Partner Spotlight: Get a 50% Discount on a New York Times Digital Subscription

The New York Times is a founding partner of AASCU’s American Democracy Project. We are proud that our relationship continues now into the 2nd decade of ADP. The New York Times inCollege is sponsoring our upcoming ADP National Meeting in Denver and we hope you’ll stop by their table as well as consider their special digital subscription rates below!

Get a 50% Discount on a New York Times Digital Subscription

Educators across the country value The New York Times for its high quality of news and analysis, and AASCU members can take advantage of a discount of 50% on digital subscriptions that is available to college faculty, staff and students.

A digital subscription provides unlimited access to NYTimes.com, including virtually unlimited access to its archived articles back to 1851.* Prices start at only $1.88 per week for access to NYTimes.com plus the NYTimes smartphone apps.

To learn more and order, visit nytimes.com/CollegeDiscount.

*Restrictions apply and prices are subject to change.

Partner Spotlight: NCoC’s new Issue Brief “Civic Health & Unemployment II: The Case Builds”

Better Civic Health means Lower Unemployment

Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds is the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC)’s latest issue brief. This 2012 Issue Brief explores the relationship between civic engagement and economic resilience. It finds that the density and type of nonprofit organizations in a community, as well as its social cohesion (the level at which citizens trust, talk to and help neighbors and socialize with family and friends), are important predictors of that community’s ability to withstand unemployment in a recession.

“Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds” is released by NCoC in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with research by CIRCLE (the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), Civic Enterprises, and Saguaro Seminar.

This brief is a continuation of research that began in 2011 with a brief called “Civic Health and Unemployment: Can Engagement Strengthen the Economy?” That brief found that five measures of civic engagement – attending meetings, helping neighbors, registering to vote, volunteering and voting – appear to help protect against unemployment and contribute to overall economic resilience. See the related 2011 brief.
The research will be presented this week in Philadelphia during the National Conference on Citizenship’s 67th annual conference, which brings together civic leaders, educators, CEOs and government representatives to address issues related to our nation’s civic health.

Viewers can watch the conference, including the announcement of the winners via livestream from 1-5:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 14th. There will be a panel exploring the link between civic engagement and employment at 1:45 p.m ET.

To join the conversation on Twitter, follow @NCoC and @CivicData and the hashtag #NCoC, or on its Facebook page. The conference will include questions from Twitter followers as part of the conference.

Authors: Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg (CIRCLE), Chaeyoon Lim (University of Wisconsin) and Peter Levine (CIRCLE).

Table of Contents

• 1 – Introduction
• 2 – Executive Summary
• 3 – Evidence Builds that Civic Health Protects Against Unemployment
• 4 – Specific Findings: The Number and Type of Nonprofit Organizations Predict Resilience to Unemployment
• 5 – Specific Findings: Social Cohesion Also Predicts Resilience Against Unemployment
• 6 – Explaining Some Causal Mechanisms: Some Possibilities
• 7 – Conclusion
• 8 – Technical Notes
• 9 – Glossary of Terms and Data Sources
• 10 – Endnotes

Suggested citation for this publication:
National Conference on Citizenship. Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds, Washington DC. 2012, September.

ADP Campus Coordinators’ Corner: Shaping Our Future

By Gregg Kaufman, ADP Campus Coordinator, Georgia College

Shaping Our Future: How Should Higher Education Help Us Create the Society We Want? is a National Issues Forum issue book developed in conjunction with the American Commonwealth Project and as a deliberative forum aid to A National Call for Action: A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future prepared by The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement. The NIF web site (www.nifi.org) offers free Shaping Our Future resources and a brief seven-minute introduction to the subject to use for deliberative forums.

How do we plan to use Shaping Our Future on our campuses and in the communities to which we relate? Is it possible to convene forums inclusive of citizens as well as college students, professors, and staff? NIF will collect feedback from forums across the country b using a convener/moderator survey form. In anticipation of the ADP Tenth Anniversary Meeting in Denver (June 6-8, 2013), it would be great to report that a healthy percentage of ADP campuses conducted forums and perhaps develop a presentation that would offer findings.

Please share your plans relative to incorporating Shaping Our Future into your 2012-13 ADP programming, by emailing Jen Domagal-Goldman, ADP National Manager at adp@aascu.org.

Have a great year!

Partner Spotlight: NCoC’s Civic Data Challenge

Countdown to Civic Data Challenge Deadline: Turn Raw Data into Community Tools

Believe that communities can take better advantage of key data in their decision making? Join the Civic Data Challenge and help turn the raw data of civic health into useful community tools. The deadline for submission is July 29th.

The first-ever Civic Data Challenge will bring new eyes, new minds, new findings, and new skill sets to the field of civic health. It’s a project of NCoC (the National Conference on Citizenship), in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as well as other great partners like Code for America and the Case Foundation. Kaggle, DataWeek, and GOOD are all contributing exciting prizes. The Salesforce.com Foundation has announced their commitment as a top-line sponsor—contributing $25,000 in cash prizes for Challenge winners!

Participants in the Challenge will turn the raw data of “civic health” into beautiful, useful applications and visualizations, enabling communities to be better understood and made to thrive. NCoC is providing its civic health data, as well as other data on the important topics of health, safety, education, and the economy.

You’re invited to collaborate with others, analyze the data, and create something amazing to showcase what you find. Designers, data scientists, researchers, and app developers are especially encouraged to join the challenge. All entries must be received by July 29th, so make sure to join the Google Group now!

The challenge has exciting prizes for the winners, who will be selected from each category — health, economy, safety, and education. As a participant, you will be competing for cash and other cool prizes including the opportunity to host your own data competition on the Kaggle platform, to present your winning insights at Data Week in September, and to feature your submissions through the GOOD platform.

You’ll also have the chance to get your work in front of an awesome team of judges including:

• Leslie Bradshaw, President, COO and Co-founder of JESS3
• Beth Kanter, Author, Blogger, Trainer
• Henry E. Brady, Dean and Professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
• Matt Mahan, President and Acting CEO, Causes
• Jake Porway, Founder and Executive Director, DataKind
• Darell Hammond, CEO and Founder of KaBOOM!
• Maria Teresa Kumar, Founding Executive Director of Voto Latino
• Ryan Resella, Technical Lead at Code for America
• Sonal Shah, former Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation
• Michael D. Smith, Senior Vice President of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation
• Christie George, Director of New Media Ventures
• Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist and Craigconnects
• Vivek Kundra, Executive Vice President, Emerging Markets, Salesforce.com.

Winners will be announced at the 67th Annual National Conference on Citizenship on September 14 in Philadelphia.

Watch the Civic Data Challenge team launch the Challenge at the Data 2.0 Summit in San Francisco: http://www.civicdatachallenge.org/blog/post/civic-data-challenge-launched-at-data-20-summit_1

How to find the Challenge:
www.CivicDataChallenge.org
www.Twitter.com/CivicData
www.Facebook.com/CivicDataChallenge

Felice Nudelman and Tom Ehrlich honored with ADP Spirit of Democracy Awards

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

Felice Nudelman and Tom Ehrlich, Spirit of Democracy honorees

The ADP/TDC 2012 national meeting marked the 10th annual meeting of the American Democracy Project. In commemoration of this event, we honored two individuals who played — and continue to play — pivotal roles in the founding and future of ADP.

Felice Nudelman, in her previous role as the Executive Director of Education for The New York Times Company where she was responsible for developing and overseeing education initiatives, including The New York Times Knowledge Network, was a co-partner with George Mehaffy and AASCU in creating the American Democracy Project in 2003. Her involvement in the deliberations and discussions which lead to the founding of ADP was crucial.

Tom Ehrlich was a a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching when George Mehaffy and Felice Nudelman called him up to get input and advice for AASCU’s new American Democracy Project. He thought ADP sounded like a “great idea” and was thrilled to help. Tom was the keynote speaker at the first ADP meeting in 2003; he also suggested the ADP campus audits and reading circles — two early ADP implementation strategies on our campuses. Tom and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching were also our national partners in ADP’s Political Engagement Project.

To honor Felice and Tom, we created a “Spirit of Democracy” award, one that will be given infrequently to individuals whom embody ADP’s commitment to prepare the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy.

“Felice and Tom were not only critical to the creation of the American Democracy Project but valued collaborators and staunch champions of our collective commitment to education for democracy.  I’m thrilled that we could recognize Felice and Tom with Spirit of Democracy awards and I am deeply honored to call them both friends,” said George Mehaffy.

Thank you, Felice and Tom for your commitment to ADP and the important work that we all do together!

Introducing Citizen Alum: Doers, Not (Just) Donors

Citizen Alum counters the image of alumni as primarily “donors” with a vision of them as also “doers.” Alums are allies in education–crucial partners in building multigenerational communities of active citizenship and active learning.

Citizen Alum, based at the University of Michigan, started six months ago as an affiliated program of the American Commonwealth Partnership (ACP) — of which ADP is a member — took shape during the planning phase of the January 10, 2012 White House meeting, “For Democracy’s Future.”

___________

You can learn more about Citizen Alum at #ADP12 next week in San Antonio, during the following sessions:

Thursday, June 7 | 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. | Conference Room 7
Pre-Conference Workshop: American Commonwealth Partnership Open Forum (open to all)
ADP and TDC are two key partners in the new American Commonwealth Partnership (ACP). ACP is an alliance of colleges and universities, higher education groups, P-12 schools and others dedicated to the democracy college ideal for all higher education. Launched at the White House on January 10, ACP grows out of ADP’s Civic Agency Initiative and its ‘We the People’ conference in Washington, D.C. The November 2010 conference laid the initial plans for a movement in higher education to, in partnership with policy makers, deepen the civic identities of colleges and universities and spread empowering pedagogies and community-connecting practices. At this preconference forum, participants have a chance to hear about several key ACP initiatives, including: the deliberative dialogues on higher education’s role in America’s future; “Citizen Alum,” strategies for broadening the role of alumni from “donors” to “doers;” and Empowering Pedagogies, approaches which bring civic agency into curricular and co-curricular innovation. ADP’s new Campus Civic
Health Initiative, which focuses on ways to measure and improve civic health, is also discussed.
Facilitator: Harry Boyte, Director, Center for Democracy and Citizenship, Augsburg College (Minn.) and National Coordinator, American Commonwealth Partnership
Citizen Alum: Strategies for Campus Teams
Presenters: Julie Ellison, Professor of American Culture and English and Lead Organizer of Citizen Alum, University of Michigan; Thomas Morgan, Executive Director, Center for Faith and Learning, Augsburg College (Minn.); and Kara Lindaman, Associate Professor and ADP Campus Director, Winona State University (Minn.)
Deliberative Dialogues on Shaping Our Future
Presenters: Kara Lindaman, Associate Professor and Campus ADP Campus Director and Laura Lake, Student, Winona State University (Minn.)
Empowering Pedagogies
Presenters: Blase Scarnati, Director, First Year Seminar Program and Global Learning, Northern Arizona University and Kaylesh Ramu, Student Government Association President, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Saturday, June 9 | 10 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Conference Room 7
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.)

____________

Citizen Alum seeks 25 colleges and universities representing all sectors of American higher education. Working with this network, we plan develop ways to exchange good models as well as to foster bold aspirations. We want to support campus Citizen Alum teams that extend the university’s public mission to more offices and departments. Finally, we hope to become a community that views alumni, along with other constituencies, as “agents and architects of democracy,” to use the language of the Wingspread Declaration.

Charter Members Include:

• Augsburg College
• De Anza College
• Kennesaw State University
• Metropolitan State University
• Syracuse University
• University of Michigan
• University of Michigan-Dearborn
• University of Minnesota
• Winona State University

At each site, we look for a team that is willing to work with the national network for three years. The team should include representatives of community engagement centers, academic programs, alumni associations, development, and, of course, citizen alums themselves. There is no fee for joining.

We conceive of Citizen Alum as a national listening project; a capacity-building project to make public the civic passions of alums, current students, faculty, and staff; and a participatory research project.

Along with Alex Olson, a doctoral student in American Culture at the University of Michigan who is a collaborator on the project, I have been having a series of inspiring phone calls and meetings with people from interested campuses. These encounters have confirmed our belief that colleges and universities are trying many different creative strategies as they reframe their approaches to public engagement in ways that support richer cross-generational connections.

Please contact me if you would like to join the Citizen Alum network of campuses, centers, and consortia.

Julie Ellison, Professor of American Culture and English, University of Michigan
jeson@umich.edu

Different Ways to Do It Right: Alumni Listening Projects

“Start listening projects to gather and learn from the reflections of engaged alumni” is right at the top of Citizen Alum’s list of goals. Alumni are central to Citizen Alum. Each participating campus or center is assembling a Citizen Alum team. (See “Who’s On Your CA Team?”) Each team will include alumni members. Citizen Alum is committed to involving alums in multiple ways-through participation in academic activities (like capstone courses), working on specific issues with campus-community projects in the region–or serving on the Citizen Alum campus team.

One of the reasons we started Citizen Alum is because we are convinced that creative new strategies in alumni relations are taking shape on college and university campuses all over the country. Over the last six months, as Citizen Alum has gone from a lunchtime brainstorm at the American Democracy Project conference to a viable national undertaking, we have learned of existing or new alumni listening projects at several member campuses. The diversity of these programs shows that there are, indeed, many different ways to do it right.

For examples, see “Listening Projects,” below.

What Questions Are They Asking?

Metropolitan U Students To Interview Alums

1.How you are involved in your community or in efforts to solve public problems?

2.How do you address community issues through your work? What are the primary social issues related to your field?

3.What motivated you to become involved in community and public problem-solving? How did your path to civic engagement start?

4.Were there any particular classes, instructors or organizations that particularly shaped your ideas or your approach to community work? How?

5.How has your life changed because of your community involvement? What have you gained from being a civic actor?

From “Citizen Alum Interview Questions” developed for writing and media and communications courses

Listening Example #1:

Metropolitan State: Integrating Interviews Into Academics

Jodi Bantley, Coordinator of Community Service Learning at the Center for Community-Based Learning (soon to become the The Institute for Community Engagement and Scholarship) writes that Metropolitan State’s approach to Citizen Alum focuses on “academic integration and student learning.”

The institutional relationship-building between alumni relations and other units that is needed to achieve such integration is an important fringe benefit. The Department of Communication, Writing, and the Arts explored CA as an “engaged department” project. There is considerable faculty interest in crafting CA components for courses that range from a basic Information Studies class to the capstone course.

To date, the most concrete academic outcome of CA is a plan to integrate “citizen alum stories” into coursework. Two sections of a Basic Writing course will be dedicated to the theme of civic engagement in Fall 2012, involving 44 students per semester in gathering alumni stories. The Human Subjects Review Board has approved a guiding set of interview questions (see “What Questions Are They Asking?”) and a step-by-step guide for students. Two Spring 2012 semester pilots will give the interview assignment a test run. It will be integrated into an upper division Media Studies course, ‘Communicating with New Media,” and a Social Science department internship, sponsored by the Center for Community-Based Learning.

Listening Example #2:

Winona State: An Innovative Web Platform

Dr. Kara Lindaman of Winona State’s Citizen Alum team (and point person for the American Democracy Project at Winona State) sends word of the group’s decision to produce “gap” and “situated” alumni narratives in video and written form. Through undergraduate research and other forms of intentional engagement, students will begin to collect and disseminate this critical work this spring. These narratives will be featured on the Winona 360 site—a wonderful place that is something like an online student-produced community media center for the region.

Through surveys and interviews, a rich database of alumni engaged in public work will lead to a better understanding of the civic learning and civic health of WSU students, before and after they graduate. These efforts involve collaborations with academic units and with the WSU Alumni Office and Foundation. They also contribute to the Rural Outcomes Initiative of Minnesota Campus Compact by documenting the economic development and workplace contributions of alums in Southeastern Minnesota.

Why Listen?

Listen to be surprised. Engaged alums take their civic vocation seriously. They come bearing gifts–the gifts of experience, ideas, skills, and strategies. As ACP National Coordinator Harry Boyte says, citizen alums “are hidden treasures.”

Listen to connect. Asking the right questions about what alums are doing is the first step in learning about their civic creativity. (See “What Questions Are They Asking?”) At Metropolitan State, the Citizen Alum team sees this as relationship-building, “laying the groundwork to connect directly to alums as public problem-solvers.”

Listen to stimulate research. Alumni are potential research partners–co-investigators on inquiries that benefit both the college and alumni themselves. For example, a joint research project might look at the aspirations and choices of publicly active students during the transition from college to career.

Listen to change the culture on campus.

Listening projects connect academic and administrative offices to the university’s public mission in new, more collaborative ways.

Joining CA: Kennesaw

At Kennesaw University in Georgia, planning for systemic public engagement is underway. Citizen Alum adds a valued dimension. Public engagement is central to broad new initiatives. At Kennesaw, people in varied roles and different units all have civic learning and civic professionalism on their minds.

Kennesaw State has launched “Engage KSU,” anticipating the opportunity in 2015 to apply for the Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Community Engagement Classification. Having made the decision to incorporate public engagement into its mission as it approaches its 50^th anniversary, KSU is in the midst of a year-long community engagement project. Five teams are charged with planning in the areas of teaching, scholarship, service, infrastructure, and partnerships. Citizen Alum is consistent with the Engage KSU initiative already underway and offers a way to connect with the university’s many young alumni.

On the Horizon

The CA website is under construction. We should be online in May

Conferences and Meetings in 2012

Look for two Citizen Alum sessions at the American Democracy Project Conference June 7-9 San Antonio.

Join us at the Citizen Alum session at the Imagining America conference October 5-7 NYC

Looking Ahead to 2013

Discussion are underway about a Citizen Alum summer institute hosted by the Jandris Center for Innovation in Higher Education at the University of Minnesota. Stay tuned.

Campus Spotlight: Winona State hosts Civic Summit

In April, Winona State University, an American Democracy Project participating institution, hosted a civic summit featuring the new National Issues Forum guide Shaping Our Future: How Should Higher Education Help Us Create the Society We Want? I encourage you to read about the summit and people’s thoughts on how higher education can help us create the kind of democratic society we hope for.

I also encourage you to consider attending the following two program sessions at the upcoming ADP/TDC 2012 national meeting, June 7-9 in San Antonio:

Friday, June 8 | 10:30 a.m. – Noon
Featured Session:
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 (Ohio) and William V. Muse, President, NIF Institute (Ohio).
Forums will be moderated by: Cristin Foster, Assistant Program Director, David Mathews Center for Civic Life (Ala.); 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 (Ala.); 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.).

Friday, June 8 | 3 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.       
Concurrent Session:
Deliberative Politics and Organizing for Deliberative Decision Making
This session discusses the role of public deliberation in democratic politics, introduces research on developing frameworks for productive public deliberations over controversial issues, and provides information useful to people who want to organize and lead forums on campuses and in community.
Presenters: John Dedrick, Vice President and Program Director, Charles F.  Kettering Foundation (Ohio); Cristin Foster, Assistant Program Director and Chris McCauley, Executive Director, David Mathews Center for Civic Life (Ala.); Kara Lindaman, Associate Professor and ADP Campus Director, Winona State University (Minn.); and Bill Muse, President, National Issues Forums Institute (Ohio)

See you in San Antonio!

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

How Should Higher Education Help Us Create The Society We Want?

On April 19, 2012, Winona State University hosted the inaugural civic summit on the National Issues Forum and American Commonwealth Project Deliberative Dialogue Initiative on Shaping Our Future:  How Should Higher Education Help Us Create The Society We Want?  The first national conversation using this issue guide was held in honor of WSU’s retiring president, Judith Ramaley, who is a tireless advocate for higher education and its civic mission.  President Ramaley serves as a member of the President’s Council for the American Commonwealth Partnership.

Over 110 participants attended the Civic Summit at Winona State University.  Individuals came as high school and college students, university faculty and staff, community members, higher education experts, media editors and journalists, local law enforcement, and business people.  It was quite the range of participants and they were mixed in groups with WSU students as trained moderators through the Minnesota Campus Compact moderator training series.

When organizing the Civic Summit, we immediately determined the event should be student led, as moderators, participants and organizers. This stems from our rich experience in student organizing and mobilizing efforts.  It also reflects our experience with the Center for Democracy and Citizenship’s training led by Harry Boyte and Dennis Donovan in the “We the People” series held with the Minnesota Campus Compact in Spring 2011.  For many of the fifteen plus students who became moderators, this was a new experience.  Despite its unfamiliarity, the students rose to the challenge, prepared their notes, and were comfortable enough to welcome others to their tables.  Each group of approximately 10-12 guests had two students—one as moderator and one as recorder.   Each group was designed to have a variety of individuals from different backgrounds, however the structure was very minimal to encourage open and honest discussion.  With little formality, students forged ahead, were indeed taken seriously by others, and extolled confidence and credibility to members of their groups.

“Seeing the different levels of a university present in one group with community members truly provided unique input regarding the different approaches.  Seeing the differences between the views of students, professors, and members of the administration was extremely interesting, however, what was more exciting, was seeing the areas they agreed upon – that higher education does indeed help us create the society we want…” Laura Lake

One particular group that was indicative of the principles behind the NIF process included a local and well-respected business person from the Winona community.  Known for his conservative underpinnings and his large contributions (nearly a quarter of a million annually to local grants and scholarships for students and community members), this community member began with strong support of American exceptionalism and Approach One.  It was evident of the potential generation gap experienced within the group as the local businessman began the discussion by voicing his stereotype that young people were lazy, took out too many loans, and used the money to go on vacation.  As one student shared his personal experience in joining the army (ROTC) to fund his education and his education at MCTC and transferring to WSU, without adequate financial aid and the lack of family support to co-sign loans, group members visibly recall the local businessman becoming more favorable and open to thinking about other ideas and other perspectives, with genuine respect towards the student advocating for and needing more student and financial aid.  It became clear the businessman had changed his mind after he heard the student’s personal experience and was open to seeing the other side as the group’s discussion continued.  In the end for the local businessperson, Approach II received support to train responsibility through community service.  While there was not an overall consensus regarding one approach over the other in this group and many others, this particular experience in the Winona Civic Summit: NIF Forum demonstrated a student and a businessman taking each other seriously and respecting their differences on the shared purpose of higher education.

One aspect of the Civic Summit that makes it so exceptional is that people of all walks of life participate in the democratic process together. Having such a diverse group of individuals discussing a public issue or good can cause participants to feel hesitant about what the outcomes of the dialogue will be. Student-moderator Courtney Juelich, had first-hand experience with this principle within her democracy pod:

“At first many of the students, both college and high school, were apprehensive about talking openly with adults. They were not quick to answer the posed questions and often looked to myself or to the three older members of the group after a question was stated. After introductions and finding common ground on themes and experiences, communication was fluid and respectful between all members in my democracy pods.”  Courtney Juelich

Even though participants came from all sorts of backgrounds but with a shared interest and common purpose, in the end the differences we previously used to distinguish ourselves were less important and noticeable than the sense of community, which was established over the shared principles of mutual respect and open discussion.  Student-moderators thoroughly enjoyed the process and felt empowered to be taken seriously and welcomed in a group of diverse generations and members.  We feel very fortunate to have launched this national conversation on the role of higher education in communities such as ours.  We also want to thank all of the participants for thoughtfully contributing to the health and well-being of democracy and deliberative dialogue in Winona.  Special thanks are extended to the Kettering Foundation, the National Issues Forum, and the American Commonwealth Partnership for granting us permission to pioneer this dialogue.  We wish President Ramaley the best in her retirement from Winona State University and appreciatively recognize and celebrate her support of the civic mission and the civic responsibility of the university with Winona and beyond.

Courtney L. Juelich is a junior at Winona State University and a major in Political Science and Public Administration with a minor in Economics.  She was one of the student organizers of the Civic Summit.  Her hometown is Chanhassen, Minnesota. She was the creator and writer of the 2012 Warrior Grant named “The Green Grant”, which after winning the student referendum vote will create a self-sufficient composting system for the Winona State campus to collect organic food scraps as well as to educate the student body on the process of composting and how it is beneficial to the environment.

Laura A. Lake is a junior at Winona State University and a major in Political Science and Public Administration with a Music minor. She is involved in Pi Sigma Alpha, Political Science Association, Student Senate, and National Residence Hall Honorary, and is currently a Resident Assistant, and will be an Assistant Hall director in the following year. Laura was the lead organizer of the Civic Summit. Her hometown is Hillsboro, Oregon.

Kara Lindaman serves as the American Democracy Project Coordinator at Winona State University, where she is an associate professor of political science and public administration.  She also serves on the Steering Committee of the American Commonwealth Partnership and enjoys collaborating with civically minded and passionately motivated students such as these.

Re-posted from ACP’s DemocracyU blog, here.

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!

The Corrupting Influence of Money in Politics: March 29, 2012 Livestream

The American Democracy Project and it’s Political Engagement Project are partnering with the Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy (Ill.) to give ADP faculty and students the opportunity to participate in a conversation about money and politics via a live-streamed event, free of charge. This March 29, 2012 event will be a moderated conversation with former Senator Russ Feingold (D) and Trevor Potter (who worked with the McCain Presidential campaign). ADPers will have the opportunity to Tweet questions to the speakers (more information, including the Twitter handle and hashtag to use, will be forthcoming). I encourage campus ADP groups to organize collective viewings of this presentation and to organize their own discussions afterward.

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

The Corrupting Influence of Money in Politics

with Senator Russ Feingold and Trevor Potter

Moderated by Elizabeth Brackett

Thursday, March 29, 2012 | 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Central)

The event above will streamed live from The University Club of Chicago here:

www.livestream.com/stevensoncenter

The escalating monies collected to promote or denounce issues, and the funding of political campaigns, are an increasingly corrupting influence in the creation of public policies which benefit the nation as a whole. The early months of this year’s presidential campaign have seen an unparalleled infusion of money into the campaigns as a result of the 2011 Supreme Court Decision that overturned the reforms Feingold and Senator John McCain championed in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law. The discussion will cover the scope of the problem, its significant impacts on current campaigns, and efforts that might be encouraged to rein in the problems of runaway funding.

About the Speakers:

Russell D. Feingold was a Democratic senator from Wisconsin for 18 years (1993 -2011). He served on the Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Budget, and Intelligence Committees. He also served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1983 to 1993. Well known for leading the fight for campaign finance reform in the Senate alongside Senator John McCain, Russ has always championed efforts to limit the influence of special interests. On February 17, 2011, Feingold announced he had formed a grassroots Political Action Committee, Progressives United, a movement intended, among other things, to fight the controversial United States Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC.  Russ is also the author of the forthcoming book, “While America Sleeps,” about what America has done wrong both domestically and abroad since the terrorist attacks of September 11, and what steps must be taken to ensure that the next ten years are focused on the international problems that threaten America and its citizens.

Trevor Potter is a lawyer, former commissioner (1991–1995) and chairman (1994) of the United States Federal Election Commission. He is the founder, President, and General Counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington, DC based nonprofit focused on campaign finance issues in the courts and before the FEC. Potter served as General Counsel to the 2000 and 2008 Presidential campaigns of John McCain. He is also notable for appearing on the television program The Colbert Report, where he discussed political action committees, and the founding and progress of the Colbert Super PAC and 501C-4. Potter explained to Colbert’s audience the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision made by the United States Supreme Court that allowed the creation of “Super PACs”, and was the lawyer behind the creation and functioning of Stephen Colbert’s PAC, “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow”.

Elizabeth Brackett is a Chicago-based correspondent and host for WTTW-TV’s Chicago Tonight program, a correspondent for PBS’ The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and an author. Her journalism has been awarded a Peabody Award and an Emmy.

About the Stevenson Center:

The international Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy is a newly organized non-profit which seeks to enhance the global understanding and practice of democracy. It brings veterans and practitioners of politics together with scholars to seek information and ideas from history and the world. No ivory tower, the goal of the Center is to address challenges to democratic systems of government and conceive practical solutions that make governments more accountable. Non-partisan and non-ideological, its integrity enables it to challenge conventional wisdom with inconvenient truths when necessary, in keeping with the legacy of Adlai E. Stevenson II.

The Center is located at Stevenson’s former home near Libertyville, Illinois, restored with a grant from the State of Illinois and now a property of the Lake County Forest Preserve District. Participants in its activities come from research and policy organizations as well as from the world of politics, journalism and other fields, thus representing a broad spectrum of expertise and practical experience. The non-partisan Center strives to influence opinion and the political process through public education, the media and other means. It aims to bring practitioners from on the ground and throughout the world together with policy analysts and researchers, bridging the gap between theory and practice, ideas and action. Its international perspective and operation offer a unique contribution.

For more information about the Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy (Ill.), go here.

About ADP’s Political Engagement Project:

The Political Engagement Project has the goal of developing a sense of political efficacy and responsibility on the part of undergraduates as well as a set of political skills that students will need as they engage with the political world. To do this, PEP campuses have infused political education and engagement tactics into a variety of disciplines and courses on campus and have made the tenants of political engagement central to the institutional framework of their campuses. The project documents the goals and pedagogies of the participating courses and programs, students’ perspectives on their experiences in the program, and the impact of these experiences on key dimensions of political development such as knowledge and understanding, active involvement, sense of political efficacy and identity, and skills of democratic participation.

For more information about ADP’s Political Engagement Project, go here.

Partner Spotlight: Student Voting Update from FELN’s Campus Vote Project

Student Voting Update for March 12, 2012

Posted by Josh Spaulding

The Fair Elections Legal Network’s Campus Vote Project is excited to launch its new weekly update that focuses on news across the country related to students’ ability to vote. Young people are constantly underrepresented when it comes to voting. While many attribute the low turnout to apathy, specific barriers to the ballot disproportionately affect young people generally and students specifically.

Students, in particular, face additional obstacles to voting as they move to a new community for school. These challenges include not knowing voter registration rules and deadlines, not having acceptable ID for voter registration or voting purposes, confusion about where to vote, lack of transportation to the polls, and occasionally are confronted by unfriendly or unsympathetic elections officials or poll workers.

There are several ways for students, administrators, and election officials to help get students the information they need to register and vote. This weekly update will highlight what is being done on campuses and in the states to get students the information to participate and make voting more accessible as well as legislation that is specifically targeted to limit students’ access to the ballot. These are just a few examples from the past month. Please let us know of any recent on campuses or in the states that will impact students’ access to the ballot. Send your email to info@campusvoteproject.org.

To view non-student specific legislation that will impact access to voting, please visit FELN biweekly update on voter suppression legislation.

If you are interested in joining the new campaign FELN launched, Campus Vote Project, to help get students to the polls, please sign up at www.campusvoteproject.org.

Georgia

In the recent Presidential primary in Georgia, turnout among young voters was only 5%. A local TV station asked students at Albany State University why they didn’t vote. The students responded that they were unaware of the primary election date or that they were registered in their hometown.

Indiana

Students at Ball State University made their case before the Delaware County Election Board for an early satellite voting site on the Ball State campus. Currently, the campus is split into four different precincts with most of the polling locations over a mile from campus. Ball State President Joann Gora was supportive of the idea in 2008, the last time students tried to get a satellite voting site on campus.

Florida

The University of Miami, Miami-Dade Community College, and Florida International University have partnered with Turbovote, an online tool to help students vote. In the next few months, students will be able to start the voter registration process as well as apply for an absentee ballot through Turbovote. Students will be mailed ballots and will receive email and text message remainders as the election nears to either vote the absentee ballot or show up to vote in person on Election Day. FELN provides strategic advice and legal analysis for Turbovote.

Maryland

Although the Maryland General Assembly will not consider new legislation this year, the Student Government Association at the University of Maryland voted 20-0 to call on the legislature to introduce and pass same-day registration in a future legislative session. They noted that states with same-day registration saw an increase in student voters, including an analysis by the California Institute of Technology showing that same-day registration increased turnout of young adults (18-25 year olds) by 9.1 percent.

Minnesota

As lawmakers try to move through a bill in the Minnesota legislature that will put on the November ballot a constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID to vote, the League of Women Voters Minnesota produced a video showing how the law will effect voters – especially students. Among them is a graduate student who has, like many other students, moved 12 times in the past 6 years for internships, work, and when the school year ends. The proposed amendment will add a new barrier to voting for students in a state that has traditionally seen higher levels of student voting because of Election Day registration.

New Hampshire

The House passed legislation two weeks ago that would require a person’s voting address be their residence for all other legal purposes, impacting hundreds of laws and statutes that contain the words residency and domicile. For instance, a person would be required to change their drivers’ license and vehicle registration if it did not match the address they use for voter registration. The bill will likely prevent out of state college students from voting in New Hampshire unless they change their legal residence from their home state to New Hampshire. The bill heads to the Senate.

North Carolina

The upcoming vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage in North Carolina has activated students on the Duke University campus to make voting more convenient for students ahead of the spring election. The Duke Student Government got a one-stop early voting site on campus – allowing students to both register and cast a ballot at the same time.

Ohio

Warren G. Harding High School took a group of students who will be 18 by the November general election to vote in Ohio’s primary election on Wednesday. Dozens more students from Warren City Schools are expected also be bused to vote in the primary.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Senate passed a voter photo ID law that allows for student IDs from a Pennsylvania college or university to be acceptable ID if the student ID contains a photo, the student’s name, and an expiration date proving that it is still valid. The bill moves back to the House for agreement and then to Governor Tom Corbett to sign. Governor Corbett has said he is in favor of requiring photo IDs to vote.

Texas

The Black Student Alliance at San Antonio College in Texas recently conducted a voter registration drive to educate students on the importance of voting. They were able to register 90 students and plan to hold two more voter registration drives before the November election.

Vermont

Vermont voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2010 that now allows 17 year olds that will be 18 by the general election to vote in the upcoming presidential and August primary.

Virginia

SB 1 passed the Senate on February 6 with a 20-20 vote with the lieutenant governor casting the tie-breaking vote. SB 1 allows an ID card from any 4 year school of higher education in Virginia – including private schools – to serve as voting ID. Those who cannot provide an ID will no longer be able to sign a sworn statement of identity to vote by regular ballot and will instead have to vote by provisional ballot and show required ID later. The House concurred and the bill has been sent to Governor Bob McDonnell.

For the primary this past week, Liberty University was able to get a polling location on campus for students to vote. Previously, students had to take a bus to the polling location. Close to 600 people voted on at the polling place on campus.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s photo ID law was temporarily suspended pending trial over a lawsuit over the new law. Last’s month primary election required photo ID – which also allowed student ID’s – but as of now are not required to show a photo ID in the upcoming primary election because of the injunction. The new law that has been suspended only allows student IDs to serve as IDs if they have a photo, name, signature, date of issuance, and a 2-year expiration date. Students also must bring a letter from their school indicating that they are currently enrolled to be able to use a student ID. One student writes about the complications she encountered trying to vote under the new law, including printing the enrollment verification form.

The Madison Student Voter Coalition and the University of Wisconsin – Madison conducted a voter education awareness campaign prior to Tuesday’s primary.

The Wisconsin Senate passed a bill that would no longer require that voter registration to be offered to students in high school. It now heads to the Wisconsin Assembly.

The University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire is issuing voter IDs to students that do not have acceptable forms of identification to vote but are charging students $2 to obtain one. The Chippewa Valley Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the school urging them to provide the IDs for free.

Whether or not technical school IDs are acceptable forms of identification is now in the hands of Gov. Scott Walker. He must approve the official policy written and approved by the Government Accountability Board that allows IDs issued by technical schools for voting.

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Re-posted with permission from The Campus Vote Project Blog.