Passion or Obligation? Assessing Student Outcomes Achieved by Mandatory Community Service Participation

Student affairs administrators and faculty alike are making great efforts to encourage college students to engage in community service. However, questions remain regarding the effects of requiring commu-nity service as an expectation for maintaining membership in an hon-ors or scholarship organization. Eighty-seven undergraduate honors students at a private research university were surveyed to collect quantitative data related to their participation in community service projects which were completed to meet a membership requirement. The study illustrates the benefits and detriments of requiring com-munity service as a condition for membership in an honors organiza-tion. Many student clubs, honors societies, and Greek letter organizations on today’s college campuses require community service participation as a criterion for membership. While higher education research literature provides substantial information regarding student motivations for participation in service-learning and community service (Jones & Hill, 2003), little research has focused on the specific outcomes of participation when service is completed to meet a require-ment. To initiate a conversation regarding the outcomes of required community service, the researcher surveyed 87 undergraduate honors students at a private urban research university. The study has provided quantitative data to inform the practice of student affairs professionals, illustrating the benefits and detri-ments of requiring community service as a condition for membership in an hon-ors organization. History of Community Service Research Astin and Sax (1998) conducted the first large-scale, empirical research regarding college students and community service participation in 1998. They collected data from 3,450 undergraduate students from 42 institutions to examine th