Campus Compact has announced their new major initiative, Education for Democracy, a non-partisan initiative that aims to give over 6 million students nationwide the tools necessary for responsible participation in democracy.

Their goal is to establish an expectation that every student of higher education will engage in courses, programs, and activities that build the knowledge, skills, and motivations that will lead to effective and responsible participation in democracy - now and throughout students’ lives.

The first core building block for engaged democratic participation is knowledge, which entails:

• Knowledge of current issues and events in historical context
• Understanding of key concepts such as rights, responsibilities, and power
• Understanding of systems and processes for voting, policy-making, protesting, and otherwise contributing to the direction of local, state, and national communities
• Capacity to judge the soundness of public policies and to hold representatives accountable

The next building block, skills, entails:

• Gathering and assessing information
• Engaging with others for shared work to achieve public goals
• Influencing elected officials and members of the public
• Listening to alternative views and engaging respectfully and responsibly

Lastly, Campus Compact wants students to have the motivation for responsible participation in democracy by engendering recognition of the relevance of political issues to students’ own lives and values.

The Education for Democracy Initiative consists of six core components, each with their own coorespoding goal focused on a critical aspect of democratic learning:

1. Student Voting Matters. Goal: to increase the proportion of college students who vote in local, state, and national elections
2. Media Fact and Fiction. Goal: to increase the capacity of students to distinguish reliable from unreliable political information
3. Democracy in Principle and in Practice. Goal: to increase student understanding of the underpinnings of democracy and the workings of democratic institutions
4. Student Leadership For Democracy. Goal: to build a network of student leaders committed to democratic renewal
5. Deliberation for Our Shared Future. Goal: to increase students’ capacities to listen respectfully to the ideas of others and engage in both constructive and critical discussion of public questions
6. Teaching for Democracy. Goal: to prepare faculty and staff to develop and execute high-quality courses and programs focused on democratic engagement

For more information about the research and need behind the Education for Democracy Initiative, check out this article from Inside Higher Ed, written by Campus Compact President Andrew J. Seligsohn and Thomas Ehrlich.

Campus Compact will introduce the practical components of Education for Democracy beginning in the fall of 2018 and continuing throughout the academic year. Programs will be brought to life through the collaborative efforts of Campus Compact’s national network of state and regional Compacts and in partnership with organizations that share their goals for the renewal of our democratic republic.

For any questions about the Education for Democracy Initiative, Campus Compact can be contacted at campus@compact.org, their Twitter (@Campus_Compact), or their Facebook(Facebook.com/CampusCompact).

Campus Compact has released their August 2018 newsletter, announcing the dates for upcoming regional conferences in Spring 2019.

The Western Region of Campus Compact invites you to submit proposals for the 20th Continuums of Service Conference, which will take place from March 6-8, 2019 at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego in San Diego, California.

The theme of the conference is Beyond Borders: Embracing Multiple Ways of Knowing and Being. Conference participants will explore how we can reach out beyond borders of nations, neighborhoods, communities, ways of knowing, and identities to think more inclusively about our work. The conference will engage students, faculty, administrators, and community partners in forward-thinking and inclusive dialogue designed to stimulate movement-building for a more just, equitable, and sustainable future for all.

Anyone interested can submit proposals here by September 14, 2018. For more information about the conference, including a schedule of programs and events, registration information, and more, visit their website here.

Interested faculty should also save the date for the Eastern Region Campus Compact Bi-Annual Conference on Education for Democracy: Innovating for Complex Times. The conference will take place from March 25-27, 2019 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Lastly, faculty should save the date for the 2019 Midwest Campus Compact Conference, which will take place in Minnesota on May 30-31, 2019. Registration will begin in Spring 2019, but a list of registration fees can be found here.

The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, has released a detailed report, Election Imperatives, which details ten recommendations to increase college student voting and improve political learning and engagement in democracy.

This report, endorsed by organizations such as Campus Compact and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, compares today's rising student interest in politics to the 1960s, but cautions that students and voters ages 18-21 have a very low turnout rate. The report encourages us to view today's heated political climate as an opportunity to recommit ourselves to learning for democracy as a national priority.

The ten recommendations the report provides are:

1. Reflect on past elections and reimagine 2018
2. Remove barriers to student voting
3. Develop informed voters
4. Establish a permanent and inclusive coalition to improve the climate for learning and participation
5. Invest in the right kind of training
6. Talk politics across campus
7. Involve faculty across disciplines in elections
8. Increase and improve campus issue discussions across disciplines
9. Support student activism and leadership
10. Empower students to create a buzz around the election

The full 19-page report, and more information about IDHE, can be found here. For an interview in the Chronicle of Higher Education with the Director of IDHE, Nancy Thomas, discussing Election Imperatives, click here.