Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 73.17
Liaison Emily Vollmer
Submission Date May 16, 2024

STARS v2.2

Virginia Tech
EN-13: Community Service

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.09 / 5.00 Emily Vollmer
Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Percentage of students participating in community service 

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 1 of this credit (student participation in community service)?:
Yes

Total number of students:
37,279

Number of students engaged in community service:
5,976

Percentage of students engaged in community service:
16.03

Part 2. Community service hours per student

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (community service hours)?:
Yes

Total number of student community service hours contributed annually:
75,806

Number of annual community service hours contributed per student:
2.03

Part 3. Employee community service program

Does the institution have a formal program to support employee volunteering during regular work hours?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s program to support employee volunteering:
School assistance and volunteer service leave provides paid leave for employees to provide voluntary services within their communities. Service may be provided through school assistance or as a volunteer of a community service organization as defined in Department of Human Resources Management Policy 4.40: School Assistance and Volunteer Service Leave.

Full-time employees are provided up to 16 hours of paid leave per leave year. Part-time employees are provided leave proportionate to the percentage of hours they work. Leave is credited to current employees on Jan. 10 of each year. Newly eligible employees are credited School Assistance and Volunteer Service Leave immediately upon employment.

https://www.hr.vt.edu/benefits/leave.html

https://www.dhrm.virginia.gov/docs/default-source/hrpolicy/pol4_40.pdf?sfvrsn=d382e90e_2

Does the institution track the number of employee community service hours contributed through programs it sponsors?:
No

Total number of employee community service hours contributed annually through programs sponsored by the institution:
---

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s community service programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
VT Engage

- The Big Event: 5,225 participants, 849 community projects, executive team: 17 members

- Service Learning Programs
--Appalachian Prison Book Project: 3 wrap parties sending over 50 books per event to the prison book project
--VT Sustainability Center: planted over 100 plants and trees for Arbor Day
--75 unique student service-learning participants at experiences hosted by VT Engage

-Alternative Breaks
--In Winter 22, 8 students participated in Colombia, SC topic “Legal Aid and Poverty Justice wit Richland County Public Defender Office” for ten days.
--In Spring 2023, 10 student participants in Selma, AL; topic: “Social Justice & Advocacy with the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation” for seven days.
--In Summer 2023, 4 students participated in the 1st co-curricular trip to Warsaw, Poland to work with Ukrainian refugees for two weeks.
--Six student leaders who lead the alternative break trips for VT Engage.

Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets [VTCC]
-631 cadets participated in community service projects last academic year.
-1,981 total hours of community service completed by the Corps of Cadets.

Fraternity and Sorority Life [FSL]
-22,760 hours of service during fall 2022 and spring 2023 Greeks Giving Back events.
-5,856 hours of service during The Big Event day of service.
-213 hours of service during Center Street clean-ups after each home football game.
-14,979 hours of service for other service projects and events.
-23,362 total reported hours of service by fraternity and sorority members.
-Additionally, chapters collectively raised $915,882 for philanthropic causes and organizations.

Total number of students involved in service: 5225 + 17 + 75 + 8 + 10 + 4 + 6 + 631 = 5976
Total number of service hours: (849 projects * ~2 hours/project = 1698 hours) + (3 wrap parties * 2 hours each = 6 hours) + (7 hours for the tree planting event) + (8 students * 10 days = 1920 service hours) + (10 students * 7 days = 1680 service hours) + (4 students * two weeks = 1344) + 1981 + 22760 + 5856 + 213 + 14979 + 23362 = 75,806

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.