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Raritan Valley Community College has unveiled its new video, “RVCC: Transforming the Community Through Service Learning,” which was created to highlight the College’s work serving the community.

Earlier this spring, RVCC was one of six colleges and universities in the country to be recognized by Campus Compact with the first Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation. RVCC is one of only two community colleges in the U.S.—and the only New Jersey college—to receive the honor, which was scheduled to be awarded at a national conference that was cancelled due to the pandemic. The video was to be shown during the conference. To view the video, visit https://wi.st/2Bk9h2g.

The award celebrates RVCC’s commitment to the civic purposes of higher education through its nationally recognized Service Learning Program, in which students serve the community as part of the classroom experience and receive academic credit for their efforts. The College is being honored for its longstanding commitment to providing all students with access to civic and community-based learning experiences.

For the past 25 years, RVCC’s Service Learning Program has collaborated with diverse community organizations and has flourished to include over 250 community partners to help address their growing needs. Through participation in RVCC’s Service Learning Program, students gain the opportunity to address many critical issues of public concern, including hunger, homelessness, literacy, the environment, disabilities, domestic violence, substance abuse, childcare, health, nutrition, animal welfare, and legal aid/law. Students also serve the community through their participation in student clubs, athletics, student government, honor societies, internships and political/democratic engagement. In addition, RVCC faculty and administrators serve the community through their participation on non-profit boards.

Annually, RVCC students contribute 45,000 hours of service, donating the economic equivalent of $1 million in service to Somerset and Hunterdon counties. In a five-year period, students have contributed the economic equivalent of approximately $5 million to the community, making the College widely regarded as an important and reliable partner.

Campus Compact is a national coalition of 1000+ colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. Campus Compact supports institutions in fulfilling their public purposes by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. As the largest national higher education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, it provides professional development to administrators and faculty to enable them to engage effectively, facilitate national partnerships connecting campuses with key issues in their local communities, build pilot programs to test and refine promising models in engaged teaching and scholarship, celebrate and cultivate student civic leadership, and convene higher education institutions and partners beyond higher education to share knowledge and develop collective capacity. For more information, visit www.compact.org.

Ranked by WalletHub.com and Niche.com as the #1 community college in New Jersey, Raritan Valley Community College has been serving as an academic and cultural center for Somerset and Hunterdon County residents for over 50 years. The College has been nationally recognized for its service to the community, environmental stewardship, and commitment to diversity. It is home to a Planetarium, Science Education Institute and 3M Observatory; a 1,000-seat Theatre offering professional performances for all ages; and an Honors College for high achieving students.

The College offers more than 90 associate degrees and certificates, as well as career training, small business assistance through the Small Business Development Center, and professional development courses. RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 19, 2020

Media contact: Donna Stolzer, 908-526-1200, ext. 8383

PR #126