Faculty, Staff, Students Volunteer Over 8,000 Hours
Date: July 15, 2008
Contact: Norma Ogletree, Coordinator
Career Services & Campus Outreach Office
417-255-7230
According to statistics compiled by the local campus from self reports, a total of 8,100 hours were contributed by employees and students to projects that took place outside of their regular job duties and class work between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008.
“Missouri State University-West Plains has a mission of making our students better citizens and serving the needs of our community. What better way to work on these goals than by encouraging and facilitating our faculty, staff and students as they volunteer within the community,” said Chancellor Drew Bennett.
“These numbers are undoubtedly conservative. As our Volunteer Center, which is in its first year, continues its operation, methods of gathering information will improve,” said Norma Ogletree, coordinator of the Career Services and Campus Outreach office which houses the Volunteer Center.
Faculty and staff were surveyed about their volunteerism in six categories while students were surveyed in four. Among faculty, staff and students, the greatest number of hours were reported in the Arts and Culture category. Faculty and staff contributed 2,362 volunteer hours and students 832. The Miscellaneous category was second highest among faculty, staff and students with 1,175 hours and 504 hours, respectively, contributed.
The remaining categories for faculty and staff show that Education/Teaching had the third highest number of hours with 1,175 hours, followed by Human Needs/Social Problems, 865 hours; Health/Medicine, 462 hours; and Public Safety/Justice, 24 hours. For students, Education/Teaching had the third highest number of hours contributed with 288, and Health/Medicine was fourth with 104 hours.
Missouri State University received its statewide mission in public affairs on June 16, 1995, when then Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan signed into law Senate Bill 340. The focus on public affairs grew out of mission review discussions with the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education beginning in 1994. That mission review focused on the institution’s efforts in four primary areas: Professional (Teacher) Education, Business and Economic Development, Health Care and the Performing Arts. The public affairs focus is the integrating theme that cuts across and informs all disciplines in their relation to society.
Since then, the university has made a systemwide commitment to fostering competence and responsibility in the common vocation of citizenship in its students, faculty and staff.
To facilitate the public affairs mission locally, Missouri State-West Plains opened a Volunteer Center in November 2007 to match community needs with faculty, staff and students willing to share their talents and abilities for the greater common good of the community. To learn more about the Volunteer Center and its services, call 417-255-7230.