Service-minded student leaders, Bergen President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., and Vice President of Academic Affairs Bill Mullaney, Ph.D., recently visited the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center to donate handmade winter hats.
PARAMUS, N.J. – With 634 students completing 35,000 hours of community service last year, Bergen Community College has made the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the seventh consecutive time. The list recognizes institutions that have incorporated service learning programs into their curricula and campus environment. Bergen represents one of only three New Jersey community colleges on the 2014 list.
“Through the diverse service projects led by our students, faculty and staff, Bergen Community College ranks as a leader among its peers,” Bergen President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., said. “Service remains an institution-wide dedication, a commitment to connecting to community.”
Bergen’s service projects recognized as part of the honor roll include the:
*”International Conversation Project”: Students conducted weekly conversations with international students to bridge the cultural and communication divide.
*”Dental Hygiene Education Reach Out”: Dental hygiene program students worked with groups such as the Special Olympics and provided dental screenings to patients with autism – finding a 95 percent success rate in desensitizing these patients to touch, thereby allowing for dental screenings.
Bergen includes service learning projects on student transcripts.
The Corporation for National and Community Service – a federal agency that leads service-based initiatives such as Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund and President Barack Obama’s national “call to service” campaign – compiles the list each year. The group estimates more than 3.1 million students completed 118 million hours of community service last year. To view the group’s full list of honor roll institutions, visit nationalservice.gov/honorroll.
Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu) based in Paramus is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 16,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields.
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