Rationale - Civic Engagement and Student Leadership

Rationale and Mission Statement for the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative

IUP’s Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative (CCEI) has been established to sensitize students to the value of citizenship and the broader applications of their education. The CCEI seeks to help students build the skills and gain the experience with which they can assume their rightful roles as active, engaged citizens who make their communities and nations better places in which to live, to work, and to learn.

Campus Audit of Existing Civic Engagement Structures

The Campus Audit is a process that has been recommended and defined by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities to help institutions identify places and programs on campus where civic engagement activities are already underway and places where activities might be started. It “will allow participants to celebrate civic engagement that is already occurring, link sometimes unconnected efforts to one another, and identify opportunities to begin work in areas where civic engagement activities could occur.”

The audit consists of four parts:

Institutional Intentionality
Academic Focus on Civic Engagement
Cocurricular Focus on Civic Engagement
Evaluations of Civic Engagement

Each part is covered below.

Part One: Institutional Intentionality

IUP’s public mission statement and other public documents clearly articulate a commitment to civic engagement and a goal of educating students in this responsibility:

“A learning-centered environment in which students enjoy traditional and nontraditional classroom experiences, engage in research and service activities with their faculty mentors, … and develop leadership skills for effective citizenship.”

IUP’s Mission Statement further states that IUP will contribute “singly and through collaboration” with other educational institutions, government, business, human services, and professional organizations “to the economic and cultural strength of the region, the commonwealth, and the nation through education, scholarship, and service.” IUP strives to be a “learning community in touch with the main currents of politics, economics, and cultural life throughout the world” so that it might prepare all students to be civically engaged.

In addition to IUP’s Mission Statement, IUP’s Civility Statement reflects aspirations supportive of the CCE initiatives:

To strengthen the university for academic success, I will act honestly, take responsibility for my behavior and continuous learning, and respect the freedom of others to express their views.
To foster an environment for personal growth, I will honor and take care of my body, mind, and character. I will be helpful to others and respect their rights. I will discourage intolerance, hatred, and injustice and promote constructive resolution of conflict.
To contribute to the future, I will strive for the betterment of the community: myself, my university, the nation, and the world.

Dr. Tony Atwater has recognized and validated IUP’s long tradition of service and civic engagement and, through words and deeds, has committed to the continuation of this institutional history. One of Dr. Atwater’s earliest acts was to reenergize IUP’s connection to the American Democracy Project, sponsored by the Association of American State Colleges and Universities. Under his leadership, the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative was established with the express charge of raising the profile of civic engagement opportunities and education at the university. As he stated in his State of the University Address in August 2005, “Together, we will explore how IUP can enhance opportunities, both curricular and extracurricular, for helping students become more skillful and engaged community leaders.”

Additionally, the webpage for the president’s office states, “we (IUP) recognize we have a role to fulfill in assisting our surrounding region to flourish. Community government partnerships through our Centers and Institutes office and the IUP Research Institute assist us in making a vital connection to commerce.” Toward this end, Dr. Atwater has also continued the commitment that the university has made to regional economic development by continuing IUP’s pursuit of funding for the Regional Development Center, which will serve as a center of redevelopment for rural Western Pennsylvania communities.

These statements and actions are a clear indication of the university’s commitment to stewardship and civic engagement. It is a commitment that has been articulated as a learning objective for IUP students and that continues to be a priority of the highest levels of the administration.

Part Two: Academic Focus on Civic Engagement

There are many courses in IUP’s Liberal Studies curriculum that help students to gain knowledge that leads to and supports increased, effective civic engagement. In fact, the required History course (History of the Modern Era) and the fifteen courses that comprise the options for fulfilling the Social Science requirement are all geared toward giving students the historical, economic, cultural, and political background that they would need to become informed citizens with a broad sense of how this nation’s history (as well as others) has been shaped by both individuals and socially-constructed infrastructures of meaning. The significant requirement of 12 credits (out of 55–60 total Liberal Studies credits) of these types of courses is a strong indication of the university’s commitment to civic engagement and education.

Yet, the academic focus on civic engagement is an area that still needs development. While there are many courses that provide the knowledge that supports civic engagement, there is no structured progression or organization among these courses that would help students to recognize the significance of these Liberal Studies requirements or the educational and civic goals that these courses prepare students to meet. IUP has not been as intentional and effective as it could have been in communicating the importance of civic education and responsibility to our students.

Another important component of civic engagement education, of course, is the opportunity to learn and exercise skills that are central to an engaged citizenry. However, there is no service-learning and/or community service requirement for the majority of IUP students, and our preliminary audit suggests that there are still relatively few faculty members incorporating service-learning opportunities into their courses. In 2001, as a part of a cross-disciplinary teaching circle on service learning, a compilation of fifty-one courses containing a service learning component was developed (see Appendix A).

A great opportunity does exist, however, to incorporate more deliberate and measurable civic education goals in the Liberal Studies Revitalization that is currently underway.

Part Three: Cocurricular Focus on Civic Engagement

IUP’s commitment to civic engagement is more prominent in the area of cocurricular programming and support. An Office of Service Learning was established in the late 1990s with the express mission of promoting “excellence in professional and personal character development through experiential learning opportunities that bridge the curriculum with community service.” The Office of Service Learning administers two programs that help them to meet their mission: Volunteer Service and Service Learning.

Under the aegis of Volunteer Services, the office “strives to help students wanting or needing community service hours. This is done by informing students of opportunities in the Indiana area and helping agencies find volunteers. The office also assists groups of students that are interested in fundraising for a nonprofit agency.” Through the Service Learning program, students who have been awarded federal work study money are able to be placed at a human service agency in order to earn their federal work study award. The office maintains direct contact with Service Learning students throughout their term of employment, and those students are encouraged to share any comments or concerns with their agency supervisor and/or the service learning coordinator. The program places approximately two hundred students per year in human service, municipal, and governmental agencies around Indiana County.

The office also sponsors annual community service programs such as the Community Involvement Fair, Into the Streets, and KidsRead. These programs offer opportunities for the campus community to find out more about and to volunteer their time to established programs. The Office of Service Learning is limited, however, in its ability to support widespread student engagement, to educate students on strategies for civic engagement, or to support increased faculty interest in service-learning. See Appendix B for the Office of Career Services 2004-2005 service learning annual report.

The Student Affairs division has been very effective at offering a wide range of cocurricular activities that support civic engagement. The division’s planning efforts include the following over-arching goals which are focused on:

Goal One: Stimulating Intellectual Growth

The Division of Student Affairs will work collaboratively with Academic Affairs and other university divisions to enhance the learning environment.

Objective: Create and support curriculum-based experiential learning and a campus environment that is conducive to student academic success and provides high-quality programs and services that actively contribute to retention and graduation goals. (PASSHE: 1A, B, C; 2A, B; 3B // IUP: 2;3;5;7;8;9;10;18// Middle States Standard 12)

Goal Three: Fostering Citizenship and Social Responsibility

The Division of Student Affairs will advocate for and respond to the interests and concerns of students.

Objective: Affect change toward a social climate and campus culture that promotes civility, an appreciation of diversity, and legal, safe, and healthy choices by shaping and managing the campus/community living/learning environment.
(PASSHE:1A, B, C // IUP: 10; 15// Middle States Standard 9)

Each of the fifteen student affairs departments develops annually objectives to address this goal. For example, in 2005-2006, the following objectives frame the Center for Student Life’s civic engagement agenda:

Address a variety of globalization, race, gender, sexual orientation, national and international politics and other cultural issues through the design and implementation of the Six O’Clock Series and the Idea and Issues Lecture Series; seek faculty participation in and encourage and facilitate curricular ties with the design and production of these opportunities.
Provide curricular and cocurricular-based student outreach Health Awareness programs addressing relevant college life issues and concerns; provide crisis management and consultative services to students and to IUP colleagues, parents, and other health care providers on behalf of students.
Provide ongoing leadership and direction to the IUP Alcohol Task Force, including the alcohol curriculum infusion program, while attempting to broaden formal coalition involvement beyond existing partners.
Continue implementation of a tobacco-free environment in collaboration with the departments of Nursing and Health and Physical Education.
Identify and implement, in accordance with available resources, a calendar of educational, cultural, and social programs and awareness weeks to facilitate a positive and supportive campus climate.
Finalize and implement a Greek Management Plan composed of an outcomes-based series of initiatives designed to move the Greek community toward an organizational management and leadership development model in support of the recruitment of students to the university and the retention and success of students who choose to affiliate with general Greek organizations.
Continue the design of a Student Leadership and Involvement Model that incorporates underclass “emerging leaders” preparing for formal undergraduate leadership experiences, the ongoing “experiential-education” of students serving in formal leadership capacities, and the continuing “reflective learning” engagement of upperclass and graduating leaders.
Represent IUP’s involvement in the SSHE Women’s Consortium through the continuation of a Women’s Leadership Week (including the Women’s Leadership Reception) and through the selection and mentoring of IUP women leaders; expand the partnership with IUP Women’s Studies through the co-sponsorship of educational and social programs that focus on gender issues.

In addition, the division has adopted a set of student learning outcomes, several of which address the development of skills and aptitudes which foster citizenship and civic engagement. These outcomes are regularly assessed by various division departments.

Demonstrate appropriate skills in resolving conflict.
Work cooperatively with others.
Demonstrate acceptance of the uniqueness of all individuals.
Demonstrate citizenship.
Participate in volunteer activities.

The following are but a few examples of the types of programming available (see Appendix C for a fuller listing):

The African American Cultural Center hosts the Micheaux Film Series, which usually focuses on a popular film featuring African American characters that has substantial intellectual content. The screening is followed by a discussion. This film series and discussion have the potential to sensitize students to issues facing racial minorities, to improve their ability to function in a diverse global society, and to motivate them toward increased civic engagement as they discover their positions and become more active around issues that are important to them.
The Center for Student Life’s Ideas and Issues Lecture Series hosts nationally and internationally acclaimed lecturers addressing current, controversial issues on campus each year. Immensely successful, the Issues and Ideas series has hosted Super Size Me documentary filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock (Fall 2005), Patrick Buchanan and Michael Moore (Fall 2004), Ralph Nadar and Alan Keyes (Spring 2003), and Senator Robert Dole (Spring 2002). This speaker series certainly has the potential to raise the awareness of significant current issues among our student body and to motivate them toward increased civic engagement as they discover their positions and become more active around issues that are important to them.
The Center for Student Life’s Six O’Clock Series provides IUP students, employees, and community members an opportunity to learn about current issues and approach familiar topics from a new perspective. IUP faculty members can assign attendance at a Six O’Clock Series to be part of academic requirements. Students who attend the Six O’Clock Series will receive a voucher to verify their attendance. An example of the Spring Series addressing civic engagement issues is:

February 6, 2006 — Internment Experience during World War II, Dr. Gay Chow
This presentation is a discussion of the internment experience during World War II, when over 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent were ordered by the government to move into internment camps for the duration of the war. At Manzanar, the best known of these camps, two famous and different photographers, Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams, documented this episode in American history.

March 27, 2006 — The Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan, Mr. Muhamed Yahya
There is a genocide taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan. Thousands of Sudanese citizens are being killed, raped, and forced from their homes by government-backed militias. Yet, we hear very little about these atrocities in our media. Mr. Muhamed Yahya is a refugee from Darfur who personally experienced this disaster. Today, he leads others to speak out and take action to end the humanitarian crisis in Sudan .

Part Four: Evaluations of Civic Engagement

To date, no systematic, broad-based evaluation of civic engagement at IUP has been administered. We have not sought to measure where are students are when they are admitted to the university or to measure their progress/our efficacy in producing graduates who are more civically engaged. However, in an era of accountability and performance measures, the impact of the CCEI should be documented and applied research should be conducted to add to the literature on this exciting area.

Goals of the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative

Given the Campus Audit outlined above, the following six goals for IUP’s Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative have been developed.

Build an institutional commitment for the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative through campus and community communication, education, engagement, and reflection.
Build social capital and educational relevance through a rich series of campus-community dialogues and programs.
Facilitate the substantial integration of service-learning into the academic curriculum.
Build civic education into IUP’s Liberal Studies requirements.
Develop and implement a process for regular and comprehensive assessment of IUP’s (administrators, faculty, staff, students, and others involved in community service) commitment to civic engagement.
Designate and adequately staff an office/position to facilitate community opportunities/ partnerships for service learning.

Detailed objectives for each of the six goals are developed below.

Build an institutional commitment for the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative through campus and community communication, education, engagement, and reflection.
1. Continue and expand planning for the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative.
  Prepare and disseminate the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative White Paper.
  - Vision
  - Mission Statement
  - Goals of the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative
  - Current assessment
2. Constitute an expanded board with broader faculty, staff, and student participation to focus on implementation issues.
3. Build high-level institutional commitment.
  1. Statement of support to be communicated by President Atwater
  2. Presentation to and statement of support by IUP Board of Trustees
4. Expand awareness to academic and administrative departments.
  1. Communicate goals and concepts of the CCEI to the Council of Chairs.
  2. Develop a website with essential readings, Be Active/Be Involved lists, and links to on-line resources.
5. Create a tradition of collaboration and partnership between IUP and the local community.
Build social capital and educational relevance through a rich series of campus-community dialogues and programs.
1. Coordinate IUP Town Hall meetings to discuss the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative.
2. Develop programs on civic engagement education with national speakers.
3. Develop campus/community dialogues of community-based issues.
4. Encourage civic responsibility and public service among faculty, staff, and students as core values of IUP.
Facilitate the substantial integration of service-learning into the academic curriculum.
1. Coordinate IUP Town Hall meetings to discuss the goals and issues of service-learning.
2. Work with the Office of Service Learning to assist with service-learning training.
3. Design and offer workshops for faculty and chairs.
4. Design and offer training for students as orientation to and preparation for specific service learning activities/projects.
5. Design and offer workshops or other experiences that provide employers and local organizations with information about the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative and specific IUP courses/programs.
Build civic education into IUP’s Liberal Studies requirements.
1. Establish a committee to work on civic engagement goals for the revision of the Liberal Studies curriculum.
2. Encourage the adoption of civic education and/or service learning into mandatory Liberal Studies courses.
3. Consider collaborations that would extend the reach of the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative (Freshman Convocation, Freshman Common Reader, First Year Experience, etc.).
Develop and implement a process for regular and comprehensive assessment of IUP’s (administrators, faculty, staff, students, and others involved in community service) commitment to civic engagement.
1. Assess students’ progress toward
  1. Local, regional, national, and global awareness
  2. History
  3. Geography
  4. Moral and civic values
  5. Political processes and participation
  6. Techniques for addressing and resolving community issues
2. Assess faculty development in the Citizenship and Civic Engagement Initiative.
  1. Community-based scholarship
  2. Relevance of curriculum to civic issues
  3. Service-learning opportunities
  4. Assess cocurricular activities
Designate and adequately staff an office/position to facilitate community opportunities/ partnerships for service learning.
1. Serve as liaison between community and faculty members with valuable expertise.
2. Broker faculty interest in community-based scholarship to appropriate community organizations.
3. Extend community contacts.
4. Promote community-driven service learning opportunities.