. Athletic teams