Call for Proposals: Using Engagement to Address Critical Issues

Posted by on November 10, 2006

Washington Campus Compact and the Western Region Campus Compact Consortium are pleased to announce the dates, location, theme, and call for proposals for the Tenth Annual Continuums of Service Conference.

Please join your colleagues April 12-14, 2007 at the Holiday Inn San Jose in San Jose, California.

Entitled Catching Waves: Using Engagement to Address Critical Issues, the conference will bring together 500 colleagues from the western region and beyond to explore multiple perspectives on leadership, service-learning, and civic engagement; share program models, research, and best practices; and network with diverse service-learning practitioners.

TIMELINE

? RFP distributed on Friday, October 27th, 2006
? Proposals due Friday, Dec. 15th, 2006
? Reviews due Friday, Dec. 29th, 2006
? Registration to open in January 2007

Choose to participate from one or more of the following opportunities:

* Submit a proposal to present at the conference. See below and visit http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/campcomp/participate.html for more information. The deadline to submit a proposal is Friday, December 15, 2006.
* Serve as a peer reviewer of concurrent session presentation proposals. Visit http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/campcomp/proposalreview.html for more information.
* Serve as a mentor for participants new to the field and/or conference. Visit http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/campcomp/passiton.html for more information.
* Attend the conference. Registration will open in January 2007.

THEME AND NARRATIVE

Communities across our region, nation and world face similar challenges: homelessness, immigration, economic disparity, crime/corrections, healthcare, and declining rates of educational achievement. How can higher education use engagement strategies and partnerships to tackle very complex social, economic, and ethical issues?

Does traditional instruction prepare our students to be agents of change in regard to these issues? Our institutions already face fundamental challenges about access, retention, learning, and student success. The traditional methods of teaching and learning may not sufficiently prepare students for a complex world or maximize higher education?s impact on critical issues. With this in mind, conference attendees will explore questions such as:

* How will successful service-learning models prepare students to address critical societal issues?
* What specific engagement strategies positively address specific education, community, and global issues?
* What partnerships are needed to achieve desired outcomes in specific issue areas?
* What internal and external resources are available (or need to be cultivated) to support this work?
* What research supports successful models of engagement and what new research do we need?

Engaging students in the community has been shown to be an effective strategy to help students learn, develop critical thinking skills, increase job preparation skills, and improve civic attitudes and behaviors. It has been an effective model to build capacities in communities and improve K-12 educational achievement. Through service-learning and civic engagement, students have the opportunity to experience working with others from different socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and sets of beliefs. Curricular and co-curricular service-learning projects, if done well, can transform students? learning and better prepare them for a changing world while also creating significant change in community capacity and conditions.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

We invite you to submit proposals that demonstrate how service-learning and civic engagement initiatives or projects address critical global, community, and education issues in the following areas:

* Educational Achievement/Attainment (pre-school ? 12th grade & higher-ed)
* Community Development
* Economic Opportunity Gap
* Immigration
* Health Disparities
* Environmental Sustainability
* Global Understanding

Before beginning the process of developing a proposal, please also review the following information:

1. Conference Goals and Audience at
http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/campcomp/theme.html

2. Concurrent Session Formats
ttp://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/campcomp/concurrentsessions.html

3. Proposal Guidelines at
http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/campcomp/guidelines.html.

All proposals may be submitted on-line at https://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/campcomp/USER/Proposal/proposal.submission.form.I.asp beginning on Monday, November 20, 2006. The deadline for receipt of proposals is Friday, December 15, 2006.