american democracy project / the democracy commitment national meeting june 8, 2012 san antonio,...
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AMERICAN DEMOCRACY PROJECT / THE DEMOCRACY COMMITMENT
NATIONAL MEETING
JUNE 8, 2012
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
A Crucible Moment: Higher Education and
Democratic Engagement
Presenters
Gail Robinson, Director of Service LearningAmerican Association of Community Colleges, DC
John Saltmarsh, Co-DirectorNew England Resource Center for Higher Education, MA
Josh Young, DirectorInstitute for Civic Engagement and Democracy, Miami Dade College, FL
Workshop Outcomes
Understand why engagement matters now more than ever
Gain greater understanding of the Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification on Community Engagement
Gain knowledge about how to organize for and complete the application process
Increase the number of community colleges successfully achieving the classification
Civic Health Indicators
College seniors surveyed in 2006-07 averaged just over 50% in a civic literacy exam
1/3 of college faculty surveyed strongly agreed their campus actively promotes awareness of US or global social, political, and economic issues
1/3 of students strongly agreed that faculty publicly advocate the need for students to become active and involved citizens
1/3 of students strongly agreed that their college education resulted in increased civic capacities (e.g., awareness, skills, commitment)
National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement
Commissioned by U.S. Department of Education
Led by the Association of American Colleges and Universities
140 people – 5 national roundtables
Focus on completion agenda, career preparation, and fostering informed, engaged citizens
Defining Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement
“Educational experiences that intentionally prepare students for informed, engaged participation in civic and democratic life by providing opportunities to develop civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions through learning and practice.”
U.S. Department of Education, Advancing Civic Learning and Engagement in Democracy: A Road Map and Call to Action (2012)
Civic Learning and What Employers Want from Higher Education
Students Are Urging Higher Education to Embrace Civic Learning
Enlarge the National Narrative:Completion, Careers, and Citizenship
It is not either/or: Correlation between service learning and college completion- academic engagement- deepening connections with faculty- higher grade point- higher retention- more likely to complete degrees- career clarification
Where Do Service Learning and Civic Engagement Fit in Institutional Cultures?
Academic success Student learning outcomes, critical thinking, retention
Student development Leadership, moral and ethical behavior, personal
growthCommunity engagement
Civic responsibility, citizenship skills, advocacyDiversity and inclusion
Respect, tolerance/acceptance, democratic process Workforce training / career preparation
Job skills, soft skills, real-world applications
Carnegie Elective Classification – Community Engagement
Central definition
“Community Engagement describes the collaboration between higher education institutions and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”
Partnerships and Reciprocity
Engagement “requires going beyond the expert model that often gets in the way of constructive university-community collaboration . . . calls on faculty to move beyond ‘outreach’ . . . asks scholars to go beyond ‘service,’ with its overtones of noblesse oblige.
What it emphasizes is genuine collaboration: that the learning and teaching be multidirectional and the expertise shared. It represents a basic reconceptualization of . . . community-based work.”
O ’Meara and Rice, Faculty Priorities Reconsidered (2005)
Reciprocity
As a core principle – there is a flow of knowledge, information, and benefits in both directions between the institution and community partners.
Reciprocity is what defines and distinguishes engagement: reciprocity = engagement.
A Model of Institutional Change
Eckel, P., Hill, B., and Green, M. 1998. On
Change: En Route to Transformation, An Occasional Paper Series of the ACE Project on Leadership and Institutional Transformation. American Council for Education.
Transformational Change
(1)Alters the culture of the institution
by changing select underlying assumptions and institutional behaviors, processes, and products
(2)Is deep and pervasive, affecting the whole institution
(3)Is intentional(4)Occurs over time
Low High
Low
Adjustment (1)
Isolated Change(2)
High
Far-Reaching Change
(3)
Transformational Change
(4)
Depth
Figure 1: Transformational Change
Adapted from Eckel, Hill ,& Green (1998)
Pervasiven
ess
Where Might Transformation Occur?
Connecting institutions to their communitiesInstitutions form intentional linkages with their
communities . . . these connections can contribute to the reshaping of institutional practices and purposes . . . , they may cause researchers to rethink the types of grants they seek, the ways they disseminate their findings, and the range and types of audiences for their findings. . . . Faculty may incorporate service and outreach in their classes and curricula, and students may participate in co-curricular activities (such as internships or service learning) that place them in the community where they can apply their learning to solving real-world problems.
Why Apply for the Classification?
Legitimacy: credibility, public recognition, and visibility
Accountability: mission, stakeholders Catalyst for change: improve teaching and
learning via community-based problem solving
Institutional identity and market niche: clarify mission and local roles
Institutional self-assessment and self-study: promising practices
The Framework: Foundational Indicators
The Framework: Categories of Community Engagement
Curricular engagement Service learning courses and faculty Institutional/departmental student learning outcomes Assessment/data Curricular activities Faculty scholarship
Outreach and partnerships Community outreach programs Institutional resources Mutuality/reciprocity Feedback and assessment Faculty scholarship
Your Turn
In small groups, review one section of questions Institutional identity and culture (p. 1) Institutional commitment (p. 2) Curricular engagement (p. 4) Outreach and partnerships (p. 5)
What evidence would you provide to demonstrate your college or university has institutionalized community engagement?
Promoting the Carnegie Classification at Miami Dade College
Promoting the Carnegie Classification at Miami Dade College
Promoting the Carnegie Classification at Miami Dade College
Promoting the Carnegie Classification at Miami Dade College
Preparing for the Application
Miami Dade College suggestionsBegin preparation nowSecure buy-in from presidentIdentify key institutional stakeholders (President’s office,
Institutional Research, Foundation, Grants/Resource Development, Provost/VP for Academic Affairs, Dean of Students, Human Resources, Strategic Plan representative)
Convene meeting, review criteria, identify and address weaknesses
Create smaller committee tasked with preparing application
Identify point person to lead process and prepare application
Impact of the Application and Classification
Provides a framework for understanding all service learning and civic engagement activities/initiatives on campus
Legitimizes activities related to service learning and civic engagement and demonstrates the institution’s accountability to these efforts
Articulates how a service learning program should be assessed
Impact of the Application and Classification
Helps to ensure the development of sustained, high- quality partnerships
Produces evidence that can lead to greater faculty participation
Increases visibility and accountability for external funding
Facilitates the gathering of essential knowledge for strategic planning
Changes to the 2015 Framework
Questions on faculty rewards and changes in promotion guidelines will be moved out of the “supplemental questions” into the standard questions in the framework.
Faculty rewards/promotion will now be considered as more significant.
How can community colleges best address these topics, particularly without tenure policies?
Recommended Application Do’s and Don’ts
Write coherently and cohesively. Don’t have different people write different sections in
different styles – it looks disorganized to reviewers.Don’t leave any section blank.
If something doesn’t exist, address how you plan to remedy it.Write up to the maximum character count, but
don’t be redundant. Fill empty space if you have something to say.
Reviewers may not be familiar with community colleges, so spell out and define particular programs and courses. Describe who your students are.
If you can’t get past the initial sections, don’t apply now, but use the application to plan for 2020.
President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll
Stepping stone to Carnegie classification Annual application process Builds on Carnegie framework by focusing on
institutional culture, commitment to service, and community impact
2012 guidelines emphasized program quality rather than quantity of participants, hours, etc.
“Service as a solution”
Questions?
Application process announced: January 2013Registration deadline: May 1, 2013Application released: September 9, 2013Applications due: April 15, 2014Classification results announced: January 2015Carnegie classification contacts:
John Saltmarsh, NERCHE, [email protected] Amy Driscoll, CFAT, [email protected] www.classifications.carnegiefoundation.org www.compact.org/initiatives/carnegie-community-
engagement-classification/
Contact Us
Gail Robinson, AACC [email protected], 202/416-4551
John Saltmarsh, NERCHE [email protected], 617/287-7743
Josh Young, Miami Dade College [email protected], 305/237-7477