To The Editor:
The Dartmouth's article of Jan. 22, 2002, "College work-study falls short," stated that Dartmouth has failed to meet the requirement that seven percent of its work-study allocation be spent on community service. In fact, since the institution of a minimum community service requirement in the mid-'90s, Dartmouth has exceeded the requirement every year. Dartmouth's spending for 2000-01 was in excess of eight percent of its allocation.
The article implies that the College is reluctant to spend more than the minimum requirement on community service. Dartmouth has in no way attempted to restrict its spending on community service. Every position in the surrounding communities that qualifies as a "community service" position, that is filled by a work-study-eligible student and that it is a job at an agency which agrees to pay the student for his/her work is funded from the College's work-study grant.
For several years the Student Employment Office, with the assistance of the Tucker Foundation, has worked to develop additional community service opportunities. In most cases this has involved convincing agencies to pay students for work formerly done on a volunteer basis. (Agencies are expected to pay 25 percent of the students' wages; the remaining 75 percent comes from the College's work-study allocation.) Not all agencies have budgets sufficient to meet even the federally-required 25 percent match. In addition, community service opportunities are limited by Dartmouth's rural location and the busy schedules of Dartmouth students. In the last two years, Dartmouth has increased its dollar-spending on community service by an average of 30 percent per year. To further increase opportunities and spending, Dartmouth is currently advocating that the government eliminate the agency "match" requirement and permit 100 percent of community service wages to be funded from work-study allocations.
It would be relatively easy for Dartmouth to significantly increase the percentage that it spends on community service by reclassifying many jobs on campus as "community service" positions. While this would be following the letter of the regulation and is a practice followed by many colleges, it is our feeling that these positions do not meet the true "spirit" of volunteerism.
In sum, Dartmouth College is committed to developing community service opportunities and to promoting the "spirit" of the federal mandate as well as meeting proscribed percentages.
