ADP: A Year in Review and a Look Ahead

2013 was a good year for AASCU’s American Democracy Project — in large part due to the civic capacity and commitments of each of you! What has your campus accomplished? What civic learning and engagement efforts do you have planned for 2014?

Accomplishments:

• We’ve welcomed new campuses to the ADP community, including: James Madison University (Va.), Valdosta State University (Ga.), and the University of Washington Bothell.
• Our 2013 national meeting (our 11th annual meeting!), organized in tandem with our The Democracy Commitment community college colleagues, in Denver brought together more than 600 faculty, students and staff committed to advancing civic learning and engagement on public college and university campuses across the country.
• Our eJournal of Public Affairs, a partnership with Missouri State University, published three issues, including special issues dedicated to eCitizenship and Sustainability.
• Over the summer, faculty members from ADP & TDC campuses attended our 9th annual faculty seminar in Yellowstone National Park. All told, more than 165 faculty members from more than 80 campuses have participated in this Stewardship of Public Lands initiative seminar.
• ADP’s eCitizenship initiative sponsored three free webinars during fall 2013. You can view recordings of each here, here and here.
  • “What is eCitizenship?” | Recording | PDF
  • “Where Do Students Get Their News and Why Does It Matter?” | Recording |  PDF
  • “Shared Values and Collective Impact” | Recording | PDF
• The Global Engagement initiative published an eBook and a student guide related to their Global Challenges: Promise and Peril in the 21st Century curriculum. The Global Engagement Scholars also hosted an institute in Washington, DC in November.
• Our Campus and Community Civic Health initiative, in collaboration with NCoC, hosted its second civic health summit in Denver in June.
• We created a National Student Advisory Council and selected six students to lead the inaugural executive board!
• ADP’s Political Engagement Project hosted a series of sessions about their national fall 2012 presidential debate tweet-ups at the ADP national meeting in Denver in June.

What to look forward to in 2014:

• National screening and live webcast of Robert Reich’s documentary film Inequality for All is scheduled for Thursday, February 20 beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern. Watch your email for details!
• We’re in the process of imagining a new Civic Engagement in Action series initiative with Keene State College and TDC related to addressing the growing conditions of economic inequality in the U.S. Stay tuned!
• The call for proposals for our 12th annual national meeting is open and you can register now for the meeting in Louisville, Kentucky from June 5-7, 2014. We look forward to thinking seriously about how to foster civic pathways for our students!
• Two new eCitizeship webinars:
  • “Project Management for Student Leadership” (January 23, 2014)
  • “Sustaining Student Leadership on Civic Engagement Projects” (February 20, 2014)
• Our 10th annual Stewardship of Public Lands: Politics and the Yellowstone Ecosystem faculty seminar is scheduled for August 4 – 9, 2014. You can register now!
• We’ll be hosting a regional meeting with MN Campus Compact on September 29, 2014 at St. Cloud State University. Details will be forthcoming!
• ADP’s Civic Agency initiative will be undertaking a repository of civic agency-related course syllabi in collaboration with Imagining America and Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University.
• We’re partnering with the Kettering Foundation to develop a monograph about democratic dialogue and deliberation on ADP campuses in 2014.

Happy New Year!