Campus Spotlight: C-SPAN Visits Western Carolina University

By Todd Collins, Associate Professor of Political Science, Western Carolina University

C-Span Bus visits Western Carolina University

The students, faculty, and staff  at Western Carolina University were happy to welcome the C-SPAN Campaign 2012 Bus to our campus on May 3^rd.  This event was part of a six-day tour of universities and towns in North Carolina by C-SPAN leading up to the N.C. primaries.  The tour was also scheduled in anticipation of the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Charlotte, N.C., during the week of September 3^rd.

Western Carolina students, local residents, and university employees were able to speak with C-SPAN representatives about C-SPAN’s extensive Campaign 2012 programming and resources.  Visitors learned of the many ways to connect with C-SPAN including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube, XM Radio, and iPhone and Blackberry apps.  Inside the bus were many interactive election resources, as visitors were encouraged to explore the many sources of election current and historical information offered by C-SPAN.

Visitors to the C-SPAN bus were also able to share their thoughts on campaign issues via Tout, a video-based social media service.  Participants were asked to comment on the presidential candidates and the issues most important to them in this election cycle.  Their responses were captured in 15-second videos and uploaded onto various C-SPAN social media platforms, including C-SPAN’s own Tout page (
http://www.tout.com/cspanbus
).

This visit served as a great opportunity for our students to think about the upcoming election.  As North Carolina has been considered one of a few “swing states” in the upcoming election, N.C. voters may have a large impact in the next election.  The C-SPAN Campaign 2012 Bus allowed our students and other visitors to reflect on the importance of voting, elections, and civic engagement.  C-SPAN’s visit encouraged our students to consider their roles in the electoral process and highlighted many of the important concepts that faculty emphasize in the classroom.  A big thank you to the staff and administration at C-SPAN for including us in its tour!

 

Keene State’s Mel Netzhammer selected as recipient of 2012 William Plater Award for Leadership in Civic Engagement

“Mel’s work on our campus over the last six years has transformed our curriculum and our culture. As a result of Mel’s efforts, Keene State College actively and passionately embraces our mission to prepare all members of our community to become informed and engaged citizens for our democracy.” – Helen Giles-Gee, President Keene State College

By Jen Domagal-Goldman, National Manager, American Democracy Project

Mel Netzhammer, 2012 Plater Award winner

Each year we recognize a Chief Academic Officer (CAO) for his or her leadership in institutionalizing civic engagement on their campus. The William Plater Award for Leadership in Civic Engagement is designed to recognize the critical role of the chief academic officer in advancing the civic mission of the campus through curricular reform, public advocacy, accountability for institutional citizenship, faculty development and recruitment, and partnerships with community organizations.

The award, funded through the generosity of AASCU member campus Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis, has been created to acknowledge the critical leadership role that chief academic officers play in serving as the vital link between the academic community (principally the faculty, staff and students) and the more externally oriented leadership of presidents, chancellors and trustees in helping make an institution intentional about its role in citizenship preparation. Through their leadership, chief academic officers align the work of faculty, the learning of students, and the achievements of staff with the public mission of AASCU institutions to prepare undergraduates as informed, engaged citizens. Chief academic officers make a critical difference in the articulation of purpose, in the alignment of actions, and in the quality, scope and effectiveness of institutional performance.

The Plater Award is the first national award established specifically to honor and recognize CAOs for their leadership in higher education.

This year we received many outstanding nominations for the Plater Award. I am pleased to announce that after much deliberation, the award committee selected Mel Netzhammer, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Keene State College, as the recipient of the 2012 William Plater Award for Leadership in Civic Engagement. You can read the selection committee’s statement endorsing Mel as this year’s Plater Award recipient below.

As you will discover when you read more about Mel, he worked tirelessly for more than five years to commit Keene State College to fostering civic outcomes for students. Mel is a dear friend and colleague and I am delighted to see his diligence in preparing informed, engaged citizens recognized and honored by the Plater Award. Mel graciously donated his $1,000 prize money to the ADP fund at Keene State. He begins a new role as Chancellor of Washington State University, Vancouver — one of our newest ADP schools — in July.

Congratulations, Mel! You have certainly earned your place in this esteemed circle of champions of civic learning and engagement.

Plater Award recipients Larry Gould (’08) of Fort Hays State, Mel Netzhammer (’12) of Keene State, Vince Magnuson (’11) of University of Minnesota Duluth and AASCU’s George Mehaffy (from left to right)

For more information about the Plater Award, including its criteria and past recipients, please visit this website.

Watch a YouTube video of Mel receiving the Plater Award:

 

The award committee’s statement endorsing Mel Netzhammer as the 2012 Plater Award recipient

The Review Committee unanimously and enthusiastically recommends that Dr. Mel Netzhammer of Keene State College receive the 2012 William M. Plater Award for Leadership in Civic Engagement.

Dr. Netzhammer has a significant record of sustained leadership on campus, within the American Democracy Project, and within the broader regional community. In particular, the Review Committee notes the intentionality of Dr. Netzhammer’s infusion of civic engagement into the fabric of campus culture and the degree to which he has institutionalized civic engagement through personal leadership, commitment of resources, and the transformation of both curricular and co-curricular elements of the University’s educational program. In the area of curriculum, it is most noteworthy that the number of courses devoting explicit attention to the study and practice of political, civic, and humanitarian engagement has expanded significantly.

The range and depth of Dr. Netzhammer’s leadership is impressive. He has been both a leader and a supporter of the Red Balloon Project, eCitizenship, and of the Liberal Education and America’s Promise project. He is a significant contributor to the work of the National Implementation Committee of ADP. For Mel, civic engagement is not a project—it is an extension of his professional identity. His nomination file notes that his leadership style as a Provost encourages the engagement of all in the many tasks of educating students. He is an effective spokesperson for the University in the often turbulent arena of legislative support for higher education.

It is our judgment that this award reflects the best traditions of civic engagement established by William Plater. Dr. Mel Netzhammer leads by example. He has engaged his campus broadly in a shared commitment to civic engagement. He is a respected voice and exemplar of leadership in civic engagement on campus and in the national arena.

U.S. Vote Foundation Debuts New Online Tool Customized for All 50 States

U.S. Vote Foundation Debuts New Online Tool Customized for All 50 States

SAN ANTONIO, TX –JUNE 8, 2012– With a focus on civic engagement, the U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) proudly announced the debut of its online absentee ballot registration tool at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ 2012 American Democracy Project and the Democracy Commitment National Meeting.

US Vote’s absentee ballot services will launch on June 8th for 22 states: AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, DC, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NY, OH, RI, SC, TX, UT, WA, WY. The remaining states are planned to be online by June 15, 2012.

US Vote President and CEO Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat made the announcement during her featured session to the audience of higher education professionals. Dzieduszycka-Suinat said college students are in great need of this new service, but they are not the only ones who could benefit from it.

“We created this tool so that anyone who wishes to vote can be assisted – whether it be a traveling executive, a working parent, a home-bound person, or a college student away from home,” said Dzieduszycka-Suinat. “The point of our services is access. We want to make sure all Americans are equipped with the tools they need to vote, from the polling place to the kitchen table.”

US Vote’s absentee ballot request tool can be accessed at

https://www.usvotefoundation.org

US Vote is the first-ever online system that offers users a state-specific absentee ballot request for every state in the U.S. Users can complete the request form online, print it out, sign and mail it in to the local election office address that US Vote uniquely provides to them. No other system offers local election addresses and contact details for US absentee voters. Voter profile information can be saved online with the “My Voter Account” service. Users then have the ability to access their information from any computer at their convenience and edit it for future requests.

According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, more than 22.2 million domestic absentee ballots were cast in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

“We are spearheading the modernization of domestic absentee ballot request,” said Dzieduszycka-Suinat. “This technology will improve the quality of absentee ballot requests, which will also assist election officials across the country.”

The higher education community has responded positively: “Young voters look for registration services online first. Now they will find comprehensive services that include an online absentee ballot request. We hope that our ADP participants and our community college colleagues will make great use the state-specific tools offered by US Vote,” said George Mehaffy, Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

US Vote debuted its state-specific voter registration services in late January at the annual summit of Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF), its internationally respected parent organization.

US Vote utilizes OVF’s friendly web-based information tools, combined with state-specific voter registration, and now absentee ballot request capabilities. Its website features a complete suite of voter services:

Voter Registration: provides user-friendly assistance to generate a completed state-specific registration application that meets state requirements

Absentee Ballot Request: the first online system to produce state specific forms for voters who wish to vote by mail. Assists voters to generate a completed state-specific absentee ballot request that meets state requirements

My Voter Account: manage and maintain a “personal democracy dashboard,” making the repetitive tasks of registering and requesting a ballot easier

Election Official Directory: maintained as the nation’s most comprehensive database of election official contacts, websites, emails and addresses for every U.S. voting jurisdiction
State-specific Voter Information Directory: offers state-specific information including election dates, form filing deadlines, identification and other requirements

Voter Help Desk: offers an instant response to commonly asked election and voting questions
Candidate Finder: links users to candidate names and backgrounds, accessed simply by entering a voting address

OVF has self-funded the creation and deployment of US Vote. As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, donations are accepted to keep the free services available to the public.

Lightning Fast Access to Your Absentee Ballot Request:
(for registered voters)

Go to website: https://www.usvotefoundation.org/
Choose your state
Select “Absentee Ballot Request”
Login into “My Voter Account” or continue
Enter state specific data
Download your completed state-specific form
Print, Sign and Send the form to the local election office address provided
After sending, always check with your local election official to confirm acceptance
Your absentee ballot will arrive in the mail!

About U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote)
U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) provides domestic U.S. voters with public access to innovative voter registration tools and services. It is a trademarked initiative of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Overseas Vote Foundation. More information is available at http://www.usvotefoundation.org, Twitter (@us_vote), Facebook (US Vote), and Youtube (usvotefoundation).

About Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF)
Overseas Vote Foundation helps overseas and military U.S. voters participate in federal elections by providing public access to innovative voter registration tools and services. It is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. More information is available on our website (www.overseasvotefoundation.org), Twitter (@overseasvote), Facebook (Overseas Vote Foundation) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/overseasvote).

#ADP 12: Campus & Friends Showcase and Poster Session

ADP & TDC

Campus and Friends Showcase
& Poster Session

June 9, 2012 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Salon I 

ADP and TDC campuses, partners and friends will display, share and celebrate their work and help others learn how to promote civic engagement on their campuses during our annual Campus & Friends Showcase. The Showcase will occur over lunch on Saturday, June 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Salon I at the ADP/TDC 2012 National Meeting.

The Showcase is designed as an exhibit hall with tables available for presenters. People love to see what other ADP/TDC campuses have done; the Showcase also serves as an important networking opportunity for project participants to connect with national leaders in the civic engagement movement.

This year’s Showcase will also include a Poster Session featuring the research and civic engagement efforts of individuals and organizations. We’ll see you in San Antonio!

A full listing of the Campus and Friends Showcase and Poster Presenters follows:

Showcase Tables

1.      Illinois State University
Exploring Illinois State University’s core commitments to civic engagement.
Steve Hunt, skhunt2@ilstu.edu

http://americandemocracy.illinoisstate.edu/ 

2.      Society for Values in Higher Education (SVHE)
SVHE will share literature about SVHE meetings, initiatives, publications, projects, etc.
Eric Bain-Selbo, bain-selbo@svhe.org

3.      Keene State College (N.H.)
Integrating curricular and co-curricular initiatives via ADP.
Kimberly Gagne, Program Coordinator, kgagne@keene.edu

4.      Kennesaw State University (Ga.)
Kennesaw State University will showcase its ADP events this year including Constitution Week, the Pathways to Peace lecture series, and Emmanuel Jal’s lecture/performance on youth engagement in global issues.
Carlton Usher, Associate Professor of Political Science, cusher@kennesaw.edu

5.      Center for Civic Leadership, Fort Hays State University (Kan.)
The American Democracy Project and Global Leadership Project based out of the Center for Civic Leadership at Fort Hays State University will showcase the events and activities hosted during the 2011-2012 school year that have educated students on a variety of domestic and global issues, engaged students to act upon these issues, and encouraged political activism and participation.
Kelly Nuckolls and Jen Verhagen, Student Coordinators, kmnuckolls@fhsu.edu
www.adpfhsu.org | www.globalleadershipproject.net

6.      Metropolitan State University (Minn.)
Two faculty members and a member of our Center for Community Based Learning will be providing information and materials showcasing how students in writing and communication courses are helping to gather stories for MSU’s Citizen Alumni Project.
Danielle Hinrichs, Assistant Professor of Composition, Danielle.hinrichs@metrostate.edu
Andrew Carlson, Assistant Professor of Communication, andrew.carlson@metrostate.edu
Jodie Bantley, Community Service Learning Coordinator, jodi.bantley@metrostate.edu                                                                                                                        
7.      University of Central Oklahoma
Take a look at the multiple civic engagement projects found on the UCO campus.
Susan Scott, Professor, sscott@uco.edu

8.      U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC)
FMC will share information about its Congress to Campus Program, which brings Former Members of Congress to campuses across the country and around the world.
Elizabeth Ardagna, Member Services Manager, eardagna@usafmc.org
www.usafmc.org 

9.      CIRCLE, part of the Tisch College of Citizenship & Public Service at Tufts University (Mass.)
CIRCLE: The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement is a national, non-partisan research center on young people’s civic education and engagement.
Abby Kiesa, Youth Coordinator & Researcher, abby.kiesa@tufts.edu
www.civicyouth.org

10.  eJournal of Public Affairs: A collaboration between Missouri State University and ADP
The eJournal of Public Affairs is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, open-access journal that provides a substantive forum for scholarly publications related to civic engagement.
Andrew Lokie, Editor, AndrewLokie@MissouriState.edu

http://ejournal.missouristate.edu/

11.  Weber State University’s ADP (Utah)
Deliberative Democracy Day – 200 students discussing a controversial issue on campus
Leah Murray, Community Involvement Center Faculty in Residence, lmurray@weber.edu

http://www.weber.edu/leadership/adp.html

12.  American Bar Association, Division for Public Education

The ABA Division for Public Education promotes public understanding of law and its role in society. It leads law-related and civic education efforts through its curriculum support resources, Law Day and Constitution Day resources, national Law-Related Education conference, and professional development activities.
Leslie Warren, Assistant Director, leslie.warren@americanbar.org
www.americanbar.org/publiced

13.  Campus Vote Project
Campus Vote Project is a campaign of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Fair Elections Legal Network to provide colleges with the tools they need to implement specific reforms on campus that will break down barriers to voting for students.
Dan Vicuña, Campus Vote Project Coordinator, dvicuna@campusvoteproject.org
www.campusvoteproject.org

14.  Epsilen
Epsilen is an online collaborative platform that is used by TDC members to share best practices, develop forums, and to distribute and co-create resources and course materials
Mekelle Douglas, Senior Business Development Director, mdouglas@epsilen.com
www.epsilen.com

15.  American Red Cross, San Antonio Area Chapter
Our materials will highlight free online tools and resources from our Exploring Humanitarian Law program that help today’s students build competencies essential to navigating increasingly complex global realities.
Angelita De Luna, Exploring Humanitarian Law Coordinator, Angelita.DeLuna@redcross.org
www.redcross.org/ehl

 

Poster Descriptions

1.      Towards Democracy? Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1960-2011)
By Elizabeth Hauck, Student, Santa Fe College (Fla.)

2.      Youth Vote Overseas: Building a Network of Young Voters Abroad in 2012 and
Introducing U.S. Vote Foundation: The First Online Absentee Ballot System for Every State
By Susan Dzieduszcka-Suinat, President and CEO, Overseas Vote Foundation

3.      Controversial Issues in Discussion-Based Opportunities to Develop Youth Civic Engagement
By Alex Lin, Doctoral Student, University of California, Irvine

4.      Public Achievement in Urban & Suburban Schools with Leadership Focus From Student Proposed Issue and Action Using Empowerment and Civic Responsibility
By Becky Hamlin, Undergraduate Student Teacher in Special Education and  Robert Logan, Graduate Student Teacher in Special Education, Augsburg College (Minn.)

5.      Student Involvement and the Fiscal Incentives that Deter It
By Jennifer Burger, Student, University of Michigan-Flint

6.      Engaging Students through On-Campus Candidate Forums
By Alyssa Martin, Student, Northwest Vista College (Texas); Evan Bohl, Student, Northwest Vista College (Texas)

7.      Infusing Civic Learning Across the Curriculum
By Alberto Olivas, Director, Center for Civic Participation, Maricopa Community Colleges

EveryVote.org: The Civic Engagement Social Network Platform

By  Derick Downey, Multimedia Specialist  & Mitch Downey, UX Developer, EveryVote.org

At the time of writing this, there are 10,393 bills before the US Congress, and thousands more at the state and local levels. Only a tiny fraction of these bills are covered in television and print news media; meanwhile, the internet allows access to unprecedented amounts of civic data, but is so vast and disjointed it turns-off everyone but the most web-savvy political zealots. The result: most Americans feel overwhelmed by the political process, alienated from their elected representatives, become cynical about the integrity of the US government, and tune-out.

EveryVote.org is an open-source, non-profit project in development trying to address these problems by making in-depth civic engagement as easy and fun as using Facebook or online dating sites. We believe EveryVote’s ease-of-use and robust functionality can inspire younger generations to participate in elections, and older generations to participate on the internet.

The primary functionality of EveryVote is to provide users with an intuitive interface that enables users to vote on bills, officials, candidates, other EV users, and organizations, and then to automatically compare their voting preferences with all other voters’ preferences on the site.

Other essential functions include: sending registration deadline and election day reminders; helping users run for office themselves; facilitating organized representative-to-constituent and user-to-user dialogue; providing democratic news sharing tools; and much more.

EveryVote will debut hosting all the legislative and electoral API data of the US Congress available online, but any user can add their own governing body’s information (with its own custom parameters) to the EV platform and make use of the same civic engagement tools. This means K-12 students can use EV to manage the legislative and electoral procedures of their own student council or mock government as part of a civics education curriculum. And if EV can help manage student councils, maybe it can help PTAs, teacher’s unions, and any other organization with legislative and electoral procedures.

As a user browses the site, EV automatically compares that user’s voting record to the records of officials, candidates, other users, and groups, and displays the result as a % correlation next to that person or group’s profile picture.*

On the bills page, users can learn instantly how the people and groups they support or oppose are voting on that issue. For example, 8 of 10 groups a user supports are voting in favor of a bill, the groups/supports databox would display a green +60%; if the same amount were voting against, it would display a red -60%; and a split of 5 yeas and 5 nays would display a black 0%.

Ultimately, since EveryVote is an open-source platform that allows users to add and facilitate their own government or organization’s legislative and electoral processes, EveryVote’s goal is to promote democratic civic engagement across the world.

—

For more information about the EveryVote project, please visit our homepage and signup for the EV mailing list. Our goal is to have a limited-functionality beta of EveryVote finished by Fall 2012. If you have any questions, or would like to help create EveryVote with us, please email the EV team at contactus@everyvote.org. You can follow EveryVote on Twitter at @everyvoteorg. Like them on Facebook at here.

—

Mitch Downey is an EveryVote co-founder and user experience developer and Derick Downey is EveryVote’s multimedia specialist.

*Quoted from OpenSource.com interview

ETS Study Shows How Colleges Can Help Students Become Active Voters

This is a re-post of a blog story that originally appeared on the blog of the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN). FELN’s nonpartisan Campus Vote Project (CVP) is a partner and friend of ADP. Take a look at this summary of the new ETS report Fault Lines in Our Democracy: Civic Knowledge, Voting Behavior, and Civic Engagement in the United States. Dan Vicuna, the author of this blog story and CVP’s Coordinator will be at the ADP National Meeting in San Antonio. If you’d like to meet with him to learn more about CVP and how to connect your campus work with CVP, you can email him at dvicuna@campusvoteproject.org. CVP will also have a table at the Campus and Friends Showcase on Saturday, June 9 from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm.

As you gear up to register students for the November 2012 elections, make sure to check out CVP’s Campus Vote Project toolkit and other resources!

– Jen Domagal-Goldman, ADP National Manager

ETS Study Shows How Colleges Can Help Students Become Active Voters

By: Dan Vicuna, Coordinator of FELN’s Campus Vote Project

An Educational Testing Service (ETS) study on education and civic engagement demonstrates the role that colleges and universities can play in helping students become active and informed voters. The study suggests that many students arrive at college with limited knowledge of civics. For example, ETS found that only about one-quarter of American students in 4^th, 8^th, and 12^th grade achieved a “proficient” designation in civics, a level demonstrating solid academic performance. The study’s authors argue that voter turnout is likely to suffer as a result of this academic shortfall.

The study also examined the importance of establishing voting as a habit. ETS found that a young adult who voted in the 2004 election was 30 percent more likely to vote in the 2006 election than a young adult who did not vote in 2004. The authors concluded that voting in 2004 “played the most powerful role in voting in 2006.”

ETS argues that colleges and universities “can play a more active role in encouraging voting and civic participation at all levels by their students.” By helping students overcome the barriers to registration and voting that disproportionately affect them, colleges can set their students on a lifelong path of active civic engagement.

Colleges can implement reforms detailed in the Campus Vote Project toolkit to ensure that students have access to registration and voting information. For example, schools can increase understanding of the issues at stake by organizing election awareness campaigns. Administrators can also support student-run voter registration blitzes and organize student poll worker programs to encourage active participation in the 2012 elections.

For more information on the ways that FELN’s Campus Vote Project can work with your school to increase student participation in this year’s elections, contact Dan Vicuna at (202) 331-0114 or info@campusvoteproject.org.

_____

Re-posted from FELN’s blog; see the original post here.

ADP 2012 National Meeting Update: Featured Sessions Lineup

This year we have a strong set of Featured Sessions planned for the American Democracy Project National Meeting in San Antonio, June 7-9, 2012. Featured sessions are smaller than the large plenary sessions, but longer and bigger than our concurrent sessions. They provide participants with the opportunity to dig deeply into a variety of topics with some of the nation’s leading experts in the civic engagement movement. Please see below for descriptions of our exciting Featured Sessions.

To register for the ADP National Meeting, please visit this website.

ADP/TDC 2012 National Meeting Featured Sessions

Featured Sessions | Friday, June 8 from 10:30 a.m. – Noon

TDC on Engaging the Community: Student Perspectives The Public Achievement program at Lone Star College, Kingwood offers students experience in community and democratic engagement. A panel of students from the Kingwood campus will discuss their participation in the program over the last two years and their efforts to expand and further student-led engagement. Other students from TDC institutions will show videos documenting their experiences and present on how civic engagement helped enrich their education and aid in degree completion. Moderator:  John J. Theis, Professor of Political Science, Lone Star College, Kingwood (Texas) Student Panelists: Blain Donnell, Student, Lone Star College, Kingwood; Wendy Thorp, Student, Lone Star College, Kingwood; Cory McAnally, Student, Lone Star College, Kingwood; Corey Lenon, Student, Lone Star College, Kingwood

Raising Money to Support a Civic Engagement Program The experiences of campuses that have been successful at raising funds in support of a campus-wide civic engagement program are reviewed in this session. The emphasis is on external fundraising and grant-writing strategies. Also, issues involving the leveraging of institutional budgets to prompt external support and the importance of sound project management and assessment to external fundraising are addressed. Moderator:  Richard Dunfee, Executive Director, AASCU Grants Resource Center Panelists:  Stephen Hunt, Professor of Communication and Lance Lippert, Associate Professor of Communication, Illinois State University; Gregg Kaufman, Instructor, Georgia College; and William M. Loker, Dean of Undergraduate Education, California State University, Chico

National Issues Forum (NIF)—Shaping Our Future: How Should Higher Education Help Us Create the Society We Want? This session features a deliberative forum using the new NIF guide, Shaping Our Future. This forum also provides an experiential introduction to key concepts and practices in deliberative politics, such as naming and framing issues, choice work and trade-offs experience with choice work. Shaping Our Future was developed by NIF and the Kettering Foundation and it will be used in collaboration with the American Commonwealth Partnership. Presenters: John Dedrick, Vice President and Program Director, Charles F. Kettering Foundation and William V. Muse, President, NIF Institute.  Forums will be moderated by: Cristin Foster, Assistant Program Director, David Mathews Center for Civic Life; Doug Garnar, Professor and Service Learning Program Director, Broome Community College (N.Y.); Kara Lindaman, Associate Professor and ADP Campus Director, Winona State University (Minn.); Chris McCauley, Executive Director, David Mathews Center for Civic Life; Alberto Olivas, Director, Center for Civic Participation, Maricopa Community Colleges (Ariz.); Bernie Ronan, Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs, Maricopa Community Colleges (Ariz.); and Lisa Strahley, Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Early Childhood Development, Broome Community College (N.Y.)

Community Change Studies for Civic and Democratic Work The Community Learning Partnership (CLP), a TDC partner, is expanding its Community Change Studies (CSS) programs to prepare students for careers in civic and democratic work, with an emphasis on community engagement that creates a more democratic society. This session presents program designs and curriculum for CSS certificate and degree programs in four CLP sites:  Los Angeles, Cupertino, Minneapolis and New York. This session also provides a first look at a new web-based resource center for developing CSS programs and curriculum that will be available to TDC members in late Fall 2012. Panelists:  Denise Fairchild, President, Emerald Cities Collaborative; Sydney Beane, Director, Minnesota Community Learning Partnership; Hector Soto, Director, Center for Neighborhood Leadership, New York; Benjamin A. Torres, CEO/President, Community Development Technologies Center, Los Angeles; Edmundo Norte, Dean, Intercultural/International Studies, De Anza College (Calif); and students from the CLP site programs

The National Assessment of Service and Community Engagement (NASCE) The NASCE is the first tool that uses student reported experience to quantitatively measure community engagement among individual students and their institutions. To date, the NASCE has interviewed 12,344 students from 28 colleges and universities of varying sizes and affiliations, spanning nine different states in the United States. The NASCE is an instrument that 1) measures the community engagement and service performed by students; 2) measures and reports the engagement and service across nine areas of human need; 3) expresses engagement and service performed as a percent of the possible service an institution can offer; 4) provides colleges with a measurement of their capacity contribution; and 5) provides a tool that can be used to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses for use in institutional planning. This presentation provides detailed information on the innovative methodology of the NASCE as well as the derivation, implementation and initial findings of these five outlined study aspects. Presenters: Mathew Johnson, Director of Academic Community Engagement and Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies and Donald P. Levy, Director, Siena Research Institute, Siena College (N.Y.)

A Crucible Moment: Higher Education and Democratic Engagement This session first orients the audience to the 2012 Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s Future report, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education. The report will be used to frame a presentation on the upcoming 2015 application cycle for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Elective Community Engagement Classification. Participants from two-year and four-year campuses interested in seeking the classification in 2015 are encouraged to attend. Presenters:  Gail Robinson, Director of Service Learning, American Association of Community Colleges; John Saltmarsh, Co-Director, New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston and Josh Young, Director of the Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy, Miami Dade College (Fla.)

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Exploring the Link between Civic Engagement and Employment Civic behaviors—such as political involvement, volunteering and giving—help generate the flow of information, trust and connection in communities. Active participation in civic life is necessary for a community to be socially and economically healthy. This session presents research on the links between civic engagement and economic resilience and provides opportunities for discussion of the unique role that higher education institutions play in advancing civic health and community vitality. Presenters:  Kristi Tate, Director of Community Strategies, National Conference on Citizenship and Michael Stout, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Missouri State University

Failing to Forget: Teaching the Topics of Today to the Citizens of Tomorrow Trayvon Martin. The Occupy and Tea Party movements. Women’s reproductive rights. Healthcare. Education and tuition. These and many more events mobilize students toward dialogue, organization and action, yet in many academic settings these important issues of the day are quickly overlooked. How can we better serve our students by teaching civic responsibility and democratic engagement through the everyday topics that affect their individual lives and communities? This session explores ways in which our campuses can help students organize around these events and form their own voices under the banner of civic and democratic participation. Presenter: Brian Murphy, President, De Anza College (Calif.)

Transforming Campus Voices into Student Votes: Best Practices for How to Move from “Concept” to “Counted” As new voters and, sometimes, new residents in their campus community, college students are far more likely than other voters to lack information about voter registration, voting procedures and their right to vote in the community in which they live. Colleges and universities can play an essential role in fulfilling our educational mission to produce informed, engaged citizens by supporting specific reforms that will break down these barriers by empowering students with the information they need. This session provides precise program ideas and best practices for what you can do to boost voter education, registration and get-out-the-vote efforts on your campus. Moderator:  Elizabeth A. Bennion, Associate Professor of Political Science and Campus ADP Director, Indiana University South Bend.  Panelists:  Alysa Cisneros, Student Coordinator, De Anza College (Calif.); Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, President and CEO, U.S. Vote Foundation; Brandon Loso, Student, Middle Tennessee State University; Amelia Ross-Hammond, Professor and Director, Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, Norfolk State University (Va.); Dan Vicuña, Staff Attorney and Campus Vote Project Coordinator, Fair Elections Legal Network; and Abby Kiesa, Youth Coordinator and Researcher, CIRCLE: The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

Global Challenges National Blended Learning Course Global Challenges: Promise and Peril in the 21st Century is a first of its kind course made possible by the collaborative efforts of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) American Democracy Project, The New York Times Knowledge Network, and teaching faculty from 11 AASCU institutions. The course uses the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ 7 Revolutions content as a curricular framework for educating globally competent citizens. The course design relies on the most recent research on blended learning models, combining the best of online and face-to-face educational approaches. This groundbreaking national blended learning model course aims to be a template for further national blended learning model courses on other topics. In this session, the national project coordinator of the Global Challenges National Blended Learning Course and the chair of the AASCU Global Engagement Scholars discuss the collaborative effort and share a glimpse of the Spring 2012 pilot. A representative from Sourcebooks publishing also unveils a glimpse of the new Global Challenges eBook. Presenters: Shala Mills, Chair and Professor of Political Science and National Coordinator, Global Challenges Course, Fort Hays State University (Kan.); Dennis Falk, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Social Work and Global Engagement Scholar, University of Minnesota Duluth; and Peter Lynch, Editorial Manager, Sourcebooks.

Featured Sessions | Saturday, June 9 from 10 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.

Next Generation Civic Engagement Higher education plays a significant role in preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy, but we need new ways of teaching personal and social responsibility to a digitally native generation of students. This session describes the redesign of a civic engagement course at the University of North Texas into blended and online formats and provides examples of experiential learning activities. It also addresses the importance of anchoring course redesign to a foundation of thoughtfully identified student learning outcomes. Presenters: Brenda McCoy, Director, Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences Program and Michael Simmons, Senior Associate Director, Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment, and Redesign, University of North Texas

Capturing and Assessing Student Voting on Your Campus            Using public voting data, it is difficult to assess student turnout on a single campus and what institutional strategies positively affect turnout. In 2012, CIRCLE will be working with interested campuses and partners to fill this gap. We are developing a free service to calculate turnout using data collected by a national firm. This session will discuss current student voting research, what participants most want to know about student voting, and how campuses can get involved to assess strategies used to register and mobilize students. Presenter: Abby Kiesa, Youth Coordinator and Researcher, CIRCLE:  The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

Defining, Creating, Assessing, Closing the Loop: Long-Term Assessment of Social Responsibility In this session, participants, while learning about the very practical aspects of one school’s comprehensive model for assessing social responsibility, are actively engaged in reviewing their own institution’s efforts and selecting areas for improvement. Using a template to guide them in defining terms, identifying organizational structures and exploring potential means of determining impact, participants develop their own action plan to improve the results of efforts on their home campuses, including rare models for directly assessing student learning of outcomes in social responsibility. Presenters: Gregory Mellas, Service Learning Director and Spanish Faculty; Michael Seward, English Faculty; and Cheryl Neudauer, Center for Teaching and Learning Campus Leader and Biology Faculty, Minneapolis Community & Technical College (Minn.)

ADP: Advancing the Civic Frontier In this session, Tom Ehrlich, who has been instrumental in guiding the intellectual work of ADP, asks us to consider the new challenges and opportunities that we face in the civic engagement movement. In particular, he focuses on the need to engage students in the civic work of protecting and promoting public education at every level and on the use of social media and other emerging technologies to enhance teaching and learning about civic work. Presenter: Tom Ehrlich, Visiting Professor, School of Education, Stanford University (Calif.)

Linking High-Impact Learning and Community Engagement Come join a conversation about how campuses might thoughtfully link High-Impact Practices (HIPs)—such as first-year experiences, course-based internships, writing intensive courses, undergraduate research and capstones—with civic and community engagement. Presenters share examples of what the Bonner Foundation and its network of campus-based intensive programs have begun to articulate as high-impact community engagement practices (HICEPs). Practices include multi-year commitments and agreements with community partners, multi-year faculty connections, policy research projects and more. Presenters hope to foster conversation and sharing amongst a national learning community for campuses with civic partners like AAC&U, AASCU (and ADP), Bringing Theory to Practice, Imagining America, NERCHE and others in the field. Presenters: Mathew Johnson, Director of Academic Community Engagement and Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, Siena College (N.Y.) and Ariane Hoy, Senior Program Officer, Bonner Foundation

Introducing Citizen Alum—Alumni as Doers, Not (Just) Donors This session is an introduction to Citizen Alum as a strategy for institutional culture change. The particular focus of this panel is integrating alumni relations into campus-wide public/community engagement. Presenters: Julie Ellison, Professor of American Culture and English and Lead Organizer of Citizen Alum, University of Michigan; Jodi Bantley, Coordinator, Community Service-Learning, Center for Community-Based Learning, Metropolitan State University (Minn.); LeeAnn Lands, Associate Professor of History and American Studies and Lisa Duke, Director, Office of Alumni Affairs, Kennesaw State University (Ga.)

Putting Democratic Engagement to Work on Campus: A Conversation with John Saltmarsh, Co-Editor of To Serve a Larger Purpose: Engagement for Democracy and the Transformation of Higher Education This session is focused on a discussion among participants on issues, challenges and questions from the chapters and the critique offered in the book. One point of conversation might be putting the conceptual framework of “democratic engagement” in place on campus, providing concrete strategies for using the book, To Serve a Larger Purpose: Engagement for Democracy and the Transformation of Higher Education (2011) to implement change. Collectively we can discuss strategies for faculty, staff, administrators, students and community partners to implement democratic engagement on campus, drawing, in many cases, on campus examples. Presenter: John Saltmarsh, Co-Director, New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston and Co-Editor of To Serve a Larger Purpose

Realizing the Potential of TDC and ADP: Developing Partnerships Between Universities, Community Colleges and Municipalities Over the last 10 years, scholars, educators, administrators and others have devoted significant attention to the development of programs that support education for citizenship in higher education. These efforts have born significant fruit, as evidenced by the many programs featured at the TDC/ADP National Meeting. A central concern for the next 10 years will be how those in higher education will sustain the commitment to civic engagement, especially in light of personnel changes and budgetary constraints. Presenters on this panel discuss how campuses can develop meaningful partnerships across campus and community to ensure that education for democracy remains a vital component of higher education. Presenters:  Deborah Halperin, Director of Action Research Center, Illinois Wesleyan University; Sarah Diel-Hunt, Heartland Community College (Ill.); Stephen Hunt, Professor of Communication, Jan Murphy, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Lance Lippert, Association Professor of Communication and Frank Beck, Associate Professor, Illinois State University

Exploring 21st Century Approaches to Civic Dialogue: New Tools for a Digital Democracy Join a discussion of innovative tools for promoting civic engagement and civil discourse around critical issues on college campuses. Democracy Plaza: Student Updates, Research Questions and Moving into the Future Electronic Space of Civil and Civic Dialogue Presenters:  H. Anne Weiss, Graduate Assistant in Civic Engagement; Youngbok Hong, Associate Faculty of Art; and Anthony Greco, Student, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis The Civil Debate Wall: Using Digital Media to Train Effective Citizens Presenters:  Shelby Taylor, Digital Communications Director and Emma K. Humphries, Assistant in Citizenship, Bob Graham Center for Public Service, University of Florida

Announcing ADP’s New National Initiative: Campus & Community Civic Health Initiative with NCoC

 Announcing the Campus & Community Civic Health Initiative,
a new 10^th anniversary signature program of the American Democracy Project

A Civic Engagement in Action Series Initiative
in Partnership with
the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC)

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Civic health data have become an increasingly central component of the national dialogue on civic life. NCoC produces the national civic health assessment, “Civic Life in America”, on an annual basis in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service. NCoC also partners with 25 communities nationwide to use this data to produce reports and initiatives that drive sustainable civic strategies. These civic health initiatives are based on a variety of civic indicators – including how often citizens report discussing politics, involvement in community groups, addressing local issues with neighbors, participation in volunteer and service activities, political action and other measures of social connection and community engagement.

This is a call for participation. The American Democracy Project (ADP) seeks 20 institutions to join us in a two-year initiative with the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) designed to identify and develop campus and community civic health assessments and tools, as well as action plans that respond to the findings. Participating institutions will work together to study the civic health of our campuses and communities. We want to discover how our campuses support and facilitate civic health. Our goal is to provide insights into and strategies for measuring civic health on campus and off campus. This initiative will launch with an inaugural Campus & Community Civic Health Initiative Summit – a pre-conference workshop – at the American Democracy Project national meeting on June 7, 2012 in San Antonio, Texas. Participation in the initiative is open to any AASCU-member institution, with preference given to current ADP members. Institutions that are not already participating members of ADP will be automatically enrolled in the American Democracy Project if they are selected for participation in this initiative. This initiative is also open to our community college colleagues who are members of ADP’s sister organization, The Democracy Commitment (TDC). TDC participation is encouraged especially where there are opportunities for regional collaboration with other two-year or four-year institutions.

Core Activities

• Develop tools for assessing the civic health of campuses and communities;
• Expand our understanding of the current state of civic health on college campuses and in local communities;
• Identify and share ways that a college or university – in partnership with a local community – can improve the civic health of the campus and/or community; and
• Explore the interplay between campus and community civic health.

For more details, see attached Campus & Community Health Initiative Description.

Expectations of Participating Campuses
Each campus selected to participate in this initiative will have five specific expectations:

1. Participating campuses will be asked to create a campus team that will oversee the development of campus activities and projects. For operational purposes, most campuses will identify a campus team leader to provide leadership for the campus work. The project will greatly benefit from the inclusion of students. While it is not a formal requirement, we encourage participation by undergraduate students on the campus team.
2. Send at least one faculty member to the ADP National Meeting for the June 7, 2012 Campus & Community Civic Health Initiative Summit, a pre-conference workshop, for the convening meeting of this initiative. This meeting will provide an orientation to the project, and establish the design and development phase of a set of tools and processes with which to begin to assess the civic health of our campuses and the communities in which they are situated.
3. Serve as a pilot site to develop and test these civic health assessment strategies and tools. Each campus will have wide latitude to focus aspects of civic health specific to their institutional circumstances and what makes sense in their own local context. Some campuses may focus primarily on assessing campus civic health. Others may focus on both the health of their campus and the community in which it is situated. Focus may also be put on campus/community partnerships and their effects on campus and/or community civic health.
4. Share project results at the national American Democracy Project meeting in June 2013 in Denver and at the June 2014 meeting in Louisville. In a pre-conference session of these conferences, provide NCoC and ADP with electronic copies of all materials developed and used in the pilot phase for distribution to ADP member institutions.  Campuses will also be asked to provide general feedback on the successes and failures of this initiative. In addition, each campus will be asked to make a presentation during the conference about the experiences of the past year.
5. Campuses will also be asked to engage in a follow-up discussion of their assessment results with appropriate campus and community stakeholders. Action plans to improve campus and community civic health should be developed and undertaken. Subsequent reports about these phases of the initiative should also be shared with NCoC and ADP, and should be presented at a subsequent ADP meeting.

Benefits for Participating Campuses

This initiative offers a number of significant opportunities for campuses and individuals including:

Opportunities for Faculty, Staff, and Students:

• To become involved in an innovative national civic engagement project
• To collaborate with individuals on other campuses
• To create opportunities for presentations and publications
• To engage students in community-engaged research and civic action about civic health

Opportunities for Campuses:

• To gain national visibility as part of a research effort that reflects our roles as Stewards of Place
• Opportunity to measure actual student voter turnout for 2008, 2010 and 2012 elections via partnership with CIRCLE
• Opportunity to partner with NCoC on producing state and city-level Civic Health Index reports
• Opportunity to track campus civic work using Lyon Software’s Community Benefit Inventory for Social Accountability for duration of this project
• To develop relationships with other civic leaders and key stakeholders in the community focused around a civic health agenda

How much will it cost to participate?

There is no fee for participation in the project; overall costs should be minimal. There is no external funding for this project but we will try to keep any costs as low as possible. Some fundraising may be required for participation in specific research initiatives, such as partnership on a statewide Civic Health Index report. The only fixed expenses will be to send a representative to the national American Democracy Project meeting for the next three years — in San Antonio in June 2012, in Denver in June 2013, and in Louisville in June 2014 – where each campus will be expected to participate in a pre-conference workshop, as well as make a presentation about the project outcomes during the conference.

How do we apply?

Institutions interested in this project do not have to be participants in the American Democracy Project; the only requirement is that they are AASCU-member institutions or members of The Democracy Commitment. To apply, the chief academic officer (CAO) should send an email to Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, the ADP National Manager at AASCU (domagalj@aascu.org), with a brief statement about why your institution is interested in this initiative.

The deadline for applications is May 25, 2012. Campuses will be notified of their selection on a rolling basis, and by no later than June 1, 2012.  To apply to be one of the institutions participating in this initiative, please include the following information in your email, along with a statement about why your institution is interested in this initiative. 

Name of Institution:  ________________________________________________________

We would like to apply to be participants in the Campus Civic Health Initiative.

Name of the Chief Academic Officer:  ____________________________________________________________

Signature, Chief Academic Officer: ______________________________________________ Date: ___________

Campus Civic Health Initiative Campus Coordinator: ________________________________________________

(Please appoint a point person for this project on your campus.)

Please send to:

Jen Domagal-Goldman, ADP National Manager, AASCU, 1307 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005; fax to (202) 296-5819; or email domagalj@aascu.org. You can reach Jen by phone at (202) 478-7833.

Organizations Involved in This Project

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) | www.aascu.org/programs/ADP

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a nonprofit consortium of over 400 public colleges and universities, representing 3.7 million students, throughout the United States. AASCU institutions pride themselves on being “Stewards of Place,” committed to strengthening the role of state colleges and universities through support of their teaching-learning, research and service missions. In 2003, AASCU, in partnership with The New York Times, created the American Democracy Project (ADP), a civic engagement initiative now involving more than 240 AASCU institutions. The American Democracy Project and participating institutions are committed to preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy.

National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) | www.ncoc.net

At the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), we believe everyone has the power to make a difference in how their community and country thrive. NCoC is a dynamic, non-partisan nonprofit working at the forefront of our nation’s civic life. We continuously explore what shapes today’s citizenry, define the evolving role of the individual in our democracy, and uncover ways to motivate greater participation. Through our events, research, and reports, NCoC expands our nation’s contemporary understanding of what it means to be a citizen. We seek new ideas and approaches for creating greater civic health and vitality throughout the United States. NCoC was chartered by Congress in 1953 to harness the patriotic energy and national civic involvement surrounding World War II, and we’ve been invigorated by this charge ever since. In 2009, Congress recognized the importance of our role once again and expanded our Civic Health Assessment to become the nation’s largest and most definitive measure of civic engagement. Today, we continue to discover and share best practices in civic engagement.

The Democracy Commitment | TheDemocracyCommitment.org

The Democracy Commitment (TDC) is a national initiative providing a platform for the development and expansion of community college programs, projects and curricula aiming at engaging students in civic learning and democratic practice across the country. The goal of TDC is that every graduate of an American community college shall have had an education in democracy. This includes all of our students, whether they aim to transfer to university, achieve an associate degree or obtain a certificate. Through national initiatives and partnerships TDC membership institutions will enhance the democratic engagement on their campuses, in their communities and local governments.

CIRCLE | www.civicyouth.org/

CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) conducts research on civic education in schools, colleges, and community settings and on young Americans’ voting and political participation, service, activism, media use, and other forms of civic engagement. It is based at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University.

Lyon Software | www.lyonsoftware.com/products/education.php

Lyon’s Community Benefit Inventory for Social Accountability (CBISA™) is a comprehensive way for colleges and universities to measure their impact on the communities they serve and to institutionalize community engagement and service learning.  CBISA streamlines reporting to a variety of stakeholders including the President’s Honor Roll and Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.

Partner Spotlight: NCoC Civic Health Index

ADP partner and friend NCoC — the National Conference on Citizenship — has announced its deadline for accepting new partners for 2012 civic health initiatives. NCoC plans to finalize all partnerships for 2012 by May 31. Will you join them?

NCoC currently works with cross-sector partners in over 25 communities across the country to use civic health data to measure and understand how our communities and democracy are functioning. We explore everything from the rates at which people are voting and volunteering, to indicators of engagement with neighbors, family, and institutions. This year, we were able to collect new indicators examining pressing issues such as online political engagement, trust of neighbors and confidence in major institutions that will inform 2012 projects.

These partnerships have produced reports, infographics, and initiatives that have been used to drive civic strategies of nonprofits, businesses, and governments. Our partners have used civic health data to pass new civic education legislation, promote statewide voter engagement initiatives, create citizen-driven grant making programs, and more.

We are excited to continue working with our current partners while growing this network to include all 50 states, the 50 largest metropolitan areas, and new demographic focus areas. Our partners serve as authors, funders, and conveners on these projects—giving life to our research, providing critical context for the findings, and preparing recommendations for next steps. Partners also ensure that the information reaches key stakeholders throughout the community. NCoC provides data and analysis, supports project management, leads the design phase, and provides in-depth consultation and support to meet partner needs and objectives.

We invite you to join this growing effort, by bringing the Civic Health Index to your community in 2012. For detailed information on our 2012 partnership opportunities, please visit www.NCoC.net/PartnerRecruitment. To speak further about partnership, please contact Kristi Tate, Director of Community Strategies at ktate@ncoc.net or 202-729-8038. All partnership agreements must be finalized by May 31, 2012.

Learn More About Partnering With NCoC!

Civic Agency for Environmental Action: Earth Week and Every Week

By Carlin Stinson and Josh Moore, MTSU American Democracy Project

To commemorate Earth Day, the student organization of American Democracy Project at Middle Tennessee State University wants to share with you an issue that weighs on our hearts and is part of the political life of university students in all of the Appalachian states.  If you attend an east-of-the-Mississippi college or university, you already know about mountaintop removal (MTR).  If you are in a coastal, midwestern, or western state, you probably have other issues that feel pressing to you in your region.  We are sharing our ecological concern.

Carlin Stinson, along with fellow ADP MTSU student Jimmy Deane, showing off Raiders Recycle t-shirts designed by ADP students to increase campus recycling awareness

ADP has worked on many civic issues and projects over the years. We are a civic engagement organization, not at all an expressly environmental organization.  Nevertheless, one of the public matters in which our students cannot not help but become involved is increasing awareness of and civic responsibility for our personal environmental behaviors.  Some of the enviro-projects we have worked on since we became ADP members have included research toward the creation of a tobacco-free campus at MTSU (which, hooray, became campus policy January 1, 2012) to spreading the word about our university’s campus recycling program (this spring, for the first time ever, thanks to ADP students’ efforts, the MTSU student orientation booklet for thousands of incoming freshman teaches Raiders Recycling to our new students)!

Of all the environmental initiatives we have taken on, however, perhaps ADP students’ collaboration with MTSU Students for Environmental Action and Tennessee Conservation Voters may ultimately have the farthest reaching effects.  We are part of the movement that defines our generation in our region, and ADP students can do no less than add our energy and voices to those of Mountain Justice, United Mountain Defense, Appalachian Voices, and iLoveMountains, among other groups, that advocate for the protection of America’s oldest and most ecologically diverse mountains, the Appalachians.

What in earlier generations was known simply as “strip mining” is now more precisely referred to by what the process actually entails, “mountaintop removal.”  To provide cheap electricity to all of us in urban areas who use electricity as if it were a fundamental birthright, coal mining has for years and years been systematically and permanently blasting the tops off entire ranges of the Appalachian mountains.  To watch the destruction on film is enlightening, to see it in person is life changing. View video here.

This past fall, we in Tennessee and in ADP got involved in promoting the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, which if passed by the Tennessee General Assembly would have put a ban on mountaintop removal coal mining on ridgelines above 2,000 feet in our state and would have made Tennessee the first state in the nation to ban mountaintop removal.  Although Tennessee has not been the most impacted state to date—only three mountains in Tennessee have been mountaintop mined to date, which is minor compared to the systematic destruction over the years in, for example, West Virginia—preemptively, we want to stop the devastation before it escalates further within our own state.

By word of mouth, meeting with other groups, and by way of the Internet, information about the Scenic Vistas

Josh Moore helping host the Justice Sandra Day O’Connor lecture at MTSU this winter.

Protection Act, which was to be put before the Tennessee Legislature in early 2012, spread throughout the fall of 2011 and into the first weeks of 2012, with thousands of online and hand-written signatures acquired in support of the legislation.  The bill before our General Assembly had strong statewide backing even after only a few months in the public eye.

The bill had actually been stalled in the Tennessee Legislature for a number of years.  In all of that time it had not received adequate support from lawmakers nor sufficient public demands to move it beyond committee.  Having heard Shelby White, of Tennessee Conservation Voters (TCV), speak at a Mountain Justice mountaintop removal informational presentation about the bill’s possibilities, Carlin, of ADP MTSU, took it upon herself to make a follow-up contact to Shelby to ask how people could become involved in promoting the legislation.

After personal discussions with TCV, Carlin posted information, links, and the online petition for the Scenic Vistas Protection Act on various Internet platforms.  Both of us shared formation about the bill with our teachers and fellow students, in classrooms and via university e-mail.  Our working with MTSU’s Students for Environmental Action was a step in the right direction, developing a stronger link between ADP and SEA and expanding the networks of each group further than before.  One project in which ADP members collaborated with SEA was sending holiday cards this past winter break to each of the legislative committee members who would be voting on the bill at the first of the year, urging them to vote affirmatively for Scenic Vistas.

During the winter Carlin spread the word to groups of concerned citizens beyond our campus.  Tennesseans of every age and walk of life are passionate about protecting our mountains.  Carlin was invited by Fount Bertram, President of the Friends of Tennessee State Parks Coalition and member of the Tennessee Trails Association (TTA) to speak about the Scenic Vistas Act at a chapter meeting of TTA, a member organization of the Tennessee Conservation Voters.  Carlin took a support team of presenters and advocates to inform the Tennessee Trails audience about the devastating effects of mountaintop removal and how TTA could get involved in getting the law passed.  Influencing people to become advocates of Scenic Vistas and to sign the petition for the Tennessee General Assembly was the easy part.

Unfortunately, the need to rally for the preservation of our beloved mountains has only just begun here in Tennessee.  The push this winter for the Scenic Vistas Protection Act culminated with the bill’s being officially introduced first on the floor of the Tennessee Senate, a preemptive move when the bill had not even made it out of House committee.  State senators debated the bill but decided to table it for review at a later date.  In other words, they put it on the backburner once again.  Having been shot down in the Tennessee Senate, the bill was also tabled in House committee.  Although no one in principle wants to harm Tennessee mountains, the Legislature, even more, wants not to restrain the coal mining industry.

However disappointing it may have been to see the General Assembly push the bill further away from passage, our conviction will not be swayed. The support gained for the bill in such a short amount of time in 2011 and 2012 was a huge start.  We will be even better prepared to let the Legislature know what the people of Tennessee want for the mountains of Tennessee.  We the People will be even more equipped for the next go-round with the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act.  The only way for us to make the change we would like to see in environmental policies concerning MTR will be consistency, persistence, and patient understanding as we continually work to make our fellow Tennesseans aware of the harmful practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and to enlighten them as to the alternatives.

It is our duty to stand up for the environment and to demand a clean energy future for the generations to come.  If We the People don’t make this demand, then who will?  A clean energy future is entirely possible.  But the Green Shift will not begin until the demand from our citizens is strong.  At the very least, many more sustainable principles and practices must be incorporated into our lifestyles to make the difference.  We can all start by turning off a light switch or unplugging our laptops or reading a book about sustainability.

There is no better time than Earth Day to be thinking green. Earth Week festivities are in progress right now at MTSU, as they surely are on your campus.  We are having an eco-fashion show, clothing swaps, workshops, upcycled art, and lectures on sustainability and preserving the environment.  Our ADP “Raiders Recycle” t-shirts and book bags will be showcased on campus. But environmental stewardship must be an integral part of our everyday routines, not limited to one week or day out of the year.  Earth Day is every day!  We urge everyone to take that extra step toward a clean energy future and to consider the green alternatives.   We in ADP know full well how civic agency works: each of us must be the agent and be the change.

If you can find a way to add your voice to stopping mountaintop removal or toward supporting us in Tennessee in the passage of the Scenic Vistas Act, we surely would appreciate your assistance and ideas as we move forward.

____

Josh Moore is an Environmental Science and Energy Technology major in the Engineering Department at MTSU.  My involvement with ADP has strengthened my drive for civic engagement within the community at an exponential rate.  It is my focus that civic engagement within the community must become the forefront of our education, an idea that must spread across our democracy. The more we involve ourselves in the community, the more we make a difference, and I want to make that difference.

Carlin Stinson is an Agriculture student at MTSU. Originally from Nashville, she now lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with her cat.  She is involved in ADP as well as Students for Environmental Action of MTSU in the fight against MTR coal mining. She hopes to finish school in a timely manner and begin her career as a botanist and modern homesteader. She feels that any student can make a difference in his or her community with just a bit of time and effort.

Josh and Carlin are both juniors in the MTSU College of Basic and Applied Sciences.