Minnesota Campus Compact

Photo by Dom Gullichon
Flickr Creative Commons

You'll note that I have uploaded the blog from our friends at the Minnesota Campus Compact.  You'll be able to find it in the "Civic Engagement Blogs" on the right gutter of our blog.

Feel free to add your own blogs of interest (click "new post," then click the "layout" tab), or you can always send the URL and name of the blog to me, and I'll upload it.

Will Richardson's Blog

Here's a link to a recent posting on Webblog-ed, Will Richardson's blog devoted to education and technology.  Within this particular posting are a number of great links, including one to a recent must-read column by David Brooks of the New York Times.  Richardson's posting contains his musings on the role of Web 2.0 to solve (or contribute to) the problems of our times.  It's good reading.

You'll notice, too, that I have added Webblog-ed to our list of linked blogs.

Engagement and/or Empowerment?

Masthead from David Warwick's blog, 2cents Worth

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

I follow David Warwick's blog, and I was interested in a recent blog post so much that I thought I'd share it with you.  Warwick examines the different connotations and denotations of the words engagement and empowerment.  It's a good read.  What Warwick doesn't address is the politics around the word empowerment.  I often hear people say that they want "to empower youth"  (or students, or  . . . pick your object term).  This seems to imply that one person (typically a person in power) possesses power and can then empower someone else.  It strikes me as teacher-centric language.  Chaka Mkali, a very effective community organizer at Hope Community, uses the phrase power development, which I think gets to the heart of the matter more succinctly and accurately.  I've tried to use Chaka's language in classes and meetings.   I'd love to know your thoughts.

Speaking of Social Media and Isolation (or Connection)

Photo by rikrak

Flickr Creative Commons

After we spoke about social media, it was fortuitous that the StarTribune published "Circle of Friends," which is a brief summary and commentary on new Pew Internet and American Life Project findings regarding techology and how people are using it.  Both the article and the findings are worth a few minutes of your time.  The Pew web site, if you are interested in this topic, is really a great resource.

I do not want to be misconstrued as someone who believes wholesale in the possiblities of technology to solve all the ills (including social) of the world.  However, I am really interested in how technology shapes the way that our students experience the world and - more fundamentally - how those experiences shape the way that they learn.  It's a Brave New World, folks.

CCE Winter Retreat

Center for Civic Engagement Retreat
5 January 2010

AM SESSION

It was good to see everyone at Diane's palatial estate: Cathy, Michael D., Lena, Jennifer B-K., Diane, and Greg.

We spent the morning session participating in "The World As It Is, The World As It Should Be" training. It was great conversation, and in recap, we identified certain elements in the world as it is that the Center needs to recognize and address.

Photo by JVConti
Flickr Creative Commons

Politics
pressure on accountability/measurable outcomes
new possibilities
partisan/ideological division
tough economic times
young people are engaged, but they are tired of the "old ways"
Hope <---> Impatience

Campus Climate
Us v. Them
Negative vibe (mistrust, budget cuts)
Measurable outcomes = the bottom line
Holes left from JR-T's departure
Assumptions and Possibilities

Personal
Seeking/Finding balance
Nurturing relationships
Self-care
Transition
Creating structures (rather than personalities) that sustain the work

Other Issues
"Good organizing is reorganizing."
Partnerships and grants
While the personnel within the CCE has morphed over time, our numbers have not grown significantly.

I'd love to hear what happened in the afternoon session.

PM SESSION

Purpose of the CCE

Foster internal relationships

Develop external partnerships

Train faculty/staff/students

Connect students with community-based learning/research/action opportunities

What have we done (fall semester)?

Community Conversation on homelessness, housing and hunger

Development of Master Academic Plan goals 7-10

Convened bi-weekly CCE meetings

Strengthened our relationship with CLPC

What should we focus on for Spring 2010?

Continue work with Social Responsibility Caucus to define Civic Engagement in the context of MCTC

Develop activities and outcomes for MAP goals 7-10

1 to 1 campaign with administrators and others

Visits to department and division meetings

Establish web presence and enhance communications

Explore partnership opportunities with the CTL

Community Events: sustainability fair, CCE block party, HPHP & WAY, Public Agenda Collaboration events (1/21/10 3:30-5:30 and 1/22/10 2:00-4:00)

Next Year

Continue to define Civic Engagement at MCTC

Build CCE identity

Participate in organizer training

Offer leadership and organizer training for students

Participate in conflict resolution skills training

Regain institutional support for faculty role in CCE

Organize/host/facilitate public fairs and events

3-5 Years

Accountability and assessment activities

Increase number of participants in CCE and corresponding support for involvement

Establish steady funding stream/institutional support

Establish a physical space/home for the CCE

Provide a range of community organizing services both internally and externally

Provide conflict resolution services internally and externally

Revisions to the Master Academic Plan - Civic Engagment+ portion

Here's what we did during the meeting on August 6


o Over-all Objective: MCTC will develop itself as an urban college that educates students from multiple diverse populations to bring environmental, multicultural, and global awareness, knowledge, proficiency and civic agency to their lives, professions, and on-going studies.

§ We will work toward creating a campus center [a person with an office] for multicultural, environmental, global, and civic engagement. [The current staff person and Center for Civic Engagement could be transformed into this hub. Other options are also possible.] Initially, this Center and those involved in it will:

• Identify and bring together all the campus groups, individuals, and initiatives that are involved in the four topic areas: Multicultural, Global, Urban Green, and Experiential Education.
• Set up meeting schedules and communication methods for each of these initiatives and for cross-initiatives coordination.
• Encourage those involved each initiative area to establish work plans that address the college priorities
• create working definitions for terms related to that initiative: global, multicultural, civic engagement, service learning, climate control, emissions control, experiential education, etc.
• identify others on campus who are working in that area and encourage new participation
• identify existing connections with the broader community; create intentional/relational connections with the broader community
• develop graduation transfer support (certificates, special terminal programs)
• identify and review transfer-credit courses that relate to the four topic areas: establish a review process for these courses (Social Responsibility Caucus); use assessment results to improve curriculum in these four areas.
• increase the number and success rate of under-represented students;

Welcome to the CCE Blog - Action Plan Draft

Currently, this is a closed blog, meaning that only those invited can view the blog. All of you who are seeing this blog, if you create a google account, will be able not only to reply to postings (that's a common feature of any blog), but you will also be able to draft your own postings. For instance, Diane S., you should post those goals that we started to discuss at the meeting today. Lena, if you want to post your job description/tasks for the rest of the crew to review, you can do that, too.

Here are my contributions:

We started to draft an Action Plan for 09-10:

1. We need to establish how the personnel money will be distributed ($5000).
a. Lena, Greg, and Diane are in discussion.

2. We need to communicate more regularly with Linnea about the work being done.

3. We also need to communicate more regularly with the Cabinet.
a. Michael will create a newsletter (.pdf? blog?)
b. Citi-zing (social networking site for the Citizens League)

4. Develop relationships with external organizations: use their resources
a. CCNCCE
b. AACSU – American Democracy Project (Greg, Lena, and Michael)
c. Citizens League (Lena and Michael)
d. HECUA (Lena and Michael)
e. League of Women Voters (Lena)
f. City of Minneapolis (Lena)
g. Somali Family Service (Lena)
h. CTL
i. Minnesota Campus Compact
j. Center for Democracy and Citizenship (Augsburg)
i. International Public Achievement group (Michael, Lena, and Diane Pearson)
k. Other institutions of higher learning
i. Inver hills (Zack)
ii. Century (Diane P. – many contacts)
l. SHIFT! (Diane Scovill)
m. EGL (Diane Pearson)
n. Somali Community Action (Matthew)
o. Oxfam (Matthew)
p. Great River Greening (Cathy)
q. Center for Neighborhood Organizing
r. Center for Community-Based Learning (Metro State)

5. Internal relationship
a. Anti-Racist Initiative
b. Healthy People, Healthy Places (Diane Scovill)
c. Multicultural education (It’s Time to Talk, Cultural Café)
d. Global Studies (Diane Pearson)
e. Career and Technical Education
f. Social Responsibility Caucus
g. Center for Teaching and Learning
h. Climate Committee
i. Student groups
i. Three-Legged Frog
ii. Student Senate
iii. Cultural and ethnic student groups
iv. Student service
v. Sisters for Social Justice