The study, conducted by the Washington Monthly and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, examined the percentage of federal work-study funds universities nationwide allocated to community service jobs.
Federal law requires universities to spend a certain percentage of the federal work-study funds -- 5 percent during 1999-2000 and 7 percent during 2000-01 -- on community service projects.
The study stated that UNC-CH officials spent 5.1 percent of the 1999-2000 federal work-study budget on community service projects. The study's findings don't put UNC-CH below the federal requirements for 1999-2000 but do place it below the national average. According to Washington Monthly, the most recent nationwide average is about 12 percent.
But UNC-CH officials claim the study was inaccurate.
Ann Trollinger, senior assistant director for the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, said the figure came from a national database and likely failed to include America Reads, a public service program that attempts to help children learn to read. The program accounts for about half of the University's federal work-study expenditures for public service projects, she said. If America Reads is included, UNC-CH's spending rises to 13 percent for 1999-2000 and 9 percent for 2000-01.
But UNC-CH officials' calculations of 9 percent still fall below the national average. The situation at UNC-CH reflects a national trend in which the country's top-ranking universities, according to the Washington Monthly, perform poorly when it comes to federal work-study community service programs. For the 1999-2000 school year, about 75 percent of the 2000 U.S. News and World Report's top 20 universities fell below the national average in the percentage of federal work-study funds used for community service.
Other N.C. universities fared better than UNC-CH: UNC-Asheville allocated 22 percent of federal work-study funds to public service, and UNC-Wilmington ranked among the highest nationwide with 37 percent. But N.C. State and Duke universities' numbers were lower, with 5.7 and 7.9 percent, respectively.
About 100 UNC-CH students are employed in federal work-study community service jobs. At the Carolina Center for Public Service, for example, UNC-CH students are helping create a database of the University's public service activities.
Program officer Sandy Alexander said the center might not be able to do the project without the work-study students. "Not only are there a lot of students interested (in public service opportunities), but they are talented, motivated students," he said.
