2012 ACCSC Community Service Award
Each year the Commission seeks nominations from accredited member institutions for consideration of the ACCSC Community Service Award. In selecting a winner for this award, the Commission considered several compelling aspects, such as:
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The scope of community service initiatives;
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The impact of the service initiatives on the school's education programs;
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The level of commitment of a school to its community; and
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A demonstration of how the initiative touched the personal lives of school personnel, students, or community members.
In 2012, ACCSC received a record number of nominations from our accredited member institutions for consideration for the Community Service Award which highlights the significant commitment that ACCSC-accredited institutions have made towards their local communities. During the 2012 Professional Development Conference hosted in San Diego, California, ACCSC awarded the 2012 Community Service Award to The Illinois Center for Broadcasting.
The Illinois Center for Broadcasting (ICB) has made a significant commitment to help local organizations promote their causes through various community service initiatives, but it is with the student involvement in the creation and production of documentaries and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that was the determining factor for the Commission in selecting the school as the winner of the 2012 Community Service Award. Namely, the Commission took note that as part of the curriculum at ICB, students are responsible for researching and selecting a local organization to work with, and are charged with creating a PSA in support of that organization’s cause. One organization that ICB has been heavily involved with is A Safe Haven which helps people aspire, transform, and sustain their lives from homelessness and provides the tools for each individual to overcome the root causes of homelessness through a holistic, scalable model. ICB students have supported A Safe Haven by providing much needed assistance with public relations and developing social media outlets to expand the organization’s outreach.
Another example of ICB’s community efforts that tie directly to the mission of the organization can be seen through the Military Digital Care Package, in which ICB students tape, produce, and edit street-side interviews with their fellow Chicagoans, providing an opportunity for individuals from their local community to offer words of encouragement and appreciation to representatives of the armed forces. After finalizing these projects, these messages of support and thanks are broadcasted to soldiers deployed overseas during the holidays.
What is clear to the Commission is that through these initiatives, students at ICB have the opportunity to learn about various non-profit organizations and their missions, as well as to see the impact of their work and how it has touched the lives of people beyond the boundaries of their own community.
Please join ACCSC in congratulation the Illinois Center for Broadcasting on being named the winner of the Community Service Award for 2012.