President’s Volunteer Service Award
The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes United States citizens and lawfully admitted, permanent residents of the United States who have achieved the required number of hours of service over a 12-month time period or cumulative hours over the course of a lifetime.
As of July 1, 2021, the year of service for eligibility for the President's Volunteer Service Award has changed. Eligibility will now be determined based on service hours within a calendar year. This means that students who reach 100+ hours of service in 2022 - from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 - will be eligible to receive the national award.
Criteria Heading link
Individuals that meet the criteria are eligible.
- Recipient(s) must be a United States citizen or a lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States.
- At UIC, awards are issued for service hours served within a calendar year (for annual Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards) and over a lifetime (for Lifetime Achievement Awards).
- Awards are issued for volunteer service only; additional levels of participation with the organization (i.e., charitable support) are not a factor considered for the award.
- Court-ordered or Dean of Student sanctioned community service does not qualify for the award.
- Awards are issued by approved Certifying Organizations. UIC is considered an approved Certifying Organization, and SLCE works without outside organizations to confirm student volunteer hours via submissions on the service.uic.edu portal.
Eligibility at UIC Heading link
Hours are measured over a calendar year (January to December) and awards are designated based on cumulative hours.
The awards are offered in multiple levels and are designed to recognize each milestone of your service achievement. Levels include bronze, silver, and gold; the highest honor, the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, is for those who contribute more than 4,000 hours of service in their lifetime.
Along with the ultimate honor of presidential recognition, recipients will receive a personalized certificate, an official memento and a congratulatory letter from the President of the United States.
Eligibility will be reviewed by Student Leadership and Civic Engagement in February of the following year, and recipients will be notified via email about their award eligibility, and will also be honored during that year’s Chancellor’s Student Service and Leadership Awards (CSSLA) ceremony (i.e., a student who completes over 100 hours of service in 2021 will have their 2021 hours reviewed in February 2022, will be notified via email at that time, and will be honored in the April 2022 CSSLA ceremony). Students who have graduated when eligibility is reviewed and/or at the time of the CSSLA ceremony will still be honored and will receive their award.
Hours By Award Heading link
| Age Group | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Lifetime Achievement Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Adults (16-25) | 100-174 | 175-249 | 250+ | 4,000+ |
| Adults (26 and older) | 100-249 | 250-499 | 500+ | 4,000+ |
A Note about Logging Hours Heading link
Submission of Hours
Only hours submitted and verified using service.uic.edu will be used in awarding this honor. Visit our Log Your Hours page for more information on how to input your data.
If you are logging hours for an ongoing opportunity, you are encouraged to submit your hours in monthly or semesterly batches, rather than in smaller increments. SLCE will be able to more easily verify and approve ongoing activities when they are submitted at the conclusion of the month or semester of service. You will simply select the earliest volunteer date as your service date and then provide details about your ongoing service in the additional information.
SLCE may deny service hour submissions if we do not receive enough information about the service opportunity, including contact name and email, service organization, volunteer hours and/or regular schedule, and what type of service you were completing.