ADP/TDC Economic Inequality Initiative: Stockton University Launch

Stockton University (N.J.) held their kick-off event for their Economic Inequality Initiative on September 28, 2015. Co-chairs of the initiative Carra Hood, assistant provost for Programs & Planning and associate professor of Writing, and Oliver Cooke, associate professor of Economics, hosted the event, which explored economic inequality in a national, regional and local context. A panel of faculty and staff members discussed local and regional contexts of economic inequality.

“These initiatives are only valuable if they generate broad-based awareness and participation. The intent is to engage everyone across the disciplines,” Cooke continued.

For more information, resources and upcoming events for the Stockton Economic Inequality Initiative, click here. To read the team’s blog, which discusses economic and other forms of inequality, click here.

ADP/TDC Economic Inequality Initiative Updates

By Amanda Adams, AASCU Civic Engagement Intern and Stockton University (N.J.) student

For more information on the joint ADP/TDC Economic Inequality Initiative, go here.

New Economic Inequality Grants
We are excited to announce that thanks to Weber State University’s (Utah) overwhelming generosity under Provost Emeritus Michael Vaughan’s leadership, we are able to offer campus mini-grants of up to $1,000 to ADP/TDC Economic Inequality (EI) participating campuses for the purpose of advancing the work of this initiative.

Applications are due by Monday, October 19, 2015 for best consideration. To apply, EI campuses must complete the following two Google forms:

• The ADP/TDC EI Campus Grant Application Form can be found here.
• The ADP/TDC EI Campus Reporting Form can be found here.

Keene State (NH) Professor Receives Award for Work on Economic Inequality Initiative
Patrick Dolenc, professor of economics, received the 2015 Barbara Burch Award for Faculty Leadership in Civic Engagement from the American Democracy Project, in part for his leadership of the ADP/TDC Economic Inequality Initiative and its Scholars group. Dolenc’s goal for his students is not for them to just graduate and get good jobs, but to care about and know how to make a difference in their communities through civic engagement, one of the many reasons he was chosen for this award. To read more about Dolenc and the impact of this award click here.

Weber State (Utah) Provost Emeritus Michael Vaughan to Study Economic Inequality’s Effect on Democracy
Under Vaughan’s leadership, Weber State University will offer a new course this fall focused on helping students understand economic inequality. A team at Weber University is working on producing educational videos that will be used to promote and circulate information on the topic. Weber State is participating in the ADP/TDC Economic Inequality Initiative and Michael Vaughan is a member of the initiative’s advisory council. Learn more here.

EI Initiative at SUNY Cortland to pose EI Questions on Democracy Wall
SUNY Cortland, an EI campus, is facilitating a community dialogue about democracy and economic inequality via a “democracy wall” — a blackboard that invites community participation by posing questions. Learn more about their efforts here.

Please see also our earlier post on the Economic Inequality and Civic Engagement Conference being held by EI and TDC campus Lone Star College – Kingwood (Texas).

Economic Inequality Initiative at Stockton University

Stockton University (N.J.) is one of 30 ADP and TDC campuses engaged in our joint Economic Inequality Initiative. Learn more about their emerging work and check out their blog! 

By Carra Leah Hood, Assistant Provost for Programs and Planning and Associate Professor of Writing, Stockton University (N.J.)

The Economic Inequality Initiative Stockton Team includes faculty, professional staff, administrators, and students and has representation from all academic Schools. Creating a collaboratively-authored blog is one of the Team’s initial steps to communicate and to educate broadly about economic inequality. The blog “Economic Inequality Initiative at Stockton University” contains resources and posts on a diversity of topics related to economic and other forms of inequality.

In addition to maintaining the blog, the Stockton Team is in the process of composing a survey that it will administer across the campus in the fall 2015 and re-administer during the three-year period of the Economic Inequality Initiative to gauge the effectiveness of the Team’s efforts.

Finally, the members of the Stockton Team have taken on particular projects, among them:

• working with teachers of first year seminars to suggest ways to incorporate economic inequality themes into their courses
• facilitating a peer food bank for students
• applying for internal funding to support the development of a web-based resource page
• considering inviting relevant speakers to the campus.

One Team member is working with Stockton faculty and administrators to increase recruitment and retention of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM majors.

In the future, the Stockton Team plans to create means for the campus and the community to share ideas and approaches to advocacy, to design educational materials, and to open up opportunities for ongoing interventions.

Economic Inequality Initiative: WSU (Utah) seeks to establish Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality

Weber State University (Utah) is one of 30 ADP and TDC campuses engaged in our joint national Economic Inequality initiative.

An excerpt of a local news story about WSU’s efforts to acquire land in downtown Odgen, Utah (where the campus is located) to house its Community Outreach Center and to establish a new Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality is included below. The full story from the Standard Examiner can be found here:  http://www.standard.net/Education/2015/03/19/WSU-seeks-approval-for-land-purchase-and-poverty-center.

WSU’s trustees also unanimously passed a request to establish a Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality.

“Weber State is one of 21 colleges and universities selected to participate in the national initiative by the American Association of State Colleges and University’s American Democracy Project, to focus on looking at poverty and inequality, and how that affects democracy in this country,” said Kevin Sullivan, the board’s vice chairman.

WSU was selected, in part, because of the demographics of the area served by the school.