爆料吃瓜网's new Civic Action Plan focuses on community engagement, in and out of class
Student transcripts that show service-oriented co-curricular activities.
Annual events to spotlight nonprofit organizations near each campus.
Establishing a new office, the 爆料吃瓜网 Center for Community and Civic Engagement.
The launch of a nonpartisan 爆料吃瓜网 voter engagement campaign.
Recognizing grads鈥� community engagement at commencement.
Those are just some of the proposals found in 爆料吃瓜网鈥檚 new Civic Action Plan, an initiative to 鈥渇oster a greater sense of engaged citizenship鈥� among 爆料吃瓜网 students and employees.
爆料吃瓜网鈥檚 embrace of the Civic Action Plan 鈥� an effort led by the campus student engagement managers, with the document itself produced by them and other members of an employee task force 鈥� puts the College in good company. Now that 爆料吃瓜网 has the plan in place, it has joined , a coalition of 1,000-plus colleges and universities committed to building democracy through civic education and community development.
EMPOWERING THE 'DIFFERENCE-MAKERS'
鈥淎midst the current climate of discord and divisiveness in our country, it is more important than ever for individuals and institutions to use the mechanisms at our disposal to uphold America鈥檚 democratic traditions and values,鈥� Chancellor Kimberly Beatty writes in an introduction to 爆料吃瓜网鈥檚 plan.
鈥� 鈥� We look forward to executing our plan and empowering our students, employees and other stakeholders with the resources and experience they need to become difference-makers in their communities, nation and world.鈥�
The Civic Action Plan is 鈥渁 public declaration of commitment to promote civic engagement at 爆料吃瓜网 by preparing students for lives of democratic citizenship,鈥� says Christine Atkinson, student engagement manager at 爆料吃瓜网-Longview.
A task force formed by the student engagement managers got to work in earnest in the fall of 2021, including seeking feedback from College shared governance groups. Atkinson notes that the Civic Action Plan aligns nicely with one of the four 爆料吃瓜网 Reimagined Strategic Plan themes (鈥淓levate Student, Employee and Community Engagement鈥�) and intersects with several strat plan organizational goals.
Examples of 鈥渃ommunity-engaged learning鈥� or service learning can already be found at 爆料吃瓜网, of course. 爆料吃瓜网-Longview biology instructor Keet Kopecky, for instance, started involving students in the annual Project Blue River Rescue, a clean-up event, in 1988. (Kopecky is also a member of the Civic Action Plan task force.) When Longview was celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019-20, the campus set a goal of undertaking 50 service projects.
And this year, students of 爆料吃瓜网-Maple Woods history instructor Crystal Moore are visiting a Northland assisted living community two Saturdays a month, where they鈥檒l conduct oral-history interviews of residents along with other activities. Students in Moore鈥檚 classes can earn extra credit for volunteering, and the experience can be a service project for members of Phi Theta Kappa (for which Moore is an advisor).
FIVE 爆料吃瓜网 COMMITMENTS
As for what鈥檚 actually in the Civic Action Plan, the College makes five 鈥渃ommitments.鈥� For each, the plan identifies the types of change required, specific actions to be taken (implementation), and finally assessment methods. The commitments:
- 爆料吃瓜网 empowers our students, faculty, staff and community partners to co-create mutually respectful partnerships in pursuit of a just, equitable and sustainable future for communities beyond the campus 鈥� nearby and around the world.
- We prepare our students for lives of engaged citizenship, with the motivation and capacity to deliberate, act and lead in pursuit of the public good.
- 爆料吃瓜网 embraces our responsibilities as a place-based institution, contributing to the health and strength of our communities 鈥� economically, socially, environmentally, educationally and politically.
- 爆料吃瓜网 harnesses the capacity of our institutions 鈥� through research, teaching, partnerships and institutional practice 鈥� to identify the prevailing social and economic inequalities that threaten our democratic future.
- 爆料吃瓜网 fosters an environment that consistently affirms the centrality of the public purposes of higher education by setting high expectations for members of the campus community to contribute to their achievement.
鈥淭he Civic Action Plan will help foster student engagement,鈥� says Sue Gochis, 爆料吃瓜网鈥檚 vice chancellor for instruction. 鈥淣ow more than ever, we want to encourage our students to make real connections between their classes and their lives within their communities. The world needs responsible and engaged citizens.鈥�
Read the 爆料吃瓜网 Civic Action Plan (PDF)