eJournal of Public Affairs: New CLDE17 Issue

We’re thrilled to unveil the latest issue of the eJournal of Public Affairs, a collaboration between Missouri State University and AASCU’s American Democracy Project. This issue features content from the 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement meeting in Baltimore, Md. organized by ADP, TDC, and NASPA’s LEAD Initiative.

Issue 7.1 of the eJournal of Public Affairs is what we’re reading!

---

Intro Essay: Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement

By Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, National Manager, American Democracy Project, AASCU; Stephanie King, Assistant Director for Civic Engagement, Knowledge Community, and Social Justice Initiatives, NASPA; and Verdis Robinson National Director, The Democracy Commitment
Read more

---

Articles

Collaborative Engagement from within the Academy: A Self-Reflexive Narrative

By Danielle L. Lake, Grand Valley State University
This essay builds upon the current movement around publicly engaged scholarship, seeking to illuminate its challenges, risks, and rewards through a…

Read more

Enhancing Civic, Electoral, and Political Engagement Through International Student Inclusion

By Adrienne McNally, New York Institute of Technology
International students are often overlooked in the typical civic engagement activities of colleges and universities. However, including international students in such…

Read more

College Student Food Insecurity and Awareness and Use of Supports: Recent Findings from a Survey of Students at a Mid-Sized State Comprehensive University in Kansas

By Brett Zollinger, Fort Hays State University; Shala Mills, State University of New York at New Paltz; Emily Brandt and Wendy Rohleder-Sook Fort Hays State University Recognition of food…

Read more

Invited Essay: Educating for Democracy in Undemocratic Contexts: Avoiding the Zero-Sum Game of Campus Free Speech Versus Inclusion

By Nancy Thomas, Tufts University
The debate over free speech and inclusion in higher education is not new, but it has reached new levels of vitriol and confusion as…

Read more

Bridging Civic Engagement to Civic Responsibility Through Short-Term, International Service-Learning Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis of Student Reflections

By Stephanie Malinenko, Justine Tutuska, and Lynn Matthews, Daemen College
Written reflection is a tool commonly used by faculty to assess student learning in service-learning courses, which are frequently…

Read more

---

Reviews

Book Review: Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines

By Melanie Nichole Burdick, Washburn University
Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines. Edited by Elizabeth C. Matto, Alison Rios Millett McCartney, Elizabeth A. Bennion, and Dick Simpson. Washington, DC: American Political…

Read more

Book Review: You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen

By Derek W. M. Barker, Kettering Foundation
You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen. By Eric Liu. New York: Public Affairs. 2017. ISBN: 9781610397070. 256 pages.…
Read more

---

Features

Invited Commentary: Democratic Engagement and Community Engagement: The American Democracy Project at California State University San Marcos

By Scott Gross, Kimber M. Quinney, and Catalina Langen, California State University San Marcos
The American Democracy Project (ADP) at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) is unique in…

Read more

Food Pantry Making a Difference for FHSU Students

By Chase Willhite, Kansas Health Foundation
Across Kansas, as students like Shane Keller face increasing economic challenges, food insecurity becomes an issue. But, with the help of a Kansas Health…

Read more

CivEd Talks – Doing Civic Engagement through a Wicked Problems Lens: The Case for Passionate Impartiality

By Martín Carcasson
Amid perhaps the most polarized time in our nation’s history, the quality of public discourse has also reached historic lows. Civic engagement practitioners must find ways to…

Read more

CivEd Talks – Millennial Conservatism and Civic Engagement: No, Really, What Do Young Conservatives Want?

By Jane Coaston
Young conservatives are here to stay, and in 2016, they voted in higher numbers — and exhibited higher engagement with candidates and issues — than they had…

Read more

CivEd Talks – Citizen Power

By Eric Liu
Far too many Americans are illiterate in power – what it is, how it operates, why some individuals have more than others. As a result, those few…

Read more

2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting Reflections: UMBC

A number of University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) faculty, staff, and students attended the 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Meeting in June in Baltimore where they experienced and contributed to the exchange of ideas and knowledge that took place at the conference. Below are some reflections on their time at the conference. We encourage you to share your own experiences and reflections in the comments or by emailing adp@aascu.edu.  

Photo by Marlayna Demond for UMBC (From left to right: Lee Boot, David Hoffman, Jessica Sackey, Bev Bickel, Scott Casper, Joby Taylor, Nancy Young, Craig Berger, Philip Rous, Tahira Mahdi, Corinne Janet, Romy Hübler, Lori Hardesty, Hannah Sadollah, Meghan Lynch, Manisha Vepa, Janae Cruz, Michele Wolff, Nitya Kumaran, Kaleigh Mrowka, Emily Melluso, Collin Sullivan, Josh Massey)

Corinne Janet, Coordinator of Student Life for Leadership Development

Eric Liu asserted in his CivEd Talk that “there’s no such thing as a problem that doesn’t relate to me.” I would really like our students (and our society at large) to think that way as well. I think a lot of white people write off the Black Lives Matter movement because “it doesn’t concern me.” But, of course it does. It concerns all of us. At UMBC’s student leadership retreat, we strive to increase empathy and understanding among students to the point that they see all social issues as relevant to them personally. I want to make sure we’re continuing this work and creating relevant connections between leadership and social identity.

Nitya Kumaran, Senator, Student Government Association

I came away from the CLDE meeting thinking about the advice I’d give to other students, and to my younger self, about how to make a difference. Among the ideas inspired by the meeting:

• You do not have to be the most experienced, most qualified person in the room to have something to contribute. “Believe in the ignorance of experts.” Ask questions, not because you have to be impressive, but because you are curious and the knowledge you gain is power.
• Assert that you are an equal. Your age does not negate your capacity to make valuable suggestions. There are more solutions than the ones you have been told about. Take your role as a student seriously, take your power seriously, take your resources seriously.
• Practice power with awareness. Each person is a catalyst of power; they have networks, are part of conduits. Learn to read and write power. Do I know of the conduits and can I write myself into the power structure?
• Remember that every interaction you have, you are creating and destroying ideas. You are telling someone you matter or you don’t matter in small ways. Every time you bring up something new in conversation, when you agree or disagree, you are spreading thoughts to someone else. That is power.

Kaleigh Mrowka, Assistant Director of Residential Life for Residential Education

I noticed that the conference seemed to be moving in two directions. Some people seemed to be there trying to “do the work,” by which I mean they were engaging in dialogue and trying to deepen and develop the idea of civic learning and democratic engagement. Others were there to showcase existing programs, sometimes implying that they had already resolved all the big questions. I think that tension makes sense for a group actively trying to advance theory and models in the field, but it meant that the plenary speakers and small sessions were sometimes poorly aligned. I was left thinking about how we could orient more people more effectively to the frontiers of the work.

Meghan Lynch, Vice President for Student Organizations, Student Government Association

I had a truly wonderful conversation about the 2016 election with a student from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Like me, this student participated in leading his College Democrats club. In many ways, I feel that our discussion solved many of the problems of the world, maybe because we had enough in common that we were willing to be honest. We discussed the dynamic of a white working class, rural America that feels politically disenfranchised. I shared my research about gender bias in how voters regard candidates. We talked about Trump’s bluntness and matter-of-fact mannerisms (though the facts are debatable), and how that style speaks to many Midwesterners more effectively than the policy wonkiness of Hillary Clinton’s speeches.

Maybe there’s a larger lesson in the fact that many of my best CLDE meeting interactions happened in the in-between spaces, outside of formal sessions. I left those conversations truly believing that we have come to a pivotal moment in American history, and that it is time to be creative and understand that civic learning and democratic engagement must go beyond voter registration drives or get out the vote efforts. My mind is full of questions, and also the recognition that I have peers and mentors and a support team so great that if we put our minds together, change can and will happen.

Janae Cruz, Coordinator of Student Life for Student Engagement

At UMBC we aim to teach our students that the world, including UMBC, is not complete, and that they have the ability to shape and influence their environment. We want our students to leave UMBC understanding what it means to be civically engaged and to have a sense of agency. However, since the 2016 election I have wondered how we can succeed when our current system and administration leave so many people on all sides of the partisan divide feeling powerless.

I was inspired by the activity at the American Democracy Project organizing meeting in which we collected our thoughts about what constitutes a “thriving democracy” on Post-it notes. We discussed the need for feelings of influence, involving stakeholders, agency, representation, listening and hearing others, recognizing our biases and blind spots, understanding our differences, pushing aside partisanship in favor of what is right. So what would happen if today, and every day moving forward, we decided that instead of feeling powerless, we’re going to challenge our students to take a critical look at democracy, and challenge them (and ourselves) to make the changes we need, on our campus and beyond, in order for all of us to thrive? Is this a pipe dream? I don’t think so. I appreciated the chance to work through these questions alongside people who are also thinking about how we move forward post-November 2016.

Dan Barnhart, Director of Off-Campus Student Services

Campuses that have high civic engagement are ones that have strong relationships between students and faculty, have diversity and inclusion embedded in their culture, talk about politics and civic duty constantly, practice student agency, and have students who are active in questioning the system. I think for this conference to mean even more to our students, it should focus less on the electoral process and more on how students can be the change agents for both campus and country.

Collin Sullivan, undergraduate student

I went to CLDE with the expectation of continuing to have “woe is me” flashbacks of the 2016 presidential election. Instead, I came away with new inspiration and clarity, especially stemming from the plenary session in which we engaged in a deliberative dialogue about crime, safety, race, equality, and social justice. This is not a light conversation for anyone, but the structure and facilitation gave us the opportunity to hear from everyone at our table and benefit from their ideas, their stories, their experiences, their values, their mindset. How often do we do that? How often do we have deep conversations with people we may not necessarily see eye to eye with, and may not necessarily know all too well, and discuss threats to our democracy without arguing or getting frustrated? We need to listen and hear each other. We need to take action as this crazy world we live in isn’t going to fix itself.

David Hoffman, Assistant Director of Student Life for Civic Agency

At the closing plenary session, Sandy Rodriguez from the University of Nevada, Reno, shared a compelling story about her own vulnerability in a moment when she recognized a design flaw in one of her own programs. She said she had come to view a willingness to be vulnerable as a crucial disposition for participants in a thriving democracy. I agree. What I appreciated most about the CLDE meeting was being inspired by so many colleagues who were willing to go to a place of vulnerability about our collective work in order to consider how to deepen and extend it. These are sobering times for our democracy, but I left the meeting inspired about the possibilities ahead.

Manisha Vepa, Senator, Student Government Association

I heard some good ideas at the session on Education in Times of Democratic Crisis, facilitated by Elizabeth Gish and Leah Ashwill from Western Kentucky University. I especially liked their concept of citizen stories: basically, where they had their students interview community members to gain multiple ideas on what citizenship meant. I think this could have a lot of meaning if implemented correctly. It could go beyond just asking what did it mean to cast a ballot, illuminating instances of people’s frustration with the system and how they dealt with it. I also think it would be beneficial because students could hear opinions outside of a college campus. Especially at UMBC, there seem to be some generally accepted ideas about what being a citizen means. It would be great to get different perspectives. I can imagine this being an oral interview project that culminates in some sort interactive map or other final project. Or even just a senior graduation requirement: something for students to consider as they continue on in the world.

Craig Berger, Coordinator of Student Life for Campus and Civic Engagement

As we noted the increased urgency of civic engagement work at the 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement meeting, one thought-provoking observation offered by a conference participant stays with me. The commenter observed an interesting and concerning dynamic in our conversations: While we often speak in civic engagement circles about the importance of preparing “our” students for the future (as if we own them), we tend to forget our ability to engage them as the civic agents they are right now. I left our meeting realizing that not only should we focus more on the present in our work (e.g., How can we build campus cultures on the idea of teaching democratic engagement through the co-creation of our respective campuses?), but also that tackling this work with a focus on the present makes it easier to embrace the unique humanity of the students with whom we are working, leading to a more robust and engaging learning experience.

(Clockwise from the left: Craig Berger, Collin Sullivan, Nancy Young, Kaleigh Mrowka, Manisha Vepa, Romy Hübler, Meghan Lynch, Hannah Sadollah, Lori Hardesty, unidentified, Corinne Janet)

 

#CLDE17 Baltimore in Review

Our recent 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Meeting in Baltimore, Md., brought together a great group of faculty, students, administrators, community partners and representatives from our national sponsor and partner organizations committed to advancing civic learning and democratic engagement through higher education.

Read on for highlights of our time together.

By The Numbers

608 participants (100 more than in 2016!) representing 181 colleges and universities as well as 52 other organizations.

• 161 Four-year Colleges and Universities (103 public; 38 private)
• 39 Community Colleges
• 1 international university
• 113 Students
• 19 Sponsors/Exhibitors

Program Overview

The full program is available for download here (pdf).

Pre-Conference highlights:

• The 2017 CLDE Meeting opened with nine pre-conference sessions that engaged participants in a variety of important civic learning and democratic engagement topics. Participants were invited to take part in one or both of a pair of popular Educational Testing Service (ETS)- sponsored Civic Engagement Assessment Pre-Conference Workshops focused on planning for institution-wide data collection and measuring civic outcomes during college, respectively.

• Other pre-conference workshops included a full-day Charting a Course on the Pathway to Civic Engagement: An Inventory and Action Plan for Engaged Campuses workshop for campus teams as well as a set of half-day workshops including: Measures That Matter: Regarding Engaged Scholarship In Tenure and Promotion; Dialogue and Democratic Deliberation: Moderator Training; Educating for the Democracy We Want, Not the One We Have; and Integrating Civic Responsibility into the Curriculum.
• The Student Pre-Conference Workshop was organized for students, by students. Led by the 2017 CLDE Student Intern Team (Amber Austin, sophomore, Tarrant County College (Texas.); Christina Melecio, sophomore, Winona State University (Minn.); and Tyler Ferrari, sophomore, Chapman University (Calif.)), the session introduced students to #CLDEStuds17 and provided a space to discuss issues focused on being an active participant in local and national communities, and introduced students tools to be effective activists in their communities.
• In being mindful of the city that CLDE17 took place, there were three opportunities to engage with the Baltimore community. Two walking tours (Westside of Downtown Baltimore and Baltimore “Untour”) led by University of Maryland Baltimore County faculty members Nicole King, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of American Studies and Joby Taylor, director, Peaceworker Program at The Shriver Center. Towson University supported an exploratory session by Bus (Right to the City – Curtis Bay: Community Engagement through a Mobile App) led by Nicole Fabricant, associate professor; and Matthew Durington and Samuel Collins, professors, department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice.

Some of the more than 130 students that participated in #CLDE17

Opening Plenary & First Day highlights:

• Participants had the opportunity to participate in two sponsored lunch sessions. The first, a 2017 Voter Engagement Symposium organized by our friends at TurboVote, provided an interactive symposium on what it takes to engaged student voters in not one, but all of their elections. The second lunch, sponsored by our friends at Roadtrip Nation, included a screening of their documentary film Beyond the Dream and included a panel discussion about undocumented immigrants and their higher education journeys.
• UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski, III welcomed participants to Baltimore and reminded us that the most important office in our democracy is that of citizen. Three CivEd talks then kicked off Thursday afternoon’s opening plenary session. These three, short, dynamic and fast-paced presentations by members of the civic learning and democratic engagement community  inspired and challenged our collective imagination and thinking. The talks were given by: Jane Coaston, political reporter, MTV News, Martín Carcasson, founder and director, Center for Public Deliberation, Colorado State University, and Eric Liu, CEO, Citizen University. Attendees also participated in a Sworn Again citizen ceremony lead by Eric Liu.
  

  Visual journalist Ellen Lovelidge’s depiction of the themes from Thursday’s plenary.

• Participants were each given a copy of Eric Liu’s new 2017 book You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen and had the opportunity to have Eric sign their books during our networking reception. They were also able to learn from poster presenters and the campus showcase tables.

Friday highlights:

More than 50 participants volunteered as table moderators during Friday’s plenary (Photo credit: Greg Dohler

• Friday morning participants started their day with a Dialogue and Deliberation Forum: Safety and Justice: How Should Communities Reduce Violence? This session — offered in conjunction with our friends at the National Issues Forums Institute — explored the increasing violence in U.S. communities, law enforcement, and race and how this violence undermines national ideals of safety and justice for all citizens. Attendees used briefing materials prepared by the Kettering Foundation to participate in deliberations promoted by the National Issues Forums Institute and spent time considering the difficult choices the nation must face in order to make progress.  Over 50 CLDE attendees graciously volunteered to serve as table moderators to over 400 participants.  The forum concluded with a panel discussing the applications of these forums in classrooms, campuses, and communities, and discussed why this civic skill is so critical now more than ever before.  Panelists included:  Adam Thompson, junior, Winona State University (Minn.); John Dedrick, Vice-President, Kettering Foundation; Emily Bowling, Assistant Director of Student Leadership & Involvement for Civic Engagement and Sustainability, Oregon State University; and John J. Theis, Executive Director, Center for Civic Engagement, Lone Star College (Texas). Participants left the forum with a hands-on, interactive experience in deliberative democracy that can be applied across higher education.

Saturday highlights:

Our final plenary session on Saturday, June 10th, The Theory of Our Work – Today and Tomorrow: What’s Next?, focused on our emergent theory of change. Participants engaged in conversations about the emerging theory of change for our conference and work, based on elements from A Crucible Moment and on our four guiding questions. The guiding questions are:

1. Vision question: What are the key features of a thriving democracy we aspire to enact and support through our work?
2. Learning Outcomes question: What knowledge, skills, and dispositions do people need in order to help create and contribute to a thriving democracy?
3. Pedagogy question: How can we best foster the acquisition and development of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for a thriving democracy?
4. Strategy question: How can we build the institutional culture, infrastructure, and relationships needed to support learning that enables a thriving democracy?

Responses to each were given by: Manisha Vepa, undergraduate student, and David Hoffman, assistant director, student life, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); Sandy Rodriguez, director, ASUN Center for Student Engagement, University of Nevada, Reno; and Helen-Margaret Nasser, associate director, honors program, CUNY Kingsborough Community College (NY).

We considered what a thriving democracy looks like and higher education’s role in cultivating this democracy. View the full theory of change in the images below:

CLDE Theory of Change | 4 Questions | Front of Placemat

CLDE Theory of Change | Back of Placemat

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPONSORS

The 2017 CLDE Meeting in Baltimore, MD. could not have been a success without the continued support from our sponsors. They have shown an unwavering commitment to securing an effective method of fostering democracy. Our sponsors’ contributions were  instrumental in creating meaningful dialogue that helped set the agenda for future goals, initiatives and partnerships. We would like to thank the following:

ADP, TDC, and NASPA have deep admiration and gratitude for each organization and the support they provided to the 2017 CLDE Meeting. We look forward to future collaborations

CLDE 2018

We hope to see you in Anaheim, California, from June 6-9, 2018, for the next CLDE Meeting where we will continue our important work of preparing informed, engaged citizens for our democracy.

PowerPoints and other handouts from the meeting are available through the meeting’s mobile app. Please email sreynolds@naspa.org with any additional materials you’d like uploaded into the app.

Finally, to see more pictures from the meeting, visit the ADP Facebook Page (CLDE17 album); please send any photos you took to adp@aascu.org so that we can upload them to Facebook/Twitter/Instagram.

 

Thank you to our #CLDE17 Meeting Partners and Exhibitors!

 

As part of your experience at the 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, be sure to connect with our meeting partners and exhibitors in the Marriott Ballroom Foyer during the hours of registration. You can also connect with them during the #CLDE17 networking reception on Thursday, June 8 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom Salon I, II, III, & IV, and throughout the entire meeting as they attend, participate in, and present sessions.

We are pleased to recognize the partners that help to make this meeting a success: ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, ACUE, Ask Big Questions, BallotReady, Campus Vote Project, Eco Promotional Products, ETS, Millennials World, Net Impact, NobleHour, Office of Continuing Studies: University of Alabama, Roadtrip Nation, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, Service Year Alliance, Student PIRGs, Stylus Publishing, The New York Times, TurboVote, and YMCA Blue Ridge.

Go here to learn more about our meeting partners and exhibitors.

AASCU’S ADP/NASPA/TDC HOST 2017 CIVIC LEARNING AND DEMOCRATIC ENGAGEMENT MEETING

News Release from AASCU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017-05-31
Contact: Jennifer Walpole 202-478-4665

AASCU’S ADP/NASPA/TDC HOST 2017 CIVIC LEARNING AND DEMOCRATIC ENGAGEMENT MEETING

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) American Democracy Project (ADP), in partnership with NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and The Democracy Commitment (TDC), will host the 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) meeting on June 7-10, 2017 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Md. The annual conference brings together civic engagement administrators, faculty, staff, students and community partners focused on institutionalizing and advancing civic learning and democratic engagement work on college and university campuses across the country. Nearly 600 participants will attend.

The meeting’s pre-conference workshops will begin on Wednesday, June 7. Topics include engaged scholarship in tenure and promotion, Dialogue and Democratic Deliberation moderator training; measuring civic outcomes during college; educating for democracy; integrating civic responsibility into the curriculum; and a pre-conference workshop for students.

Thursday’s programming begins with the 2017 Voter Engagement Symposium: Engaging Locally & Strategizing Digitally, hosted by TurboVote. This interactive symposium explores what it takes to engage student voters in not one, but in all elections. That afternoon, there will be a film screening of the Roadtrip Nation documentary, Beyond the Dream, followed by a panel discussion about the “undocumented immigrant” label and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act (or DACA) and its implications for educators, administrators, students and allies.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, will offer remarks during the meeting’s opening plenary on Thursday afternoon. This will be followed by three CivEd talks: Speaker Jane Coaston, political reporter with MTV News, will address Millennial Conservatism and Civic Engagement: No, Really, What Do Young Conservatives Want?; Martín Carcasson, founder and director, Center for Public Deliberation, Colorado State University, will discuss Doing Civic Engagement Through a Wicked Problems Lens: The Case for Passionate Impartiality; and Eric Liu, CEO, Citizen University, will explore Citizen Power.

Friday’s plenary session will be the Dialogue and Deliberation Forum on Safety and Justice: How Should Communities Reduce Violence? This plenary will provide opportunities for people to consider the options and difficult choices that our communities and the nation must make if we are going to make progress together, and how to carry out this form of democratic practice in classrooms, campuses and communities. Following this plenary, attendees will participate in concurrent sessions and mini-institutes.

The meeting will conclude on Saturday with the session, The Theory of Our Work—Today and Tomorrow: What’s Next?, followed by Voter Friendly Campus (VFC) workshop that includes an overview of the VFC process and next steps for campuses that received the designation.

For additional information about the meeting, visit http://www.aascu.org/meetings/clde17/.

###
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of more than 400 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions Delivering America’s Promise of Opportunities for All.

The Democracy Commitment (TDC) is a national organization dedicated to advancing democracy in America’s Community Colleges, and to make democratic skills more available to all students who desire a voice and a seat at the table of local, state, and national discourse and action. To such end, TDC provides a platform for the development and expansion of community college programs, projects, and curricula aimed at engaging students in civic and democratic education and engagement.

NASPA is the leading association for the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession. Our work provides high-quality professional development, advocacy, and research for 15,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries, and 8 U.S. territories.