IMPACT! History

The 1999-2000 academic year marked the change of the Honors Program at UMass Amherst into Commonwealth College (ComCol), the honors college.  In late spring 1999, IMPACT! was created and scheduled with about ten other ComCol learning communities in residence halls in Orchard Hill.  Nine honors students were recruited; they were placed together in a community service learning (CSL) course in the fall (which required them to spend about three hours per week in community service placements of their choice) and were asked to take another CSL course together in the spring.

Over the years, IMPACT! has gone through shifts and changes in order to best support both the students and the community service partners. The 2009-2010 school year will mark the tenth anniversary of the IMPACT! program.