The Civic Engagement Cluster:
A Case Study of Building Interorganizational Collaboration

Back to Civic Engagement Cluster Case Study
Back to List of Appendices

Morehouse College, a historically Black men's college founded in 1906, has proposed to design a Twenty-First Century Racial Justice program as the focus of its new initiatives for participation in the CEC. Trough the creation of intentional institutional spaces in America to identify, cultivate, sponsor, and place future generations of leaders who will carry the seeds of racial justice and inter-cultural tolerance with them as they move up the ladders of education, work, family, and civic life, Morehouse leadership hopes to transform its own and the greater community. This project is comprised of two components: faculty advisement and strategic campus leadership formation. The basic goals of these components are: a) to identify, cultivate and strategically place a select number of freshmen who will be involved in a four-year experience of intense reading, writing, discussion and interning in the are of twenty-first century racial justice, and b) to identify, organize, and support a system of influential faculty advisers, administrators, and professional staff who, over time, come to reach a consensus on the best ways to transform the campus culture to institutionalize the Program as a Morehouse brain trust on twenty-first century racial justice strategic planning.

Kansas State University, a comprehensive research, land-grant institution, has recently engaged in a strategic planning process to identify innovative programs dedicated to cultivating civic learning…to position itself for the 21st century and set the stage for participation in the CEC. The University is already engaged in three related initiatives including a community service program, a Leadership Studies and Programs major, and the Tilford Group (a curriculum development group working to design a multicultural curriculum model). Working within standing university structures, campus leadership has proposed five different initiatives that will become a part of the Civic Engagement Cluster initiatives: 1) The leadership team will work to identify civic learning competencies for the University; 2) The Provost's office will sponsor a civic learning lecture series; 3) a workshop on civic learning and multi-cultural competencies for department heads will be sponsored by the Provost's office and the leadership team; 4) partnership between the Community Service Program and Leadership Studies and Programs will be expanded to create a secondary major in Leadership and Community Service; and 5) a comprehensive set of incentives for faculty participation in civic learning initiatives and the variety of programs via traditional and non-traditional development models will be established.

Alverno College, established in 1887 as an independent undergraduate college for women (~2000) in Milwaukee, has been an active participant in the KNIT initiative. Stemming from four core institutional values (effective citizenship, valuing in decision-making, global perspective taking, and social interaction), the campus leadership proposes to involve women in civic life in new ways. This initiative has two main goals: 1) continue the curricular evolution in the area of educating women for civic life, and 2) placing an emphasis on better preparing for effective leadership in future additional Civic Engagement Clusters. Beneath these goals the College plans numerous objectives including reviewing the current internship seminar, working with teachers of new students to better integrate the teaching related to civic engagement, creation of a junior level course entitled "Global Effective Citizenship," and effectively coordinating community-based research projects.

Rutgers University, encompasses the three different campuses of the State University of New Jersey (Camden, New Brunswick, and Newark), locates their "Learning Goals" as the basis for the University's commitment to making civic learning a core theme in the undergraduate curriculum. For over ten years, the University has sponsored the Citizenship and Service Education (CASE) program which aims to integrate service learning directly into the academic curriculum. By participating in the CEC, Rutgers hopes to expand CASE by an additional 45 courses through a Civic Learning Faculty Development Program and a Civic Learning Instructor's Certificate Program.

Spelman College, a historically Black women's college, was founded on the basic principle of service, and this commitment to the core ideals and function of a civil society continues to permeate the living and learning campus environment. Within that spirit, the Spelman community already engages in a first-year orientation program, houses the Johnnetta B. Cole Institute for Community Service and Community Building, and sponsors the Bonner Scholars program. Spelman leadership proposes to bring a more integrated and systematic approach to the civic learning activities that exist on the campus as well as serve as a model for other minority-serving, liberal arts, and women's institutions. Spelman proposes to work with the CEC to advance in three key areas: 1) campus administrative infrastructure, 2) faculty and staff development, and 3) student leadership development.

The University of Denver, a medium-sized, independent institution with approximately 3200 undergraduates, continues to fact the challenges and opportunities to clarify and expand the role of civic education for its students. Having been engaged in civic learning and engagement for over 10 years, the University has received significant notoriety. University leadership has proposed a civic learning transformation initiative that focuses on the development of a strategic alignment model. Through this model institutional commitment to civic learning is assessed in terms of strategy, structure, shared values, systems, and people. Moreover, campus leadership expects to provide leadership for additional Civic Engagement Clusters in the Rocky Mountain region through a number of current initiatives and affiliations.

Oglala Lakota College, a baccalaureate and master's degree granting tribal college located in South Dakota, has been deeply enmeshed in the concept of character education called "Walakota." "Walakota" refers to the "whole person in balance and in harmony, spiritually, physically, mentally, and socially." The Lakota's leadership has proposed an institutional transformation effort to implement throughout the College the vision of "Walakota Across the Curriculum." Following a model in their own Department of Education, they hope to incorporate civic learning across the curriculum. Specifically, College leaders hope to implement increased opportunities for all students, focus on learning rather than transition models of education, offer training in consensus building and mediation for faculty and staff, and offer enhanced service learning training in all departments.

Olivet College, a private, residential, liberal arts college with approximately 900 students, has been an active participant in the KNIT initiative. In response to a 1992 racial crisis, Olivet leadership began an all-out effort to embrace its multi-cultural roots via reshaping the entire curriculum in a new vision: "Education for Individual Responsibility." Continuing on this rebuilding effort, Olivet envisions using the CEC project as an opportunity to develop learning experience that enhance a student's understanding of world history, politics and economics, as well as the application of that knowledge to social problems. In particular, the College hopes to further transform its Civilization Studies program, develop programs that provide real opportunity for students to get off campus to learn first hand about local, state, and federal history related to social activism and justice, further clarify how the entire institution can better coordinate its on- and off-campus activities that connect to civic responsibility.

The University of Texas at El Paso, a comprehensive institution serving approximately 15,000 students is unique in that it lies on the border with Mexico. Students crossing the border to attend receive in-state tuition. Currently, UTEP hosts a variety of programs that support strong connections with the surrounding community and local secondary and primary school systems. In addition to creating a model of "civic-centered learning" via offering a broad range of courses, the University hopes to pilot and support additional civic learning courses, conduct liaison work with area high school faculty, prepare reports on models and civic materials for courses, and establish a civic "shadowing" experience for students within community organization and with public officials.

Portland State University, a comprehensive, urban institution serves approximately 15,200 students and has been an active member of KNIT. Over time, the University has been able to shift its University Studies Program (a required for all undergraduates) toward a civic mission. By participating in the Cluster, PSU targets the following goals: extend faculty engagement with civic learning in both research and teaching; enhance the institutions' intentional focus on civic learning in both the curriculum and co-curriculum; integrate the two; expand existing partnerships with K-12 schools and local community colleges; and clarify and assess expected student learning, community and institutional, outcomes related to civic learning.

Managing Institutional Change and Transformation

Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education
2117 School of Education
601 East University Street
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259