Community Service - Office of Student Involvement

Northwest encourages our students and student organizations to be involved in the community, striving to make a positive difference in the lives of others. During the past year, Northwest students logged over six thousand hours of community service, representing a two thousand hour increase from the previous academic year. An ongoing commitment to service remains a hallmark characteristic of the Northwest student body.

This page is designed to help students understand what does and does not count as community service, how those hours may be logged, and more.

Defining Community Service Hours

Community Service is defined as unpaid and otherwise uncompensated deeds completed with the intent and effect of bettering a given public community.

Unpaid and uncompensated - To count as community service, deeds cannot be compensated with any form of pay, including regular salary, stipend, scholarship or academic credit, or other monetary benefit. Free shirts or volunteer meals, for example, do not count as compensation, whereas a cash tip or check made out to the individual(s) performing the deed are compensation and would disqualify the act from counting as community service for official service and engagement data purposes.
Community - A group of individuals connected by one or more commonalities with relationships based on those commonalities. This may include, but is not limited to, neighborhoods, schools, youth after school programs, public lands and facilities, and specific interest groups or target populations, i.e. shelters for the unhoused, facilities for aging adults, etc.
Public - For the purposes of community service, "public" refers to a beneficiary group that is not one's family, close personal friends, or student organization. Kind deeds are always encouraged, but to count for community service, the "community" element is essential; one person benefitting from an act or deed does not fit this definition.

Guidelines for Community Service Hours

Community service may be completed anywhere in the world, if it fits the definition above, and is not exclusive to the campus community nor must it happen within the city limits of Maryville. In some cases, community service may take place in the digital space, such as volunteering for a crisis hotline.
Community service must be logged in Bearcat Link via the Apply for Opportunity Form to be officially recognized by the University and counted in service engagement data.
When recording community service, hours earned are limited to the service activity taking place, and does not include traveling, sleeping, eating, etc. during a service activity.
The Office of Student Involvement reserves the sole right to determine whether a particular deed or service activity will count as official community service for the purposes of tracking service and engagement data. Questions about whether a deed counts towards this end may be directed to the Student Rights and Responsibilities Coordinator in the Office of Student Involvement. Contact the Office of Student Involvement via email at osi@nwmissouri.edu or by calling 660.562.1226.

How Our Office Uses Service and Engagement Data

The Office of Student Involvement is responsible for maintaining the Bearcat Link student activities portal, which students may use to keep track of organizational involvement, events attended, and service hours earned. When students complete the Apply for Opportunity Form, a draft is sent to the Office of Student Involvement for approval, and notification is sent to the Student Rights and Responsibilities Coordinator. Once this form is approved, the student will receive a notification; a notification is also sent, along with an explanation, when service hours are denied.

The Office of Student Involvement maintains the database of approved service hours and uses that data for the following purposes:

to recognize students and student organizations for outstanding dedication to community service. Lists of individual students and student organizations are published on Office of Student Involvement social media monthly to recognize the Top 10 service earners.
to determine areas of need, opportunities for community partnerships, and evaluate where service efforts are emphasized.
to explore patterns in persistence and academic success, and the correlations between these metrics and completion of service.
to track the completion of service hours assigned as a part of the Student Conduct Process.
to track the completion of service hours earned by those involved in the Pay It Forward program.

For questions related to service and engagement data, please click this link to email the Office of Student Involvement.

Step-by-Step Guide to Submit Service Hours

1.) Access Bearcat Link from the Northwest homepage, or by clicking this link.

2.) Login to Bearcat Link using your Northwest domain username and password.

3.) Navigate to the top of the page and select the "Forms" tab.

4.) Search for the form called "Apply for Opportunity" and click that form to begin filling it out.

5.) Under the section "Opportunity Type," select "Service Hours" from the dropdown menu.

6.) Prior to submitting the form, you will be required to provide the following information:

Student First and Last Name
Number of Hours Completed (Field Labeled "Service Hours")
Student Email Address (S Number Format - I.E. S123456@nwmissouri.edu)
Name of Service Event or Activity
Location of Service Event or Activity
Venue Contact Person's Name
Venue Contact Person's Email or Phone Number
Date and Start Time of Event
Cause(s) Served
Brief Impact Statement

7.) Prior to submitting the form, you may choose to include the following optional information:

Select your Campus Affiliation (Select one student organization you are a member of for that service hour submission to count toward the organizational total).
Are you affiliated with a University Athletics team? If so, you may pick which team you want the service hours to count towards.

8.) Once all required information is completed, scroll to the top and press the "Submit for Approval" button.

For assistance logging service hours, contact the Office of Student Involvement to set up an appointment with an Involvement Ambassador or the Student Rights and Responsibilities Coordinator. You may do so by clicking this link.