Community Service Requirements and Policies

Guidelines

At Macaulay Honors College, community service means unpaid time spent benefiting communities through projects, events, or trips that promote:

Humanitarian Causes
Providing assistance to help the disadvantaged during crises. Examples of humanitarian services may include but are not limited to: building homes for disaster relief or volunteering at disaster shelters.

Education
Promoting awareness, facilitating processes of acquiring knowledge for others, teaching skills and behaviors. Examples of educational services may include but are not limited to: tutoring, mentoring, or promoting awareness for causes.

Sustainability
Acknowledging the disturbance to the ecological system and promoting solutions to restore balance. Examples may include but are not limited to: composting workshops or a recycling campaign.

Social Justice
Bringing about a more equitable distribution of society’s resources. Examples of service under social justice include but are not limited to: volunteering at homeless services or providing service to LGBT community centers.

Pro Bono Services
Offering services by pre-professionals to those who are unable to afford them. Examples may include but are not limited to: providing tax services for free.

 

Requirements

To satisfy the Macaulay requirement for service:

  • You must complete a minimum of 30 hours of community service, with a minimum of 10 hours during each of your first three years at Macaulay. Individual campuses may require additional community service hours.
  • You may not count an activity for which you are compensated in any form (e.g. monetary, material gifts or service in-kind) towards your community service requirement. Unpaid internships, including those at nonprofit organizations or government agencies, are not considered community service.
  • Political campaigning or participating in religious service such as proselytizing, faith-based instruction, or other acts as an expression of faith are not considered community service.
  • You must submit an online Community Service Verification Form documenting your completed community service, to be approved by your MHC honors advisor.
  • If you are unsure if your service will fulfill the requirement, be sure to reach out to your advisor.
  • Effective August 25, 2021: In-person Community Service activities are once again permitted, with the student completing a COVID-19 safety waiver as part of the Verification Form.

**General participation in student clubs and activities does not count as community service.

How to Submit Service Hours

  • You must submit an online Community Service Verification Form before participating in Community Service.
  • You will receive an email with your form responses, which you must print or save as a PDF. The supervisor of the service you participate in must sign the form. Alternatively, students may provide their advisor with a confirmation email from the service supervisor confirming the hours.
  • Submit form to your advisor for approval.

 

See your individual campus honors office for additional service requirements, policies and procedures.