Community Service

Community Service Requirements

WHAT ARE THE DEADLINES FOR SUBMITTING MY COMMUNITY SERVICE?

Complete and submit 8 hours by each deadline! Failure to comply by the established dates will result in the permanent loss of TN Promise eligibility. 

*Summer semester/trimester deadlines only apply to students attending a TCAT or students choosing to enroll full time in a summer semester at a community college or eligible four-year institution. Only students attending a TCAT may utilize TN Promise in the summer term directly following high school graduation and must meet the April 3 deadline.
**Students attending South College are required to submit 8 hours prior to each quarter. Contact tnachieves@tnachieves.org for specific deadlines.
***Class of 2024 high school seniors can begin working on their first 8 hours on November 2, 2023, which is the day after the TN Promise application closes.

WHAT COUNTS AS COMMUNITY SERVICE?

Community service is time contributed to a nonprofit or public service organization. The community should be benefiting from the work you do!

Students can also volunteer in their field of interest to gain experience. This means that job shadowing may count toward your community service requirement. 

Students can complete virtual community service. tnAchieves created over 30 virtual community service webinars. Each webinar viewed counts as an hour of community service. You do not have to submit hours obtained via webinar as they will be automatically applied.

• Please note, you can only complete a maximum of 4 hours of community service using virtual community service webinars for each deadline. All other hours must be completed in person. For example, you may view 4 virtual community service webinars on our website and volunteer at your local animal shelter taking care of animals for 4 hours. Or, you can spend 6 hours volunteering with Habitat for Humanity to build a house and view 2 virtual community service webinars to bring your total hours to 8. You have options! 

What does not count as community service?

• Tasks in which you are paid for your service. This includes working at your job off the clock.
• Volunteering for an individual (e.g., helping a neighbor with yard work)
• Listing a family member as your supervisor
• Proselytizing (sharing faith) 

HOW DO I SUBMIT MY COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS?

All community service hours must be submitted through the community service online form found here. After submitting your community service hours, you will receive a confirmation email. Keep in mind, it is YOUR responsibility to submit your hours. Your supervisor is not responsible for submitting your community service hours. 

HOW MANY HOURS HAVE I SUBMITTED?

To verify how many hours you have successfully submitted prior to each deadline, click here. 

MEET CAMERON ROBINSON AND LEARN WHY HE FINDS COMMUNITY SERVICE IMPORTANT!