University of the Pacific students have had a tremendous impact on the communities surrounding its three campuses; students volunteered nearly 290,000 hours last year in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco.

The community service puts Pacific in the top 10% for service hours compared to other universities of a similar size, based on reporting to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

By the numbers (Summer 2022 through May 2023):

• 1,490 students engaged in community service
• 24% of students at Pacific participated in volunteer work
• 287,627 total community service hours

Pacific is nearly halfway to its goal of getting 50% of students engaged in some type of community service. Service is an essential component of many university programs and closely tracked. It is also a part of Pacific’s ongoing commitment to sustainability.

“Sustainability has three main pillars: environmental health, social health and economic health. They are all related,” said Sustainability Director Jessica Bilecki. “Having that community connection gives us a sense of belonging and of being able to make a difference in our communities.”

Students at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry on the San Francisco Campus spent more than 155,000 hours serving the community last year. Third-year dental student Katie Hagan ’24 estimates she spent up to 150 hours planning for events and volunteering, from teaching oral hygiene at elementary schools to providing health screenings for Special Olympics athletes to treating senior citizens at dental clinics.

“It puts everything into perspective,” Hagan said. “Sometimes you lose that in the day-to-day of making sure you’re meeting clinic requirements and the general standards to graduate, but doing events where you’re giving back to the community reminds me why I wanted to go into this career.”

McGeorge School of Law students, based on the Sacramento Campus, devoted nearly 64,000 hours to the law school’s clinics and helping the community through public service externships.

“It’s impossible to quantify the service to the community our law students have provided for over 50 years and continue to provide,” said Professor Melissa Brown, director of the Elder & Health Law Clinic. “Their clients place their trust, secrets and confidence with our students, who in turn provide ethical, competent and compassionate legal services.”

On the Stockton Campus, the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy regularly holds Diabetes Care clinics, providing a crucial service where nearly 60% of the community has diabetes or pre-diabetes. The School of Health Sciences also saw a huge turnout earlier this year when the Pacific Hearing and Balance Center provided free hearing screenings with support from audiology students.

Students also are embedded in a variety of non-profit organizations through the College Corps program and provide outreach through the university’s Volunteer Center. A Day of Service was launched during Week of Welcome to provide another opportunity for students, faculty and staff to give back.

Pacific is also taking other sustainability initiatives.

• The university is launching an energy audit beginning April 22, 2024. An outside company will evaluate facilities on each of the university’s three campuses to identify ways to conserve energy.
• The first-ever Sustainability Super Stars will be held April 22, 2024 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Grace Covell Hall to share ideas and celebrate students, faculty and staff doing outstanding sustainability work at Pacific.
• Faculty are finding ways to incorporate sustainability into their curriculums. One of numerous examples includes professors in the School of Health Sciences’ social work and clinical nutrition programs. Students from both disciplines came together on the Sacramento Campus community garden to discuss the connections between gardening, nutrition and mental health. The university is currently exploring the possibility of developing a sustainability major.