MEETING THEME

Both the American Democracy Project (ADP) and The Democracy Commitment (TDC) share a deep commitment to ensuring that our students are prepared not only for careers but for lives of informed, engaged citizenship. We also share many of the same students.  More than 50 percent of AASCU’s graduates began their college careers in local community colleges. Our two-year and four-year campuses share not only the same students but also serve the same communities.

However, far too often, our two sets of institutions—two-year and four-year schools—do not share the same civic resources, do not offer articulated academic programs, and do not pursue the same strategies to help our students become and remain civically engaged during their college education. As a result, our shared students often experience a disconnected set of civic learning and engagement programs as they move from our two-year to four-year institutions. The challenge of articulation between lower-division and upper-division also impacts civic education.

As partners in the work of preparing citizens, TDC and ADP are committed to bridging these gaps between our institutions by intentionally building programs and processes designed to create clear pathways by which students can connect civic learning and community engagement through their baccalaureate program of study. To achieve that goal, beginning this year, ADP and TDC will collaborate in the design and development of civic programs that work. In the process of building smoother, more articulated civic pathways through college we will learn from one another about high impact civic learning and engagement practices and improve our own programs and practices.

Creating Civic Pathways:

• helps students experience a non-disjointed education
• fosters collaboration in working with community organizations and partners
• assists two-year and four-year institutions to learn from each other in developing programs that are highly effective without reinventing the wheel
• enhances transfer and articulation relationships between and among our schools

Potential topics based on the meeting theme might include:**

• two-year/four-year articulation/transfer agreements in civic education
• joint community partnerships and agreements
• shared civic learning and engagement programs and curricula
• civic partnerships with K-12
• discipline-specific 2+2 (+3) programs
• civic learning and engagement programs that enhance certificate or degree completion
• methods of developing civic pathway programs and approaches
• challenges and barriers to building civic pathways

Join us in Louisville and share your ideas, projects and experiences that bridge the gap between the civic work of our two-year and four-year campuses. We look forward to seeing you there!

**Please note that while we seek proposals that address the meeting theme we also welcome all proposals related to broader civic learning and engagement topics.

To submit a proposal, please visit our Call For Proposals page.