Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.76
Liaison Eric Meliton
Submission Date Jan. 16, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Wilfrid Laurier University
EN-13: Community Service

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.52 / 5.00 Rosemary Brockett
Sustainability Assistant
Physical Resources
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Number of students enrolled for credit (headcount; part-time students, continuing education, and/or graduate students may be excluded):
19,546

Number of students engaged in community service (headcount):
9,904

Percentage of students engaged in community service:
50.67

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (community service hours)? (if data not available, respond 'No'):
Yes

Total number of student community service hours contributed during the most recent one-year period:
459,088

Number of annual community service hours contributed per student :
23.49

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Does the institution include community service achievements on student transcripts?:
Yes

Does the institution provide incentives for employees to participate in community service (on- or off-campus)? (Incentives may include voluntary leave, compensatory time, or other forms of positive recognition):
---

A brief description of the institution’s employee community service initiatives:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Number of students who participated in external community experiences on a co-curricular basis as self-reported by students through the Laurier Experience Record (Co-Curricular Experiences module). This includes student activities in the community such as Laurier Students For Literacy who volunteer with children in local low socioeconomic neighbourhoods and student activities that are involved in community events or fundraising including Relay for Life or Shinerama. Students who participate in these activities can add the experience to their Experience Record and the experiences are then validated by the institution. As it is a self-reporting tool, these numbers do not cover all student community activities. In 2017/18, there were 456 unique students who participated in 110 experiences (most of these students were involved in more than one community experience). This amounts to 38,232 hours of service to the community based on the expected hours for each position.

In addition, one of the requirements for the Kinesiology program is that all students complete 96 hours of leadership experience related to Kinesiology. Approximately 50% of these students complete their hours through volunteer experiences in the community. In 2017/18, there were 56 graduating students completing 5,376 hours.

These numbers also include educated estimates as to the number of students who participate in on-campus volunteering through student clubs. A minimum of 8130 Laurier students are part of our thriving campus community and contribute at least 48hrs per year towards these endeavors.

In addition to these numbers, there are many other students who volunteer with community organizations but at present, Laurier does not have a tracking tool for these experiences.

In 2015, Laurier was ranked number one in student volunteerism by a LinkedIn study (https://blog.linkedin.com/2015/02/10/10-million-professionals-on-linkedin-make-social-impact-part-of-their-identity). Laurier employees also share​s this passion for volunteerism, so the Community Relations team works to connect our faculty and staff to these opportunities.


Number of students who participated in external community experiences on a co-curricular basis as self-reported by students through the Laurier Experience Record (Co-Curricular Experiences module). This includes student activities in the community such as Laurier Students For Literacy who volunteer with children in local low socioeconomic neighbourhoods and student activities that are involved in community events or fundraising including Relay for Life or Shinerama. Students who participate in these activities can add the experience to their Experience Record and the experiences are then validated by the institution. As it is a self-reporting tool, these numbers do not cover all student community activities. In 2017/18, there were 456 unique students who participated in 110 experiences (most of these students were involved in more than one community experience). This amounts to 38,232 hours of service to the community based on the expected hours for each position.

In addition, one of the requirements for the Kinesiology program is that all students complete 96 hours of leadership experience related to Kinesiology. Approximately 50% of these students complete their hours through volunteer experiences in the community. In 2017/18, there were 56 graduating students completing 5,376 hours.

These numbers also include educated estimates as to the number of students who participate in on-campus volunteering through student clubs. A minimum of 8130 Laurier students are part of our thriving campus community and contribute at least 48hrs per year towards these endeavors.

In addition to these numbers, there are many other students who volunteer with community organizations but at present, Laurier does not have a tracking tool for these experiences.

In 2015, Laurier was ranked number one in student volunteerism by a LinkedIn study (https://blog.linkedin.com/2015/02/10/10-million-professionals-on-linkedin-make-social-impact-part-of-their-identity). Laurier employees also share​s this passion for volunteerism, so the Community Relations team works to connect our faculty and staff to these opportunities.

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.