MEDILL NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL REPORT
Montana: Community Service "A Habit of the Heart"
By DEBORAH BARRON
MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON -- Montana may have a reputation for rugged individualism, but the state's colleges and universities have some of the highest percentages of federal work-study money devoted to community service work in the nation.

Nationally, post-secondary institutions spent an average of 11.8 percent of their federal work-study funds on paying students to perform community service jobs in the 1999-2000 academic year, the most recent for which data is available. Montana was in the top five states nationwide, dedicating 15.8 percent of its work-study money to community service.

"We may have miles between neighbors and take a lot of pride in the independent lone ranger image but we teach that service is a habit of the heart here," said Steven Nelson, a spokesperson for the Governor's Office of Community Service. "A commitment to civic involvement in Montana's universities is nothing new."

Work-study is a federal program that provides funds to higher education institutions to pay students who qualify as needing the aid and take school-sponsored jobs. Until last year, schools were required by law to set aside at least 5 percent of federal funds for community service; the minimum was raised to 7 percent in the 2000-2001 school year.

While the majority of schools in Montana are well above the requirement, Montana State University at Billings and Bozeman are at about 9.5 percent, below the 11.8 percent national average. Only Dull Knife Memorial College in Lame Deer failed to meet the 5 percent requirement.

The University of Montana has one of the highest rates in the state with 22.5 percent of work-study funds -- $200,879 -- dedicated to community service.

Margeen Berhnart of the Montana State University at Billings' financial aid office said that the state's high numbers are especially impressive because the school does not count on-campus jobs as community service unless the work provides an off-campus service such as tutoring. The University of Montana uses a similar stringent definition.

Although the law now mandates 7 percent of funds go to community service, the definition of such service is vague. A national analysis of work-study funds by Medill News Service found that some universities define campus-based jobs such as answering phones or working in the gym as community service. As a result, schools counting administrative jobs may report higher percentages than schools that only count off-campus work within the community.

"We define community service as working directly with schools, people or organizations that serve the public," Berhnart said. "The goal is not to fill a number but to get students out there and give them a real experience that is more relevant to their careers than, say, a cafeteria job, while providing something that employers might appreciate on a resume."

According to Dean McGovern, director of Montana Campus Compact, a nonprofit advocating for increased public service in higher education, and others involved in service work, the spirit of community involvement that keeps Montana numbers high can largely be attributed to the work of University of Montana President George Dennison.

Dennison, a board member of the national and Montana State Campus Compact and the director of the first Governors Office of Community Service, has spent much of his career integrating community service learning into higher education.

"Citizenship is not something that just happens," Dennison said. "Its hard work and it is the job of higher education to help students develop the ethics, habits and virtues of civic engagement so they can carry them over into their professional life after graduation and serve society."

Dennison supports an effort underway in Congress to raise the work-study minimum for community service to 25 percent, saying community service buys good will in the community, provides a valuable service and gives students an ethic of civic engagement that will enhance their education and career.

Chad Wildin, a 24 year-old Montana State University marketing student agrees. Wilden said that his work-study job at the Billings based Yellowstone AIDS project has been an invaluable educational experience.

"I flipped burgers in the past but this was for money," Wilden said. "In this job I'm helping people and applying my education. It brought all my business classes together and taught me what real work will be like. I can't really think of a better way for students to spend their time."

Graphics
Graphic of Best/Worst Schools

Graphic of Top 20 U.S. Schools and Their work-study percentage spent on community service

Graphic of Best States

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