Goal and Strategies: Status Update October 2011
Strategic Plan Goal 4: Define and strengthen the College’s commitment to civic engagement, an essential ingredient of an education that prepares students for their civic responsibilities at the local and global levels.
Strategy 4.1: Review the organizational structure of our civic engagement programs to reflect the curricular and co-curricular aspects of
our commitment and to ensure clarity and unity of purpose
· Completed; the first year of the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) under the leadership of an Executive Director was the 2010-2011 academic year.
· In addition, in March 2011 external reviewers were asked to evaluate the existing Professional Internship Program and offer planning and implementation suggestions for the experiential learning requirement of the new core Curriculum. The report was received in September 2011 and will provide insight for future planning.
4.1.1: Determine the role of Campus Compact and its relationship with other civic engagements on-campus
Ongoing; the relationship between Nazareth College and Campus Compact remains strong and has been enhanced.
· An Advisory Committee of approximately twenty members, representatives of all sectors of higher education in the state, serve as advisors to the Executive Director of New York Campus Compact (NYCC). The Executive Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Nazareth was elected to the NYCC Advisory Committee in September 2010. Nazareth is now more actively involved in NYCC and, therefore, more present in regard to civic engagement, service learning and advancing engaged scholarship.
· President Daan Braveman was appointed to the Executive Committee of New York Campus Compact in 2010-2011.
· An Americorps*VISTA position through New York Campus Compact has been secured once again for Nazareth College for 2011-2012.
· In addition to Americorps*VISTA, Nazareth has received several competitive grants including Students in Service AmeriCorps Education Award Program and National Days of Service.
Strategy 4.2: Identify and assess current curricular and the co-curricular civic engagement components as well as opportunities
for additional civic engagement components
Ongoing:
· The Executive Director devoted time in 2010-2011, the inaugural year of the CCE, to college-wide and community partner meetings for several purposes including to inventory current civic engagement components as well as learn of new opportunities.
· The CCE has integrated assessment and evaluation into its programming. A Civic Engagement Task Force was formed. The purpose of this working group of faculty, staff and students is to establish ways in which the College will: (1) record student engagement; (2) assess community perceptions of institutional engagement with the community; (3) assess community impact; (4) assess the impact of the engagement on student learning.
4.2.1: Develop areas that bridge curricular and co-curricular components of civic engagement
Ongoing:
· The Executive Director reports to both the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Vice President for Student
Development. This has allowed for the CCE to have a presence in both programmatic divisions and to enhance
communication regarding areas of collaboration.
· The topic of the fall 2011 Faculty Assembly Day was "Engaging the Whole Person: Experiential Learning in the Core." Many staff members of the Academic Affairs and Student Development divisions were also invited to participate. The purpose of the Assembly was to prepare for the implementation of the Experiential Learning requirement as part of the revision of the Core Curriculum.
Strategy 4.3: Educate members of the community about the meaning of civic education and its importance in preparing students
for their civic responsibilities at the local and global levels, thereby fostering a culture of civic engagement
Ongoing through many avenues led by the Center for Civic Engagement:
· The creation of this distinctive college unit now provides a structure for initiating new (as well as enhancing existing) collaborations, communication, and assessment.
· The Nazareth College Campus Compact Awards for Service have been given annually to students at Nazareth College for many years. However, in 2008 the program of recognition awards was revised to raise the profile and increase awareness. The “President’s Civic Engagement Awards” added a faculty and staff component along with the student and community partner awards. The awards serve to highlight the commitments students, faculty, and staff make to leading a civically engaged life, volunteering time and talents to our community, completing exemplary service learning projects and inspiring others to become caring, active and informed members of society.
Plan and Assessment Goal 4 Updated – pdg 10/31/2011 page 2 of 12
Administrative Assessment: Program Level
Planning Form
Department/Program: Strategic Plan Goal 4: Define and strengthen the College’s commitment to civic engagement, an essential ingredient of an education that prepares students for their civic responsibilities at the local and global levels.
Date: 10/31/11 Submitted by: Pat Genthner
Significant Objectives/Outcomes / Evidence and Criteria / Findings / Recommendations and Follow-up / CostsProgram level objectives that are meaningful and measurable.
Column 1 / What evidence are you going to look at?
How often will it be collected and analyzed?
Be specific about information to be collected, what method will be used, schedule for collection and analysis.
Column 2 / What are you going to look for?
Expected level of performance, list the specific criteria (percent of successful activities, or positive feedback) that will indicate success or positive outcome.
Column 3 / Describe the findings garnered from the analysis of the evidence that address the levels of performance listed in the Planning Form.
Column 4 / List specific actions that grew out of the findings, including a timeline for monitoring, implementation or follow-up, and the person(s) or committee responsible for follow-up.
Column 5 / Proposed/
Estimated Costs / Approved
Budget Allocation
Column 6
1. Strengthen the College’s commitment to civic engagement by providing a structure that facilitates student learning through involvement in the community and exemplifies Nazareth’s distinctive commitment to the community.
Strategy 4.1
Strategy 4.1.1 / 1. Review organizational structure
· Who is involved
· Who coordinates project
· What is the reporting structure for the coordinating point person
· Are records maintained
· Are records shared
2. Review placement of civic engagement programs in both curricular and co-curricular environment
· List of activities and program location
· How many students participate in curricular and co-curricular programs
· What is the criteria for “community partner”; description per program
· List of community partners
3. Range of student learning outcomes
· Compile list of objectives and learning outcomes from all programs and group by similarities
4. Role of Campus Compact in current structure
· List of activities
· List of participants / 1. How projects meet the institutional definition of civic engagement
2. Use the questions in the Carnegie Classification materials as guidelines for illustrating success, including but not limited to:
· resource allocation
· campus constituent group commitment/participation
· community partnership commitment/participation
· assessment and planning
3. Coordination of civic engagement across the campus
4. Ability to maintain current and build new relationships in the community to support civic engagement
5. The range of similarities and variations in student learning outcomes to inform overall development of institutional programmatic student learning outcomes / There is a great variety of civic engagement programming on the Nazareth campus. However, the programs and initiatives are not well coordinated or networked. In addition, current staffing for programs does not allow for present and future growth. The interim situation of the coordination/administration of community service programs having no status designation that formally links it to a division has compounded the problems. Any potential for coordination and growth must be proactive, strategic and intentional. / Recommendations:
· Create a new administrative unit, a Center for Civic Engagement. This unit will house Community Service, Service Learning, Internships, and Campus Compact. It will provide strategic direction, advocacy, program and resource development and coordination to the rich and varied curricular and co-curricular experiences through which the College connects to its surrounding community.
· Create a new position of Executive Director of Civic Engagement to oversee the Center. The Executive Director will collaborate with (1) the division of Student Development regarding non-credit bearing community service, (2) the division of Academic Affairs regarding credit bearing experiential education, and (3) the community. The position will promote civic engagement by providing educational opportunities and leadership development to students, faculty, and staff; promote dynamic and reciprocal relationships with our community partners; work with Institutional Advancement to develop funding for civic engagement initiatives; coordinate meaningful assessment that shapes partnerships and resources.
Follow-up:
· Position description has been approved and search began in fall 2008. Filling position and implementing operating budget on hold pending fall 2009 enrollment and college financials.
Update 2010: The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) officially opened in May 2010 with a newly created position of Executive Director. With reporting lines to both the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Vice President for Student Development, an operating plan is under development for the first year of the Center. In addition to coordinating community service, service learning, and internships within the unit, the Center will oversee the affiliation with Jewish Senior Living and other existing community outreach efforts.
In addition to the salary of the executive director which was funded in the FY09 budget, during FY10 an operating budget of $76,156 was allocated. The Center for Civic Engagement includes the main center budget as well as budgets for Campus Compact, Partners for Learning, Center for Service Learning, Partners for Serving, and Internships.
Laying the foundation of the CCE structure will be the focus in 2010-2011 as well as conducting an environmental scan of civic engagement activities. It is anticipated that plans for assessing the CCE structure will be formulated in 2011-2012 with initial assessment of structure taking place in 2012-2013.
Update 2011, Center for Civic Engagement (CCE):
2010-2011 was the inaugural year of the CCE. The office structure was implemented with the Executive Director hiring two graduate assistant staff, four work study students, and one college funded student employee. The Executive Director attended college-wide and community partner meetings and events in order to establish face recognition and presence of CCE office on campus and in the community. The Executive Director also collaborated with other directors inside the CCE for moving forward as one unit with shared vision and responsibility for civic engagement.
Some highlights of the 2010-2011 Academic Year:
· LifePrep@Naz – A collaboration of the CCE, School of Education faculty, and community partners brings this new initiative to campus in August 2011. LifePrep@Naz will enable students with disabilities, through public school districts and adult agencies’ combined efforts with the College, to be the beneficiaries of post secondary supports and services. The program will provide academic and vocational instruction that is integrated with social and community-based opportunities.
· AmeriCorps*VISTA – Successfully obtained a position through New York Campus Compact for the LifePrep@Naz program.
· The CCE has integrated assessment and evaluation into its programming. A Civic Engagement Task Force was formed. The purpose of this working group of faculty, staff and students is to establish ways in which the College will: (1) record student engagement; (2) assess community perceptions of institutional engagement with the community; (3) assess community impact; (4) assess the impact of the engagement on student learning. The Task Force integrated this assessment of civic engagement initiatives into the full-time faculty annual reports, and has done this by personal invitation to all departments within Student Development.
· In March 2011 external reviewers were asked to evaluate the existing Professional Internship Program and offer planning and implementation suggestions for the experiential learning requirement of the new Core Curriculum. The report was received in September 2011 and will provide insight for future planning.
· The relationship between Nazareth College and Campus Compact remains strong and has been enhanced: (1) An Advisory Committee of approx twenty members, representatives of all sectors of higher education in the state, serve as advisors to the Executive Director of New York Campus Compact (NYCC). The Executive Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Nazareth was elected to the NYCC Advisory Committee in September 2010. Nazareth is now more actively involved in NYCC and, therefore, more present in regard to civic engagement, service learning and advancing engaged scholarship. (2) President Daan Braveman was appointed to the Executive Committee of New York Campus Compact in 2010-2011. (3) In addition to Americorps*VISTA, Nazareth has received several competitive grants including Students in Service AmeriCorps Education Award Program and National Days of Service.
After completion of the Center’s first year, the CCE team revisited the previous mission statement and strengthened it in May 2011 to say: “The mission of the Center for Civic Engagement is to support the development and coordination of the rich, diverse and varied curricular and co-curricular partnerships that actively engage students in service with their local, regional and global communities. We will accomplish our mission by providing leadership, strategic direction, advocacy, and program and resource development of all the College’s civic engagement initiatives.”
A newly created part-time support staff position was secured beginning August 2011.
The Executive Director and the Center for Civic Engagement team have identified challenges and opportunities for 2011-2012. / $29,700 operating budget FY09
salary plus benefits commen-
surate with position; FY09
salary commen-
surate with position; FY12 / funded for FY09 but on hold; decision pending for FY10
funded for FY09 but on hold; decision pending for FY10
Update 2010:
1. CCE Operating budget
$76,156 FY10; existing funds
Operating budget $102,156 FY11; includes $26,000 new funding
2. Technology for new CCE
$3,435 funded by ITS technology budget in FY10
3. Capital outlay
$19,998 in FY10 for construction and renovation, furniture, signage
Significant Objectives/Outcomes / Evidence and Criteria / Findings / Recommendations and Follow-up / Costs
Column 1 / Column 2 / Column 3 / Column 4 / Column 5 / Proposed/
Estimated Costs / Approved
Budget Allocation
Column 6
2. Reinforce the culture of civic engagement at Nazareth College.