Assessing the Institutionalization of Civic Engagement
John Saltmarsh, the Director of NERCHE, and I have developed a workshop designed to help participants make sense of the wide array of tools, frameworks and concepts that have been developed to enable people to assess the degree to which civic engagement is institutionalized on their campuses. We are also in the process of writing an article along this same theme. We have compiled many of these instruments, tools and frameworks. You may download Assessing the Institutionalization of Civic Engagement, Supplemental Material 2006. Note: This is a very large file (approx. 5 MB) so it will take awhile if you are using a dial-up connection. You will also need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the file.
Here is the PowerPoint presentation (as an Acrobat file) we used in a recent workshop for Massachusetts Campus Compact.
Another PowerPoint of interest: Taking an Institutional View of Civic Engagement. This was part of a meeting with Massachusetts AmeriCorps*VISTA members and Supervisors, focusing on campus change strategies (Feb. 1, 2007).
Massachusetts Campus Compact Americorp*VISTA Grant Program Study
As part of its efforts to support the growth of service-learning and civic engagement MACC is conducting a study of colleges and universities who have hosted MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA members, beginning with those originally funded in the 1997-98 program year. The purpose of the study is to assess the degree to which the VISTA members contributed to the growth of service-learning and civic engagement in participating institutions, and the extent to which service-learning and civic engagement activities have continued in the years since the VISTA(s) were at the institution. Click here to get the survey.
Community College Transfer Initiative (CCTI), Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
The Cooke Foundation CCTI is a 5-year project designed to increase the number of academically able, low-income community college transfer students at selective colleges and universities. The eight four-year colleges that are participating are: Amherst (MA), Bucknell (PA), Cornell (NY), Mount Holyoke (MA), University of California Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina and University of Southern California. We are serving as the evaluators on the project and will be working closely with the Foundation, the 4-year colleges and their partner community colleges to assess the impact of the CCTI on the students and institutions. I will keep you apprised of the knowledge generated through this project.
Wingspread Conference on Engagement in Higher Education: Building a Federation for Action, February 22-24, 2006
The conference brought together leaders from national organizations, higher education institutions, journals, and conferences, all of whom are focused on the teaching, scholarship, and impact of higher education's engagement with communities. The conference identified specific action ideas that can be implemented through collaboration among subsets of participants. By exploring cooperative strategies, the conference sought to deepen, consolidate and advance the field, literature, research, practice, policy and advocacy of higher education and civic engagement. Click here to access the draft declaration and action plan. Please feel free to contact me or others that were a part of this if you wish to get involved. Click here to learn more about the Johnson Foundations Wingspread conference center.
Masters Track in Service-Learning and Engagement, UMass Amherst
The Higher Education Program in the Graduate College of Education has a new masters track. The track is committed to developing leaders of engaged campuses who are critical thinkers and passionate about developing reciprocal university-community partnerships that enhance learning, make better research, and improve our world. Click here to download the program brochure. For more information contact Dr. KerryAnn O'Meara.
Public Use Data Set: CNCS Learn and Serve America
Over the last two years, my colleague Alan Melchior and I along with Abt Associates created an on-line reporting system for the Corporation for National and Community Service LSA grantees. The system, LASSIE, is designed to help the Corporation, and grantees, track service learning activities and outcomes. The 2005 data contains information from 1,136 schools (and districts), 238 community based organizations and 254 higher education institutions that ran LSA funded service-learning programs.
To learn more about the system and download the instruments and the 2005 public use data set click here.
Campus Compact
I have done a lot of work with Campus Compact over the years, most recently in helping them plan ways to celebrate their 20th (!!) Anniversary. If you are new to thinking about higher education and civic engagement, check out their web site. It is a national organization, with state affiliates, that you need to know about.
Reversing the Telescope
This joint Brandeis/NERCHE project which was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, charted the domain of the civic microcosm within colleges and universities.
Community outreach has become a recognized and entrenched part of the agenda for higher education. Thus far, the concept of community development has primarily been applied to reaching out to the community beyond the campus. Colleges and communities can do a lot of good looking outside their campuses; however, they need look no farther than into their own campuses for members of the external community - many of whom are employed in the lower paid service jobs.
Click here to download the report.
Use the links below to download the material from the AAC&U conference session, Reversing the Telescope held on November 12, 2005 in Providence, RI.
PowerPoint presentation (as an Adobe Acrobat file)
Wingspread Declaration from 1999 on role of staff
Mel King remarks from NERCHE symposium
Project Colleague
This is not a new project, but it resulted in a resource that I want to share. Project Colleague was a project that worked with a group of faculty from colleges and universities in New England who developed resources for other faculty regarding civic engagement. One of the resources that was developed was a workshop called Swinging Doors: Making Community-College Partnerships Work. It is designed to help community partners navigate college and university systems, in order to foster sustainable community/college partnerships. To download the Guide for Facilitators click here.
