Call for Proposals: American Democracy Project Conference

Posted by on January 2, 2007

Dear service-learning colleagues,

From the American Democracy Project of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU):

After four years of national and campus activity, we want to assess how far we have come and what the next steps will be as we move forward in the preparation of citizens for our democracy. We are interested in descriptions of programs and practices but those must be accompanied by analysis: what worked and what didn’t; what were the issues in implementation; how were partners brought in; etc. We want to focus particularly on civic skills and assessment, two areas that have not been sufficiently addressed in our work so far.

CATEGORIES FOR PROPOSALS

CATEGORY 1: PROGRAMS OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Presentations about how you created programs of civic engagement and their impact: civic engagement in courses such as English, Humanities, History, Political Science, Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts. Civic engagement in Student Life, in First Year Programs, in Capstone Courses, in campus events, in Faculty Development, in Institutional Development; civic engagement using newspapers, voting, volunteering, service learning, civic skill development, democratic dialogue, etc.

CATEGORY 2: ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF SPECIFIC EVENTS
Presentations about how you organized and designed civic engagement activities around specific events, such as Constitution Day, Stewardship of Public Lands, Political Engagement Project (PEP), Jury Project, 7 Revolutions Project, Electoral Voice and Young Voter Strategies Project, etc.

CATEGORY 3: CIVIC SKILLS
Presentations about projects that focused on the development of civic skills, such as organizing, listening to others, presenting a point of view, compromising, etc.

CATEGORY 4: ISSUES IN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Presentations on issues that range widely across the spectrum of civic engagement: definitions of civic engagement, diversity and civic engagement, civic engagement in international arenas, etc

CATEGORY 5: HOW TO UNDERTAKE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Presentations on topics such as how to begin civic engagement on a campus, how to organize a project, how to find funding, how to publicize your project, how to work with community partners, how to work with community colleges, collaboration between academic and student affairs, how to involve faculty, how to nurture and sustain institutional attention etc.

CATEGORY 6: ASSESSMENT
Presentations on assessment strategies, assessment tools, assessment results, etc.

CATEGORY 7: OPEN TOPICS
If you would like to make a presentation on a topic not already listed, submit your proposal in this category.

Please note: Some presentations may fit into several categories. When submitting your proposal, use the category that best describes your presentation.

DESCRIPTION OF SESSIONS
The presentation sessions are 1 hour and 15 minute sessions, with a moderator/presenter and 3 presenters. Individual presentations should not exceed 10 minutes. Handouts are encouraged. LCD projectors for PowerPoint presentations will be available.

If you submit a proposal, you agree to make your presentation at the time it is scheduled. We will notify participants of their presentation times in late February 2007.

The purpose of these sessions is to get a substantial amount of content and ideas presented in a short period of time, leaving time in each session for discussion and dialogue. Please note: For those presentations that focus on campus practice, the presentations should not be simply a description of a program or project. Instead, please provide a very brief description of the program or project, but then focus on how the project or activity was organized or developed, how it was funded, how it was assessed, what issues and concerns arose, and how those issues or concerns were addressed.

TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
Proposals are due online by February 5, 2007 at
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB225UK9BJZZG

However, we will begin accepting proposals and filling sessions beginning January 8, 2007. The earlier you send in your presentation, the greater likelihood that it will be accepted.

If you have questions about the submission process, please contact Cecilia Orphan at (202) 478-7833 or orphanc@aascu.org. For general conference information, please contact Pat Fesci at (202) 478-4668 or fescip@aascu.org.