The Community College Voice & NASPA’s Commitment to Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement

The Lead Initiative will celebrate its fifth year this year and we hope to add your voice to the conversation. The Lead Initiative began in 2012-2013 with three primary goals.  First, the initiative was seen as a way to advance the institutionalization of Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) work in student affairs divisions and postsecondary institutions more broadly.  Second, we wanted to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing and collaboration across the participating colleges and universities.  And finally, we sought to increase the awareness of student affairs’ overt contributions to students’ citizenship development, civic learning, and community engagement.  After the first four years of our efforts, we can safely say we have made significant progress towards these goals.  As we continue to enhance this work on our campuses, we’d like to invite our community college partners to consider applying for the 2016-2017 year. 

Lead Initiaitve Institution Benefits

• A pre-conference workshop FREE of charge at the NASPA Annual Conference, which will focus on advancing civic learning and democratic engagement works at your institutions, in your communities, and in the larger landscape of high education
• A repository of promising practices and opportunities to advance CLDE work on your campus(es); such as becoming a Designated Voter Friendly Campus
• Professional development opportunities in the NASPA Online Learning Community for FREE as a Lead Initiative institution. 

Current Professional Development Opportunities for Lead Initiative Institutions

Weaving Together Career and Civic Commitments for Social Change
presented by: Caryn McTighe Musil, Senior Scholar and Director of Civic Learning and Democracy Initiatives at Association of American Colleges and Universities, Jose Zapata Calderon, Emeritus Professor in Sociology and Chican@ Studies at Pitzer College, and Seth Pollack, Professor of Service Learning, Founding Faculty Director of the Service Learning Institute at California State University, Monterey Bay

CLDE Strategies to meet the CAS Revised Standards for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning Programs
Presented by Laura Sponsler, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Morgridge College of Education, Marybeth Drechsler Sharp, Ph.D., Executive Director of Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education, and Stephanie Gordon, Vice President for Professional Development at NASPA

Our Network

We already have great community college colleagues that are current members of the NASPA Lead Initiative and we hope you'll consider strengthening our network by joining. We invite you to read more about the work they are doing in their blog posts below.

Middlesex Community College: “This is what Democracy looks like!”
Presented by: Sheri Denk, MCC Special Program Coordinator, Middlesex County College

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC): The Value of a Co-Curricular Transcript
Presented by: Nereida Montijo, Assistant Director of Student Involvement & Civic Responsibility, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC)  

Waubonsee Community College: The Trials and Tribulations of Choosing a Community Partner
Presented by: Joy Sanders, Admissions Manager, Waubonsee Community College and Mary Tosch, Student Life Manager, Waubonsee Community College

APPLY NOW

As we transition into year five of this initiative, we are again seeking connection and engagement with NASPA members and NASPA institutions committed to CLDE work on their campus. Whether you are just beginning efforts to stimulate campus work in this space, or are a seasoned nationally recognized campus leader in CLDE work, NASPA hopes you will consider joining the Lead Initiative.  Applications are due June 30, 2016.  You can apply by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Reynolds, Assistant Director of Knowledge Communities and CLDE Initiatives - NASPA, at [email protected].