Mission Statement
At Ohio Valley University, we seek to transform lives in a Christ-centered academic community that integrates higher learning, biblical faith, and service to God and humanity. “Service to God and humanity” sits as a foundation principle of OVU’s mission statement and strategic plan, which identifies five areas in which students demonstrate adherence to this objective: academic engagement, career cultivation, servant leadership, global connection, and cultural enrichment. Although all five areas embrace civic engagement in one way or another, servant leadership, as the centerpiece of the strategic plan, comprises civic engagement, community service, and experiential learning directly.

Expressions of Civic Engagement
Expressions of civic engagement at OVU are as diverse as the students themselves who come from 30 states and 20 nations. From hosting American Red Cross Blood Drives and Pancakes for Parkinson’s on campus, to supporting Relay for Life and Special Olympics events off campus, OVU students, faculty, and staff are regular fixtures in local community service. As just a few examples, during the 2010-2011 academic year, student government president Mitch Ramsey led a project called Neewollah, a safe Halloween alternative on campus for community children; freshman wrestler Chase Long joined other student athletes in slinging hammers for Habitat for Humanity building projects and conducting sports clinics for area youth; education senior Lauren McCoy worked with fellow students in offering reading, math, and other tutoring programs in local schools; counseling major Emily Hooper led a group of students in assisting theater productions at the local Actors’ Guild; soccer player Abbi Menear organized and led an “Anything Warm” drive to aid homeless people living in a local “Tent City”; and education major Brittany Biggs coordinated other students in offering after-school programs for students in government-subsidized apartments near campus.

Civic Engagement Fair
Each spring, OVU hosts a Civic Engagement Fair, inviting non-profit, service, and advocacy groups from the area to come to campus to educate and inform our community about ways they serve the region and to recruit students, faculty, and staff to participate in their efforts. The underlying motto of our strategic plan is “Reaching Out,” and toward that end, we have issued to our students a “100/100” challenge—that is, we have set a goal of having 100% of our students complete 100 hours of community service (25 hours per academic year) while they are completing their degrees. After the first year of the program, a survey sampling completed by approximately half the student body indicated that those who responded to the survey had performed an average of 36 hours each, well above the goal.

Work Camp
A recent partnership has emerged among OVU, local churches, and our County Commission, whereby the county this year has contributed $10,000 toward an annual summer endeavor since 1999 called Mid-Ohio Valley Work Camp, which in 2010 involved a gathering of about 200 local adult and 450 teen volunteers from 14 states who came to our campus to provide paint-up/fix-up services to 35-40 homes in the community whose owners do not have the financial or physical resources to do the work themselves. OVU staff, faculty, and students work together with church and community volunteers not only to provide the labor, but also to solicit area businesses to donate materials and supplies.

West Virginia’s Promise
OVU’s long leadership in community service was recognized in a unique way in 2008 when the university became the first institution of higher learning in West Virginia to form a partnership with West Virginia’s Promise and to receive the Governor’s Red Wagon Award for exemplary community service, as part of the West Virginia version of the national America’s Promise initiative started by Colin Powell. In 2010, West Virginia’s Promise further recognized OVU as a Promise Place, again the only institution of higher learning in the state to receive this designation.

Global Connection
Often we have discovered that “community” at OVU can be defined in the broadest terms. Especially in the Global Connection area of the strategic plan, we find our students increasingly pursuing service not only locally and at the state level, but also nationally and internationally. During 2010, OVU students, faculty, or staff could be found pursuing service of one kind or another on five continents. For example, OVU students J.T. and Anna Spivy spent June 2010 leading in a Honduras mission trip designed to serve and provide relief to those who suffer from the effects of poverty, disaster, and insufficient medical care. Together the Spivy siblings and others helped to build and repair homes, distribute food and clothing, and lead Vacation Bible Schools. J.T., a 2011 graduate in English and education, and his younger sister, Anna, a freshman majoring in education, hope one day to serve in Honduras by opening a bilingual school for underprivileged children. Similarly, several current and former OVU students have traveled to places such as China, South Korea, Ghana, Romania, Panama, the United Kingdom, and Myanmar to teach English and serve in other ways.

OVU Experience
In a 2010 strategic initiative to formalize the many service activities already practiced among its students, OVU created a model by which all incoming students before they graduate must complete a service-based project, called the OVU Experience, earning a minimum of six credit hours as part of their requirements for graduation. The outreach project must be off campus, involve keeping a journal, and include a final presentation to a selected committee. The OVU Experience is designed to be a transformational learning opportunity that helps students build a sturdy bridge between life as a student and a life of service after graduation.

Looking Forward
In a year of presidential transition, OVU’s incoming president, Dr. Harold Shank will continue the university’s focus on community engagement. Having worked with agencies designed to help at-risk neighborhoods deal with economic challenges; having played a key role in starting and expanding a life skills lab called HopeWorks for chronically unemployed and homeless individuals in urban settings; having helped to found a combined effort of churches, businesses, and social services agencies to provide transitional housing and life skills training to a population of homeless, unwed, expectant mothers; and having served as the national spokesperson for a coalition of 70 child care agencies from coast to coast, Dr. Shank brings a wealth of experience and insight into the value of and need for robust civic engagement. Whether it’s Chase Long in the local community, or J.T. Spivy in Honduras, the OVU family will continue to seek to wield the tools of service wherever life may lead.