Community service groups across campus are finding that recruiting new members -- and helping the community -- is getting harder.
Some student service groups, like Camp Sparky and Circle K International, have lost volunteers since last year.
The groups are attributing lower membership numbers to the elimination of a community service requirement for out-of-state scholarships in August.
The Arizona Board of Regents removed the requirement that out-of-state students with tuition waivers complete 20 hours of community service per semester. The change was made so standards for in- and out-of-state scholarships would be the same.
"I don't think it was a good decision," said Alison Ahlgrim, a communication senior, who has been involved with Camp Sparky for three years. "[The requirement] provided students with the motivation to get out and do stuff instead of sitting in their dorm room watching TV."
ABOR President Christina Palacios declined to comment.
Camp Sparky's membership had previously been around 40 people in previous years and now has dropped to 15 to 20 people participating in activities, Ahlgrim said.
Members work with fifth-graders at Title 9 schools around the Valley. Camp Sparky puts on themed day camps for the students, such as art, science, history or business, Ahlgrim said.
Ahlgrim, who is from Oregon, has a scholarship that had required her to complete community service hours.
"If ASU has given me money to go to school here, I should give back to the community," she said. "If I hadn't had the requirement, I never would have gotten involved [with Camp Sparky]."
Circle K International, a community service organization, has also seen a decline in new membership, said Kim Demaree, the club's president.
"We don't like the new rule," Demaree said.
The group went from about 65 members last year to 35 this year, Demaree said.
"We saw a big decrease in attendance at meetings almost immediately," she said.
The ASU community service program has also seen a decline in students looking for service activities, said Katherine Sam, the program's coordinator.
The program registered 120 students for the Fall Service Plunge in early August, Sam said. The annual event recruited student volunteers to help renovate and repair buildings. This year's project was a local domestic-violence shelter and a community center.
"We were anticipating 100 people would participate, but we only had 65 show up," she added.
Students registered before ABOR removed the community service requirement, but the announcement came before the event took place, Sam said.
Reach the reporter at emilia.arnold@asu.edu.
