Student Spotlight: Chico State’s Town Hall 2.0

By Selma Betten, Public Relations Intern, Office of Civic Engagement, Chico State University (Calif.)

Chico State’s Office of Civic Engagement promotes, strengthens, sustains, and recognizes civic engagement initiatives that are consistent with the strategic priorities of California State University, Chico. We believe in respectful mutual partnerships with the broader community that foster socially and environmentally responsible students, faculty, and staff. We work to engage students and faculty throughout our 12-county North State service area.

Karyn Cornell (left) and Amy Rhoades (right), Chico State students who worked on Town Hall 2.0

Students become more engaged scholars and gain confidence about their capacity to do meaningful work when they have an opportunity to share their research in public dialogues with interested others. The bi-annual CSU, Chico Town Hall Meeting provides students with a public arena for discussing current policy issues with other students, faculty, and community members. Students research and prepare talking points for topics such as immigration, freedom of speech, and homelessness, and receive feedback on their ideas from community consultants. Afterward, they write an action plan based on their conversations at the event.

 

This activity has shown to have such positive impacts for Chico State students that we want to share this opportunity with communities in our region. Town Hall 2.0 was an idea hatched by Karyn Cornell, a student in the Masters of Public Administration program. The goal is to enlist college students to mentor high school students in other communities in the North State, using all of the civic engagement skills they had learned as participants in the Town Hall meeting. Along the path of researching and developing a project proposal, Karyn was introduced to Amy Rhoades, an undergraduate in Social Work working on her honors project. Amy attended Salisbury High School, a Red Bluff continuation school, many years ago as a teen mom. She credits the staff at the school for seeing her potential and helping her graduate high school. At the time, Amy didn’t think college was an option for her. Now, for her honors project, Amy wants to return to her home community and support more students from Salisbury in getting to college.

When Karyn and Amy met to discuss their shared interests, they decided that Town Hall 2.0should make its stage debut at Salisbury and the principal of the high school, Barbara Thomas, agreed. Town Hall 2.0 is designed to provide young people from North State communities and Chico State students the opportunity to interact and learn from one another. The goals are to provide all student participants with skills in collaboration, research, and community engagement, and potentially encourage more young people to attend college and then return to their communities to continue their civic work. The hope is that Town Hall 2.0 will be coming to other North State communities in the future.

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Selma Betten is a senior majoring in Business Marketing at Chico State University. She grew up in San Francisco, and decided to attend Chico State in 2014 because of the college atmosphere and top rated business program. At Chico State, she is involved in American Marketing Association and the the Seufferlein Sales Program, where she competed and placed 3^rd in the Sweet Sixteen Sales Competition. She has studied abroad in both Spain and Italy, and has traveled to over 16 countries. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and playing with her dog.

You can follow CSU Chico’s Office of Civic Engagement on Facebook here.

 

 

 

 

 

Maryland Bill Would Put a Polling Location on Every College Campus

By Ellie Brookbank, Junior Political Science Major, Salisbury University (Md.)

Ellie Brookbank

My name is Ellie Brookbank and I am currently the Political Director for the Maryland College Democrats and the President of the Salisbury University College Democrats. At the start of the Maryland General Assembly’s legislative session, I also became an intern for Maryland State Senator Bobby Zirkin (D-11) who has served the Maryland assembly since 1998. Senator Zirkin, who is the Chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings committee, recently proposed a bill (Senate Bill 141) that would require a polling place be established on all higher education campuses that house students.

As the student leader of a political organization, I am thrilled about the effect that this piece of legislation could have on increasing student voter turnout and overall civic engagement. During the past election cycle, both the Maryland State College Democrats and the Salisbury College Democrats were working to make sure that students were informed about when and how they could vote. On Salisbury’s campus specifically, both members of the College Democrats and College Republicans participated in voter registration tables in conjunction with PACE (Salisbury’s Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement). From participating in many of these voter registration tables, handing out voter information at various school events, and discussing voting procedures during club meetings, I was able to get a sense of the obstacles students face when voting.

During the first hearing of Senate Bill 141 (track the bill here) in the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, I testified on behalf of this significant bill and also helped to organize students from all over Maryland to share both their oral and written support for this bill. During my testimony, I highlighted that absentee ballots are often the only option for students who are not able to go back home to vote, do not have the transportation to get off campus to a polling location, or are not comfortable going off campus in general. Although absentee ballots may be the only way of voting for students, many are not aware of what they are, or how to request them. Having a polling place directly on college campuses would make voting significantly more accessible for students who are living, working, and volunteering in the communities where they attend school.

Although this bill is still in committee, I am optimistic that the members of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee will realize the critical role this legislation could play in increasing student voter turnout. Even if Senate Bill 141 does not become law this legislative session, I hope that it will spark a discussion between Maryland students and schools about the accessibility of voting on their individual campuses.

 

Fighting Hunger at Fort Hays State University

By Kelly Nuckolls, FHSU American Democracy Project Student Coordinator

Fort Hays State University (FHSU) students and faculty recently attended the 8^th Annual Universities Fighting World Hunger Food Summit in Overland Park, Kansas.

Held March 2 – 4, 2013, this was the first time the event was hosted by a coalition of institutions. FHSU Provost Larry Gould and Director of the Center for Civic Leadership Curt Brungardt decided early on that the university would support this unique learning and engagement opportunity.

Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH) is the catalyst for over 300 chapter colleges and universities who engage in international programming across the globe to make fighting hunger a core value of higher education institutions worldwide. Students, faculty, administrators, political officials, and hunger relief organizations from all over the world came together at the Food Summit to share best practice models; listen to keynote addresses from Ritu Sharma of Women Thrive, Dr. Alastair Summerlee of the University of Guelph, and Max Finberg of the U. S. Department of Agriculture; all with the goal of ending hunger by empowering the younger generation.

FHSU’s American Democracy Project Student Co-Coordinator Kelly Nuckolls had the opportunity to be on the steering committee for this conference. Ten students from FHSU also joined the Food Summit volunteer team with students from Ottawa University and Kansas State University. Three FHSU faculty and 16 students attended the conference, including three graduate students from China. The Chinese students were active and vocal participants and hope to bring hunger awareness speakers to their campuses in China.

Curt Brungardt; faculty member Shala Mills; Anne Drees, also a student co-coordinator of the American Democracy Project; and Nuckolls presented at the summit about this semester’s “From Harvest to the Hungry: Kansans Addressing Hunger.” This program is a three-week series that includes presentations, service events, film screenings, and public forums to engage the public around the issue of local, national, and global hunger. FHSU partnered with the Kansas Humanities Council and the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum to make these possible. Following the formal presentation, conference participants were given the opportunity to participate in a forum inspired by the National Issues Forum’s publication—The Rising Cost of Food. The town hall was moderated by four FHSU students.

The fact that food insecurity exists right here in America—the wealthiest country on the planet—was a central theme at this conference, and as the three-day event came to an end, attendees were called to action. Students were reminded of the importance of everyday acts of citizenship that can make an impact in the world, and Nuckolls demonstrated to the conference how simple political action can be, even for a student, by making a call over speaker phone to her Representative, Congressman Kevin Yoder {R-KS} (watch it now by clicking here). She wanted her fellow conference attendees to witness how simple it is to engage in efforts that will put an end to starvation and hunger across the globe.

If you are curious about this unique learning experience and the opportunity to become a global leader in the fight against hunger, as well as the efforts made toward that end at the 2013 UWFH Food Summit, check out the re-cap video made by FHSU student Becca Kohl by clicking here.

For more information on Universities Fighting World Hunger visit: www.universitiesfightingworlhunger.org.

Kelly is a Student Coordinator for both the American Democracy Project and the Global Leadership Project. She works with organizing and developing curricular and co-curricular programming to engage the FHSU community in projects and activities that educate about and cause a direct impact on local, national, and global issues. Kelly is a senior majoring in Political Science, with a minor in Spanish, and a certificate in Global Leadership.

We the People Interview Series: NAU’s Frankie Beesley

Interviewed by Stephanie South, Program Associate, AASCU

As part of the Civic Agency initiative, we are conducting a special “We the People” interview series. In this series, we interview intriguing people with different perspectives on the “We the People” phase of our work in ADP.

Frankie Beesley was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV. She is currently a junior at Northern Arizona University majoring in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in sustainability, community, and biocultural diversity, and a minor in journalism. She has been involved with the Action Research Teams (ARTs) since her freshman year. The ARTs focus on issues, challenges, and visions for a sustainable campus and community environment, as well as fostering student engagement in a democratic and just way. Frankie became involved with the Weatherization and Community Building Action Team (WACBAT) her freshman year, particularly because WACBAT focused around community building, sustainable initiatives, and student facilitation. During her sophomore year, she was given the opportunity to co-facilitate WACBAT and has held that position ever since. Working with WACBAT, Frankie hopes to continue efforts around community building and engagement as well as aiding and support the efforts of sustainable initiatives all around the greater Flagstaff region.

SS: Frankie, I understand you got involved with the civic engagement work at NAU your first year through a learning community. Can you tell me a little more about what a learning community is?

FB:  I became involved with the ARTs (action research teams) my freshman year through an LC—a learning community. A learning community is a community of first-year students all interested and working around similar passions and ideals. Students join a particular LC because it meshes with their targeted interest, may that be law, the environment, nursing, etc. The learning community I was involved with was called SEED, which stands for Sustainable Environment Engaged Democracy. SEED is really a stepping stone for the rest of the ARTs, making students dig deep into their passions about social and/or environmental issues and discussing them amongst one another while pursuing these individual passions in some way or another. SEED was really a place where we built community as freshman students around our similar passions.

We were given the option to choose between a list of ARTs, and I chose WACBAT (Weatherization and Community Building Action Team) because the concept of community building was completely new to me and really piqued my interest.

SS: That was a lot of acronyms. What are ARTs? What is WACBAT?

FB: ARTs stand for Action Research Team and they focus around student engagement and leadership around environmental and social issues. The ARTs give undergrad students, and even grad students, the tools to create leadership skills amongst themselves, as well as a voice in their community that is so powerful and revolutionary in my opinion.

WACBAT is a student-led group that focuses around community building, as well as environmental sustainability around a just community and society. As a co-facilitator, my role in WACBAT is to have relational, 1:1 meetings with new freshman students of WACBAT, as well as community members in efforts of collaboration and participants of the other ARTs. It is my job to create a sort of open space for the students of WACBAT in order for their passions to arise while still maintaining the mission and vision of WACBAT. As a facilitator, I have to give students the tools to fostering leadership skills within themselves so that they can go out into the community and begin to build community, form relationships, and, basically, get stuff done. I work with three other co-facilitators of WACBAT, as well as a professor whose freshman seminar class is tied in with WACBAT.

SS: Looking back, why has WACBAT been such important part of your time at NAU?

FB: I’ve been involved with WACBAT for three years now, and it is honestly the reason I stayed at NAU my freshman year as opposed to transferring back home or to another school elsewhere. WACBAT has given me the tools to facilitate conversations, hold 1:1s, and, overall, achieve my passions and visions that I hold in regards to environmental and societal sustainability. WACBAT has really made me want to go into the community, become a part of it, and learn from that community. WACBAT has also given me the tools to be able to work across differences in creating this overall community sustainability.

SS: What’s been the thing you are most proud of having accomplished through WACBAT?

FB: I’m really proud that WACBAT is one of the longest running ARTs at NAU and is still going strong with students who stay with it for years. Each semester I am proud of WACBAT for different reasons, may it be because we had a successful event, really built community and relationships among our students, or even seeing those few students become civically engaged beings. I feel honored being a part of WACBAT and am very proud to be a member of it.

SS: Why is it important for students to be civically engaged on campus?

FB: This might actually be the most important aspect to me. I strongly believe that students should be civically engaged on campus because it’s their campus! I feel like a lot of students do not realize that they have the power to have their voice heard; they just need to work with outlets they have not thought of before. If a student is civically engaged on campus, I strongly believe that they will be civically engaged in all spheres of life, even after they have left college. Getting engaged in college is so important because college really gives you the opportunity to become engaged and create concrete change. It was just such an amazing experience for me in my undergraduate career to have been as engaged as I am. I can only wish that everyone has such a monumental and life-changing experience during these four years.

SS: What advice do you have for incoming freshman at NAU or any college campus?

FB: Don’t be afraid to get involved! Go out there and search for those clubs, groups, or organizations that relate to your interest because chances are, they’ll definitely be out there. Also, don’t be afraid to take chances! It’s a little cliché but extremely true. As college students, we have the ability to construct real change that is lasting and just. Work with people you never would have imagined yourself working with before. Chances are everyone around you has something to teach you that you may not even be aware of yet, and that could completely alter your way of thinking. Just be open to differences, new ideas, and opportunities!

 

Student Spotlight: UW-La Crosse’s Katie Svitavsky, City Council Member

By Katherine Kvitavsky, student, UW-La Crosse

Katherine Svitavsky

Where I go to school, everyone is involved in something. From intramural sports to marching band to diversity organizations, students in La Crosse are known for being active and engaged. It is, in part, because of this culture of service that I chose to be involved in our city government, representing a mostly-student district on the City of La Crosse Common Council. A year ago, I had just begun my first semester at UW-L. A year ago, if someone told me that I soon would be an elected official, I wouldn’t have believed them. But here I am, now entering my second year as a student, my first year as a resident assistant, and serving as a city council member.

I first chose to get involved on campus by representing students who lived in my residence hall in our campus Residence Hall Association (RHA). My job, along with my co-representative, was to be a voice for the 400 students living in my building. This experience was unique because it challenged me to think about policy and how it affected not only students living in my building but also all students on campus. Additionally, representing students in this capacity gave me valuable leadership skills, knowledge, and experience to represent them in our City Council, and I can’t give my time working with RHA enough credit for the impact it had on me.

As I meet and work with more people, I constantly am amazed at how driven they are and the  awesome, inspirational things of which they have been a part.  One of the many people I have had the privilege of meeting and working with is Karin Johnson, who I first met in a public administration class during my first semester at UW-L. Representing the campus area on our county board, I first remember being impressed with Karin’s physically being in the position, but as I became more familiar with her, what really struck me was how energetic and passionate she was about local issues.

One day in spring, Karin asked me to take a look at the open City Council position. The person who had the position before me was also a UW-L student who was graduating that year, and had resigned in April, leaving a space in the Council to be filled by appointment to fill out his term ending in April 2013. I was on the fence for a while about whether or not to apply for the position, especially considering the time commitments—trying to balance being a student, resident assistant, and council member is something that is still challenging for me at times. Additionally, I wasn’t sure I could do it. I hadn’t had much experience working with a city outside of the classroom; there was an obvious learning curve associated with the position. After some serious self-evaluation and encouragement from my peers and others, I decided to submit my resume to the Council. I was granted an interview, and then was appointed in May to the position.

As a council member, I attend a lot of meetings. I never understood the concept of “government work being done in committees” until I was assigned to the Finance and Personnel committee, where we work on, examine, and discuss proposed legislation and then bring it to the rest of the council. Additionally, I work with members of the community, non-profit groups, city employees, and other council members to shape policy for the community as well as policy specific to my district. I love the job because I get to see my and others’ efforts come to fruition, and there are tangible results from action the city takes, which is why I am running in April to keep on the council after my appointment officially ends.

When Karin suggested I take a look at the open position, I was skeptical. At first I questioned, “why me?”  when the real question should have been, “why not me?” I think so often young people, especially young women, have difficulty quantifying and articulating their skills—not only to themselves but also to others. Simply put, we don’t give ourselves enough credit for not only what we have done and are doing, but also for what we will be achieving in the future. Even if we don’t have an exact picture of our future, it is important to be energized and confident in what we will achieve.

But with our opportunities and successes comes a great responsibility. Just as I didn’t become involved without the encouragement of others, future leaders also need to have that same support. Just as Karin extended her hand to me, I cannot leave without extending my hands to others.

At times being a council member, in combination with being a student and a resident assistant, is stressful. There are times when I wish I could press “pause” and take the day—or week—off. But the rewards of this job far outweigh the stressful times, and I am constantly energized by the work I am a part of because I truly feel I am making a positive difference in the community. What I learned in this past year, the thing that has been proven to me one hundred times over, the best “tip for success” I can offer, is that there are so many opportunities to be taken advantage of if we can take ownership of the fact that we are worthy of them as well as the challenges they present. It may not always be easy, but it will be worth the effort.

About Katie:

Originally from Neenah, WI, Katherine Svitavsky is a student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse perusing degrees in Political Science and Public Administration. She currently represents the 5th district of the city of La Crosse on the city’s Common Council, and is also a Resident Assistant on campus. In her spare time, Katherine enjoys kayaking, hiking, reading, and listening to music.