Jarvie: Students give back
October 2, 2009
Event focuses on engagement
Student engagement was the focus of yesterday morning’s annual Bowman Breakfast.
Featured speaker, Greg Jarvie, dean of students and interim vice president of enrollment management and student affairs, said he wanted the audience to take away from his speech “how successful our students really are” – being able to give back to the community between work, school and other commitments.
In his speech, Jarvie outlined the aspects of student engagement from service learning to student leadership to internships and really focusing on community service and relationships.
In the Kent State community, there has been a 41.8 percent increase in student involvement between 2007 and 2008. The hours of service have also increased 42.8 percent from the 2007-2008 school year to 2008-2009.
The national trends for community service are also positive.
“What that says is our culture’s changing,” Jarvie said.
Community service doesn’t only benefit the community; it benefits the students as well. The majority of students said volunteering helped them make career plan decisions, feel more connected to Kent State and develop skills that would help them in the future.
Another area of student engagement is studying abroad or domestically.
“They’re learning, they’re active, they’re involved in their community and they bring that back,” Jarvie said.
