Free Evaluation Opportunity for Summer High Impact Global Learning Programs; Best Practices on Global Learning & Cooperative Development

By Eric Hartman, Editor & Co-Founder, globalsl.org and Assistant Professor, Kansas State University

Institutions and organizations advancing intercultural, civic, and critically reflective learning during summer programming (including summer programs that start with coursework during the spring term) are invited to participate in the 3rd Global Engagement Survey during Summer 2016. The Global Engagement Survey has proceeded with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation and a diverse array of university sponsors. Join this multi-institutional effort and have the (confidential) opportunity to compare your institution to the overall, mixed methods dataset. This is a rare opportunity for those of us who get excited by challenging ourselves and considering strengths and opportunities across institutional contexts. Participation is free for predominately first-generation or minority-serving institutions. Read further at the link and/or email Dr. Eric Hartman (emhartman(at)gmail(dot)com) with any questions.

Globalsl mobilizes research and best practices supporting partnerships for global learning and cooperative development. Visit the research database, teaching and partnership tools, or blog to learn more, or watch this brief video summary of Research Insights for Best Practice International Volunteering:

Research Insights for Best Practice International Volunteering from Kindea Labs on Vimeo.

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Eric Hartman is editor of globalsl.org and an Assistant Professor in the Staley School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University. He has published widely on global citizenship, global service-learning, and fair trade learning.

National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE)

Here is an opportunity that you won’t want to miss. In 2013, Tufts University and CIRCLE launched a national study of college student voting rates called the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE). Nearly 600 campuses are currently participating, and we encourage your institution to join the study as well. This opportunity is free, confidential, easy, and protective of your students’ privacy.

In 2012 a call to action went out to the higher education community with the publication of “A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future.” The report lays out specific steps “to make college students’ civic learning and democratic engagement a pervasively embraced educational priority and a resource for democracy.” The national conversation that followed was only the first step.

The next step is using programs like NSLVE to evaluate which strategies to increase student democratic engagement are most effective so they can be supported and spread to as many campuses as possible.

NSLVE provides you with an unprecedented opportunity to learn in aggregate numbers:

• how many of your students are eligible to register to vote,
• how many registered and voted,
• where your students voted (locally or out-of-state),
• the method your students voted (regular or absentee ballot), and
• voting rates broken down by specific demographic and academic information such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, field of study, and class level.

You will receive this information in a confidential report tailored for your institution.  You can see a sample here.

To ensure that your students’ privacy rights are fully protected, NSLVE researchers work with de-identified student lists. Your registration and voting rates will be known only to NSLVE researchers and will remain confidential. Reports go to only one person on your campus, you or your designee.

Joining the study is easy. Simply complete this authorization form and email it to nslve@tufts.edu. This is not a survey, and you do not need to compile student lists or records. For more information, see this FAQ or contact Ishara Casellas Connors, NSLVE associate director.

To receive your 2012 and 2014 voting rates, you must sign up by March 31, 2015.

CIRCLE’s National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement webinar today!

Friday, March 21, at 2 p.m. EST.

CIRCLE (the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement) recently received a grant to study college student voting rates.  260 universities and colleges have already signed up including 43 American Democracy Project member institutions.

The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) presents an unprecedented opportunity for your campus to learn in aggregate numbers:

• How many of your students are eligible to register to vote
• How many registered and/or voted, and where (locally or elsewhere)
•  The way your students voted (regular or absentee ballot)

By participating in this study, your campus will also help build a national database for future research. CIRCLE will be working with de-identified student lists, so your students’ privacy rights are fully protected. This is not a survey!

If you are interested, you can also correlate voting with specific demographic information such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, field of study, and class level. CIRCLE has also been able to provide peer comparisons by Carnegie classification.

To join the study, you must sign up by April 10^th 2014.

NSLVE is offering ADP campuses the chance to learn more about what you can do with this data and share what information you would like to know in the future. Take advantage of this opportunity and join this conversation by attending a free webinar TODAY, Friday, March 21 at 2 p.m. Eastern.

To join the webinar:

• CONNECT via the Web at: https://aascu.adobeconnect.com/ete-nslve/
   AND
• CALL via telephone for the audio portion: 1-719-387-8317 OR 1-866-642-1665 (Participant Code: 499385)

For additional specifics, go to the NSLVE page and/or contact Nancy Thomas, NSLVE director, for more information.

New Tool for Your Campus’ Student Elections

EveryVote University is a free service that makes it easy for any student organization to post election information and candidate biographies online. The goal is to increase voter turnout in university elections by helping student organizations improve their outreach over social media.

EveryVote election pages are fully-functional on computer, tablet, and mobile devices, and no web design skills are needed to create a page.

To see a sample EveryVote election page, click here.

EveryVote was recently used by Northern Illinois University’s Student Association, and will be used for NIU’s Homecoming King and Queen election, to be held on October 9th. To view the NIU Student Association election page, click here.

If your school or student organization would like to share election information online, you can create your own pages now at www.everyvote.org, or email contactus@everyvote.org to find the personalized help to get you get started.

An Opportunity for Tomorrow: The State of Student Voting

The State of Student Voting: From Shelby County to North Carolina
Tuesday, September 10
2 to 3 p.m. ET

 We are organizing a call to examine the state of student voting.
Please RSVP to eevans@fairelectionsnetwork.com.

Student participation was strong in 2012, but going forward there will be a number of challenges to maintaining or increasing youth participation. In 2014, new restrictions will be in place, there won’t be the election buzz of a presidential election, and fewer resources will be devoted to turning out students. To avoid the dramatic drop off we saw in 2010, students need information about rule changes, how to comply, and registration and voting procedures. To effectively communicate all of this information, institutions of higher education and student organizations also need to join the effort.

Please join the Fair Elections Legal Network’s Campus Vote Project tomorrow, Tues., Sept. 10 from 2 – 3 p.m., EDT for a discussion on the state of student voting. The call will feature speakers from Fair Elections Legal Network, Campus Vote Project, the Bus Federation and Rock the Vote and will highlight:

• A review of Shelby County, other major court decisions, and recent legislation impacting student voters;
• What may be on the horizon;
• Successful efforts by colleges and students to promote and protect student voting; and
• Messaging and other efforts, such as National Voter Registration Day, that will help engage students during the off year while preparing for an important 2014 election cycle.

This call is intended to move the conversation toward 2014. Campus Vote Project is planning a strategy meeting, early next year, to explore different topics concerning student voters. Through your participation in this presentation and discussion, we hope to identify the issues and topics that would be most useful to address at the 2014 winter conference.

To RSVP or if you have questions, please email Erica Evans at eevans@fairelectionsnetwork.com.