Community Service

Many students have questions about what counts as community service. Please follow these guidelines in regard to community service hours. The following are examples of what can count as community service:

• Any project or service that you complete that is benefiting the community (i.e. working with children, elderly, picking up trash in the community) is considered service.
  • Examples: Volunteering at a nursing home, animal shelter, recycling center, church, food pantry, any non-profit (501c3) 
  • The service is only considered “community service” if you are unaffiliated with this organization, i.e. you are not an intern or workstudy at the non-profit, you are not being financially compensated, your family is not the beneficiary of the service, and so forth

40 hours of approved community service are required for graduation. Those with 200 hours or above receive Hutton Scholar certificates upon official graduation.

Step One

Before you get started earning service hours, please download the UC Community Service Documentation Form to provide to the supervisor for the organization where you will be serving.  

 Download UC Community Service Documentation Form HERE.

Step Two

Start Serving! When your hours are complete, ask the supervisor for the organization where your served to fill out your UC Community Service Documentation Form.  Great job! 

Step Three

Students can submit their UC Community Service Documentation Form for Graduation or Hutton Scholar Credit to career.services [at] ucumberlands.edu (career[dot]services[at]ucumberlands[dot]edu) or drop off the form to the Office of Student Affairs in the top level of the Boswell Campus Center. 

Note: Community service hours will only be accepted up to 60 days post service date.

The University requires its students to be responsible for their actions and to respect the rights of others. The University expects its students to conduct themselves, on and off the campus, in a manner which is consistent with the objectives of the University and with its standards of conduct.  See student handbook for details. 

As a requirement for graduation all full-time students in the undergraduate program, with less than senior standing (96 semester hours), must enroll in UCEN 101-01 for every semester of enrollment. 

*Students who are 25 years of age or older and/or have dependents at the time of their enrollment are exempt from this requirement. 

Credit for UC ENGAGE is Pass/Fail with 0.50 academic credit hours available each semester. The grade received is factored into the student’s cumulative grade point average.

To receive a passing grade, students must attend one (1) UC ENGAGE designated lecture event and one (1) designated service event per semester.

University of the Cumberlands Pats Serve program offers limited grant funding to assist in completion of service projects consistent with the mission of the college. Every proposed project must address a specific need in the community. Learn more or apply below! 

Funding Guidelines    Funding Application