Ninety-six percent of the graduate students at the center have participated in community service this year, Steve Jones, director of the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, said.
The center has 54 graduate students and all but two of them spent at least one hour per week Fall Semester helping local non-profit organizations, he said.
Students participated with organizations such as Meals on Wheels, the Delaware County Auditors Office, Habitat for Humanity, Motivate our Minds, the United Methodist Church Food Pantry and Saint Mary's Elementary School, he said.
Jones said he offered extra credit to students who got involved with the community. Of the 96 percent of CICS graduate students who did community service during the first semester, 50 percent are staying active with their organizations this semester, he said.
"They are doing it for no extra credit and no recognition," he said. "Once they got a taste of it they realized, 'hey, this is a lot of fun and I'm giving back.'"
The Muncie community lacks a real connection to Ball State, he said. Community service work is a way to bring the two together, he said.
Students have to work twice as hard to highlight the positive parts of Ball State, Jones said. The community tends to hear the negatives associated with college students in the media and generalizes all students.
"In theory, if we keep doing this every year, people will start to recognize the university," he said.
He was pleasantly surprised to see such a high percentage of international students participate, Jones said. They are here for an academic year and have embraced a community that is not their own and have readily stepped up to help out, he said.
Julie Flynn volunteered at Meals on Wheels of Muncie through Ball Memorial Hospital in September, she said. Once a week she goes to the hospital and picks up food for people who aren't able cook or shop for themselves.
She said she was encouraged by faculty to sign up at the center. Most of the faculty live in the Muncie area, she said.
She chose Meals on Wheels because her grandfather relied on it, she said.
A lot of people on the route don't have many people to talk to or interact with, she said. It's nice to be the one to put a smile on peoples' faces, she said.
"I understand the impression that a lot of students left," she said, "and I wanted to change that and show that we can help and change the community."
Volunteering is a good escape from a demanding school schedule, she said.
Flynn also helped other students in the program find places to volunteer through Student Voluntary Services she said. SVS is good for students who don't have a car and can't go far off campus. She said she was involved with SVS during her undergraduate studies at Ball State, and her father helped start the organization.
Steve Lunsford said he helped Habitat for Humanity build one of its largest houses.
"The life of a grad student is pretty busy so I do what I can," he said.
He spent several weekends helping to build the wall frames, the outside panels and dry wall, he said.
He also spent time helping at the organization's store, he said. It was preparing to move so he helped with packing and clearing out excess materials.
Lunsford said Jones deserved a lot of the credit for so many students being involved. Jones has emphasized volunteering to let Muncie know CICS is part of the community, he said.
"All the CICS students are glad to be a part of [community service]," he said, "and glad to help out in the community."
Jason Lantz said he collaborated with a friend at Saint Mary's Elementary school to teach an enrichment activity to fifth and sixth graders last semester.
The activity lasted about an hour and 15 minutes every Wednesday and focused on computers, he said. He taught the children about the parts of computers and what they were used for, how to use various programs including Microsoft PowerPoint and that they have future options working with computers, he said.
Lantz enjoyed giving back to the community while getting people involved with computers, he said.
He did not have time to continue the class this semester, he said, because his work load increased considerably since the fall.
Lantz also gave the department a lot of credit for encouraging students to be involved keeping them informed about what opportunities they have.
"Once you get to this level of education, you realize there are opportunities to help out others," he said. "We wouldn't know about so many organizations if the department didn't show them."
Srikant Devaraj has been involved with multiple organizations since the beginning of last semester, he said.
He said he split his time among graduate school work, Meals on Wheels, the Delaware County Auditors Office, the United Methodist Church Food Pantry and South Asian Muncie Association Youth Group.
"It's been really easy [balancing activities]," he said. "The people really appreciate the work."
He said he gained an emotional satisfaction from volunteering so much and helping around Muncie. Bringing food to people who need it and being one of the only people they see all day is a great feeling, he said.
He also helps give food to more than 200 households in Muncie at the food pantry and works with kids at SAMA, he said.
He is happy to have several opportunities to help the community, he said.
"Nobody's forcing me to do it," Devaraj said. "I'm not doing it for recognition."
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