The Center for Democracy and Humanity at Mount Wachusett Community College in North Central Massachusetts envisions a world where the values of democracy are embodied in the daily lives of individuals and communities.

In the fall of 2002, MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino announced the “Decade of Civic Engagement,” a college-wide effort to foster increased civic responsibility among its students, faculty, staff and greater community.

The Center for Democracy and Humanity was recently established to oversee the many programs and services offered by the college as part of the Decade of Civic Engagement. The Center coordinates programs and activities to ensure optimum efficiency and collaboration. In addition to the college’s many outreach programs, college faculty are committed to infusing service learning into their curricula and academic endeavors.

To promote civic engagement within the college and its broader community, the Center for Democracy and Humanity employs four strategies:

• Student engagement
• Resident engagement
• Capacity building and
• Systemic change.

In the Classroom

With civic engagement and service learning in the classroom, students gain practical experience that sets them apart in a competitive job market, communities benefit and classroom learning is reinforced. Students also become more knowledgeable, self-confident, active and engaged citizens with effective critical thinking skills. this effort is guided by a team of faculty advisors.

The Center’s Academic Programs

Citizenship Academy – The Citizenship Academy introduces high school students to higher education, civic engagement and community service. While earning college credit, students learn the basics of thinking and writing with clarity as well as how to become engaged in their communities. The academy offers Composition, Economics, Political Science and Sociology courses–all with a civic engagement/service learning component. The academy’s unique curriculum allows students to focus on issues pertinent to their lives and communities.

Service Learning – Service Learning programs involve students in organized community service that addresses local needs, while developing their academic skills, sense of civic responsibility and commitment to the community. by developing reciprocal partnerships, the program strives to serve the community and enrich the students’ educational and civic engagement experiences. Over 1,200 MWCC students have participated in Service Learning experiences, performing more than 7,000 hours of service to the community. In the coming year, faculty mini-grants will be awarded for new and innovative integration of service learning within the curricula.

AmeriCorps Scholars – Through the AmeriCorps, a number of students are chosen each year for the Scholarships for Service program that engages students as part-time AmeriCorps members. The program is designed to both acknowledge and advance campus civic engagement efforts, placing students at the core. Students are required to complete 300 hours of service with a local non-profit organization during the school year as an intensive means of meeting critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment.

In the Community

Center for Democracy and Humanity Community Development and Outreach Programs:

Community Builders and Project Volunteer – Community Builders is a partnership between the United Way of North Central Massachusetts and MWCC to educate, inform and inspire a greater community involvement through new and innovative strategies. Community Builders’ activities increase community action through volunteer promotion and recognition, and by providing tools, awareness and training to community organizations that depend on volunteers for their success.

Institute for Nonprofit Development – To build a more vibrant North Central Massachusetts, the Institute for Nonprofit Development supports organizations to strengthen their capacity to fulfill their missions and impact their communities. A membership-driven organization, the Institute provides training, technical assistance, resource libraries and coalition building services to nonprofits serving the region.

Molly Bish Institute for child Health and Safety – The mission of the Molly Bish Institute for Child Health and Safety is to ensure the health and safety of all children in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To meet this mission, the Institute provides hands-on, practical learning opportunities for parents, caregivers and children, and provides a clearinghouse of child health and safety information.

Twin Cities Latino Coalition – The Twin Cities Latino Coalition is a cross-sector collaborative effort involving local educational institutions, private business, public institutions and non-profits to achieve: increased Latino parental involvement, increased Latino K-16 student educational success and sustainable educatinoal systemic change through the implementation of a strategic plan. The Coalition actively works with Latino young people, parents and multicultural leaders to support parents and children’s independence, academic achievement and active civic engagement.

United Way Youth Venture – Youth Venture aims to change society’s views of youth by catalyzing a mass movement of young people who have the vision and drive to make a difference. Youth Venture emplowers young people ages 12-20 by providing them all the tools necessary to create “ventures” – civic-minded organizations, clubs or businesses to change schools and communities. Unique to North Central Massachusetts is Youth Venture’s partnership with ten schools, which work with educators, administrators and students to integrate Youth Venture into their curricula and achieve a graeter impact across the community.

What’s Next Speaker Series – Born out of a plan to bring several notable experts in the field of social change under a single theme, hundreds of residents have attended the What’s Next Speaker Series – public forums that introduce students, residents, community leaders and decision-makers in North Central Massachusetts to innovative thinkers and doers from around the country and world. The goal of the series is to show change is possible, spark creative problem-solving and inspire action.

Contact

Lea Ann Erickson
Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs
(978) 630-9322
l_erickson {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Amy Casavina Hall
Director of Civic Engagement and Outreach
(978) 630-9201
a_casavina {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Fagan Forhan
Coordinator, Center for Democracy and Humanity
(978) 630-9595
f_forhan {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Joanne Foster
Coordinator, Institute for Nonprofit Development
(978) 840-3221 x200
j_foster {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Andrea Hart
Program Assistant
978) 840-3221 x197
ahart {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Karin Olivera
Coordinator, Community Builders and Project Volunteer
(978) 840-3221 x201
k_olivera {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Sayra Pinto
Executive Director, Twin Cities Latino Coalition
(978) 840-3221
spinto {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Rebecca Cyganiewicz
United Way Youth Venture AmeriCorps*VISTA
(978) 840-3221 x203
youthventure {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

The Center for Democracy and Humanity’s offices are located at

110 Erdman Way
Leominster, MA 01453
Tel. (978) 840-3221 x197
Fax (978) 840-4398

One of the five goals at The University of Montana – Missoula is to improve the support for and understanding of the Montana University System as a leading contributor to the State’s economic success and social and political well-being. A subordinate objective of this goal is for the university to expand community involvement, service and outreach activities at the campus level. The Office for Civic Engagement s mission and goals operate in accordance with this university goal.

The mission of the Office for Civic Engagement (OCE) at The University of Montana is to promote and sustain opportunities for students, faculty, and the university community to participate as partners in community-based work as a means for civic involvement aimed at addressing identified needs. This mission is accomplished by:

Intentionally developing institutional practices, policies, and capacities to foster pedagogies and activities that equip students with skills and abilities enabling them to be actively engaged citizens in a democratic society;
Serving as a focal point for students to expand professional, academic, and personal experiences through volunteerism and service learning;
Actively promoting citizenship and leadership development through collaboration with community partners to integrate service learning and extracurricular opportunities into the university educational process.

As a means to accomplish this mission, the OCE is responsible for operating and maintaining the following activities and programs.

Student Volunteer Service Projects
Implement extra-curricular community service projects that are coordinated throughout the year in collaboration with community partners, e.g. America Reads/America Counts, Adopt-A-Family, Volunteer Fairs, Clean Start, Alternative Breaks, etc.

AmeriCorps and VISTA Programs
Coordinate and implement the UM-based Campus Corps AmeriCorps program, The Montana Technology Corps AmeriCorps program, The Community Engagement Research Fellowship Corps (CERFC) and the UM Montana Campus Compact VISTA members and Community Partners AmeriCorps program.

American Humanics & the Minor in Nonprofit Administration
Oversee the UM American Humanics program providing students with the opportunity to obtain national certification in nonprofit management and the Minor in Nonprofit Administration program.

Montana ALIVE Project
Implement the Montana ALIVE program designed to provide national service participants from across the state with the opportunity to enroll as UM students and gain graduate-level academic credit for service learning performed during their term of service.

Engaged Scholarship
Promote, support, and sustain academic programs for service learning and community based research.

Website: http://www.umt.edu/dhc/oce/

Website: www.indstate.edu

Contact:
Nancy Brattain Rogers
Center for Public Service and Community Engagement
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN 47809
812-237-2334

In October 2000, The Center for the Advancement of Service Learning (CASL) was established to promote the insitutionalization of service learning at Howard by developing and promoting initiatives that integrate service learning into existing courses and curricula throughout the university. CASL also provides training and technical assitance to faculty and staff for infusing service learning pedagogy into existing courses and redesigning curricula to include a service learning component.

Website: www.howard.edu/CenterUrbanProgress/CASL.html

Excerpted from Diversity Digest Summer 2001

Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning Website: cbsl.depaul.edu/

Our Volunteer Center has been booming with volunteers since its ground breaking in September. We have over 60 non-profit agencies in the Worcester County area registered with us and we have also involved our students with community “”matches”" through our service learning program.

The College has sponsored Manny Lewis, Karen Shatin and Andrea Felix as Massachusetts Campus Compact Interns for the 1998-99 academic year. Jeremy Chaussee, Cindy Flynn and I attended the fall conference at Holy Cross in November.

Over 100 students participated in the National Day for Hunger and Homelessness on April 10. The Student Activities Office hosted a barbecue for all those who volunteered their time.

Our office sponsored Mal Coles as one of our Academic Forum speakers at the end of March. He had the opportunity to meet with a number of students and will be participating in our fall Leadership Conference.

Members of our Association of Builders and Contractors chapter worked on two separate Habitat for Humanity projects this past fall and winter.

Contact person: Cindy Flynn, Volunteer Effort Coordinator
Volunteer Center web page:
Website: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/programs/wcl

web: www.publicwork.org

Website: http://csleps.ncsu.edu/

-face community issues with open minds and ears, discovering values, concerns, and political issues
-learn what it is to live in a democractic society and the responsibilties that go with citizenship
-understand that they have power and that one of the most effective things they can do is teach others to have power of their own

Website: http://www-pps.aas.duke.edu/centers/hlp/

The Center has two ultimate goals. One goal is to help engage citizens and students in discussing public policy issues in ways that transcend adversarial debate and special interest approaches and, instead, foster greater appreciation for and attention to the common ground upon which citizens can act together to solve their collective problems. It does this by teaching the methods of deliberative dialogue developed by the National Issues Forums and the Kettering Foundation. The other goal is to build civic infrastructure in the region through organizational partnerships animated by the ideals and practices of deliberative democracy. Our work is based on the premise that representative government cannot work well without the partnership of active citizens in directing, complementing, undergirding and sustaining its efforts.

Website: http://www.fpc.edu/pages/institutes/neccl/neccl.html

web: http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/EIPConsortium.html

http://www.brennancenter.org/