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

Visit this link to hear these conversations or download PDF documents on these conversations http://csl.iupui.edu/conversations.htm

Website: http://csl.iupui.edu

Contact: Patti Hair, phair {at} iupui(.)edu, 317.278.2662

The mission of the Atlanta Semester Program is to provide students with a means, through both theoretical and experience based education, for critical and engaged examination of leadership and social change from the perspective of women. Students enrolled in the Program complete an interdisciplinary seminar (4 semester credits) and a service-learning internship (4 semester credits) in a grassroots or non-profit organization with the option to complete an independent research project (4 semester credits). Students examine major social issues affecting communities: issues such as poverty, welfare reform and refugee resettlement. In addition to examining the role of individuals in society, students also examine the structural arrangements that foster systems of inequality such as gender, race and class.

The intent when establishing the Atlanta Semester was to create community partnerships fostering an innovate learning community by nurturing a learning environment in which participants differing views about women, leadership and social change could be made explicit, discussed and assessed while also encouraging re-evaluation of their ideas in light of engaged practice and academic research on the subject.

Students enrolled in the service-learning internship have contributed to the following initiatives:

? Legislative lobbying to raise Georgia’s minimum wage
? Domestic violence education
? Literacy programs for homeless children
? After-school programs for refugee children
? Teen pregnancy prevention efforts
? Reproductive health education
? Promotion of corporate volunteer programs
? Corporate community development programs
? Living wage lobbying programs

For more information, contact Dr. Isa Williams: iwilliams {at} agnesscott(.)edu or visit our web site: www.agnescott.edu.

In these ways, the Public Service Scholars Program adds depth to a student’s service experience. As these students work to improve the quality of life for people in our community and state, they help fulfill Carolina s promise of service, made by the nation s first public university over 200 years ago.

The program is open to all full-time UNC-Chapel Hill undergraduate students with at least four semesters remaining. Program requirements include:

– Attend Service Scholars Program Orientation
– Perform and document 300 hours of service
– Complete 2 service-learning classes
– Complete trainings/workshops in four skill areas
– Create and present a summative Service Portfolio
– Maintain a minimum overall GPA

Students fulfilling these requirements receive the following recognition:

– Notation of public service achievement on their official academic transcript (students with a minimum GPA of 2.5 receive “”special recognition in public service”"; students with a minimum GPA of 3.0 receive “”Public Service Scholar”"
– Listing in the commencement program
– Certificate of achievement and a letter from the Chancellor
– A special event honoring their accomplishments

For more information, visit our webpage: www.unc.edu/cps/scholars

Contact:
Lynn Blanchard, Director
Carolina Center for Public Service
(919)843-7568, ccps {at} unc(.)edu

Current research highlights the lack of civic engagement among young people, raising concerns about future citizenship and participation in our democracy. There is little indication that a new generation is inclined or prepared to fill vacancies created by the retirement of senior administrators in government, education, social service, and traditional non-profit sectors. By coordinating and augmenting existing resources, the Public Impact Initiative will motivate Dartmouth students to lead civically engaged lives, and provide them with the policy, management, and strategic skills necessary for careers in the common good. The Initiative will include peer institutions in strategic planning, evaluation and post-graduate programs to identify best practices, target measurable civic health outcomes, and encourage replication.

The Public Impact Initiative is a campus-wide effort to strengthen student civic engagement, to encourage students pursuit of careers in the common good, and to use Dartmouth s assets to benefit the region. The Initiative is housed in the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, Dartmouth s center for public policy research, deliberation, and teaching. We plan to link several existing community service and internship programs with a curriculum, career counseling and skills training to provide a coherent experience for students and a road map for their future direction. We request support for the Initiative s first phase to augment current Rockefeller Center offerings with strategically targeted new programs and enhanced student support to strengthen political civic engagement on campus. The funding will expand administrative capacity to foster collaboration among Dartmouth s Tuck School of Business, undergraduate centers, and the Office of Career Services, and long-term partnerships with top-tier public and non-profit employers, and other colleges and universities nationwide.

The Public Impact Initiative will begin by convening employers who hire people into the political world to determine the core competencies and experiences needed for the next generation of public policy and independent sector innovators. This group will include non-profit managers, union organizers, think tanks, campaign and advocacy representatives and legislative councils. This initial meeting will ensure the correct focus for the Initiative. Discussions will inform the Center s program development and assessment protocols and, by engaging the independent sector in Dartmouth s vision, will plant seeds for future national collaboration.

A Comprehensive Program for Civic Leadership
The Public Impact Initiative will include integrated curricular, co-curricular, research, and skill development opportunities to support students interested in pursuing careers in the common good, and to enhance the civic health of all students. The Initiative will structure students progression from consideration of academic policy frameworks, through sophisticated research and practical contributions in the policy world, to specially designed post-graduate training for non-profit management. Students will gain strategies to pursue new ideas, a context for policy development, and an opportunity to prove themselves in the real world of policy and public service all within an infrastructure that facilitates civic innovation and discourse. Each of these elements will be fully integrated to maximize their cumulative impact. The Rockefeller Center will utilize a detailed longitudinal assessment to measure effectiveness, and will solicit student feedback to investigate additional opportunities.

Programming will include an expansion of the civic engagement curriculum, rigorous experiential skill building, and new co-curricular offerings to strengthen civic responsibility among all students as noted below:

A. Building Civic Skills
Participation and Civic Engagement Course Building on new research in the United States and emerging democracies abroad, this class will focus on civic engagement and participation by combining readings, research and field experience. The literature will focus on issues of political participation, issues that affect political activism and grass roots mobilization, polling as a campaign tool, and political strategies that reflect historic demographic trends. The class will include guest lectures from practitioners (preferably some in residence), and a practicum in which students work on a campaign, in a political action committee, party organization or advocacy group, at a press organization, or in a grass roots organization.
Legislative Research Shop Strategically located at the mid-point between the capitals of Vermont and New Hampshire, the Research Shop will provide information to lawmakers in both states, proactively and upon request, in the areas of education, health, and the environment. Both legislatures are part-time and have minimal staff to address increasing policy responsibility in the new devolved environment of state government. Twenty-four paid student researchers will provide in-depth research from other states and produce appropriate policy briefs. A post-doctoral fellow and the Associate Director of Research for the Rockefeller Center will supervise the student researchers.
Civic Engagement Skills Training Filling a need articulated by politically-inclined students, the Rockefeller Center will provide intensive one-week training sessions for students on grassroots and political mobilization. Leading experts in political organizing will teach media strategies, database management, polling, lobbying, volunteer coordination, campaign finance, strategic planning, and fundraising.

B. Developing Civic Leadership on Campus
Leadership House This will be a residence for on-campus civic leaders, complete with space (computers, conference room, and reference information) to support the Research Shop, skills workshops and non-profit ventures. Civically active Dartmouth alumni will provide mentoring activities here as well.
Civic Practitioners in Residence Borrowing from successful models at other colleges and universities, the Rockefeller Center will create a practitioner in residence position on a year-round basis. The position will be for individuals with significant professional experience in the area of public service, politics, or policy. In addition to writing and conducting research, these leaders in their fields will mentor students and, when appropriate, teach a seminar in collaboration with a Dartmouth faculty member. The practitioners will advise the Office of Career Services on new opportunities for graduates and on opportunities for campus program enhancement.

C. Supporting Students Beyond Graduation
Non-Profit Bridge Program Based on the nationally renowned Tuck School of Business Administration Bridge Program, the Tuck School will offer a four-week non-profit finance and management boot camp for recent graduates. This proposal includes seed money for program development and thirty scholarships for Dartmouth graduates. Over time, we will add ten additional attendees from peer institutions whose tuition will help support program costs. < >< > Dedicated Staff for Careers in the Common Good Responding to student demand for more information on public and independent sector careers, the Initiative will support dedicated staff to ensure expert counseling, internships, exposure to national fellowships, and national caliber fairs for careers in the common good.

Building Capacity for Future Growth
The Rockefeller Center must expand its capacity in order to achieve these ambitious programming efforts while maintaining its current level of excellence. Such an expanded operation will over time enhance the Center s potential for entrepreneurship in the field of civic engagement. The Leadership House adds a residential component to enhancing civic health, and will provide additional space for programming and visiting residential scholars. Rockefeller Center has identified opportunities to further increase capacity through consolidation of current staff responsibilities and the strategic addition of new positions. New job descriptions will include a strong focus on fundraising to sustain the Initiative, and on leveraging partnerships to maximize collaboration and replication.

Evaluation
To ensure success, the Public Impact Initiative will provide a baseline assessment of the civic health of undergraduates at Dartmouth College, compare the results to similar assessments at peer institutions, and conduct a longitudinal study to measure the success of program elements against the stated goals. The assessment will utilize the civic health indices developed in the Pew Charitable Trusts-funded CIRCLE Study conducted at the University of Maryland, and will explore incorporating other emerging protocols. Unlike traditional assessments of civic activity on campuses that focus on inputs (i.e. number of hours of community service, use of work study for service, etc.), this evaluation will measure outcomes by evaluating a student cohort s civic health, and tracking the cohort longitudinally to test the effectiveness of new strategies.

Partnerships and National Impact
The Public Impact Initiative will partner with colleges and universities at the forefront of undergraduate efforts in enhancing civic engagement. We will collaborate on the initial focus group, on an institution-to-institution evaluation of civic health, and on participation in the Non-Profit Management Bridge Program. Using these key collaborative elements, we will identify core competencies in the marketplace; diagnose gaps in civic health; test new strategies to address shortfalls; identify best practices for strengthening civic health; and gain a critical mass of students for the Bridge Program to test its effectiveness in launching students into careers in the common good. We will share findings of these collaborative efforts nationally. We expect the reports to spark a national exchange of undergraduate strategies to achieve specific measurable outcomes in the quest for stronger civic engagement in the next generation. Current institutional partners include Tufts University, Stanford University, University of Vermont, and Middlebury College. We will pursue additional national partners when the project is fully funded.

Conclusion
Capitalizing on Dartmouth s long history of academic excellence and Rockefeller Center s strength in public policy, we are eager to build programs, facilities, and expanded capacity to ensure that Dartmouth students are prepared for lives of active civic leadership. We will engage peer institutions from the outset to collaboratively establish measurable outcomes and identify effective practices for national replication. Through this focus and partnership, the Public Impact Initiative will advance research on undergraduate strategies to enhance civic engagement, and pave the way for developing a new generation of civic leaders in America.

web: http://www.apsanet.org/CENnet/

See Washington Post, June 5, 2000, “”When College Graduates Put Ideals Before Dollars,”" by Colamn McCarthy for description of the project.

Every student at the institution is assigned an e-mail account. A survey is e-mailed to them asking them for such information as their name, whether they are registered to vote, where they prefer to be registered (at home or on campus), and if they would like an absentee ballot. Students are told that the survey is part of a campus-wide effort to have 100% of the students registered and is required under the Higher Education Act. They are also told that the survey will be mailed several more times to those who have not registered, although students can opt out of future mailings. Paper surveys are also provided at registration. Students who request absentee ballots are asked to direct their state elections office to fax the ballots to the school’s Communications Office. The Communications office faxes completed forms back to the states.

A smaller campus reaches students directly during pre-registration and registration. Students are directed to a voter registration table when they pick up their financial aid packages or pay their tuition. Additionally, voter registration forms are placed in the mailboxes of students who are late registrants. As an extra measure, out of state students fill out cards and their request for absentee ballots are forwarded to the proper local election office.

In Massachusetts and Michigan, the Secretaries of State make voter registration forms available via the internet for downloading and printing. Schools send an e-mail to all students telling them that they can register to vote throug hteh university’s web page, whcih has a link to the Secretary of State’s web site. The schools’ communications departments provide press releases and develop stories to support and advertise the voter registration efforts. The school newspaper and other campus-wide circulars also run notices about hwo to register. The involvement of Secretary of State has free up many of these schools to focus their election efforts on additional voter education and “”get out the vote”" efforts.

web: http://www.twc.edu/

From

Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

This is an example of a true community partnership. In Fall 1999, outgoing President Randolph asked the college to identify a project that would involve our “”GateWay Family”" (our entire campus community). About that time, we received a call from the principal of our neighboring elementary school asking us to consider becoming community consultants to deliver the Junior Achievement curriculum to all classrooms at her school. Junior Achievement s mission of teaching children to value themselves, others, their education, and the American free enterprise system aligned perfectly with the the goals of our service-learning program. A representative from Junior Achievement met with our Service-learning Committee, a interdisciplinary group charged with overseeing service-learning activities on our campus and making related recommendations to the administration, to explain the program. The committee embraced the project and recommended to President Randolph that this would be our all campus spring project.

In January, President Randolph was reassigned to the MCCD District office as Acting Vice-Chancellor for Quality and Employee Development. Acting President Gaudet made the suggestion that we form teams of GWCC personnel and service-learning students. The call went out from President Gaudet and volunteers from all divisions came forward. While all volunteers saw the project as a way to fill an unmet need for an inner city school, faculty viewed it as an opportunity to partner with their students, students saw the project as a way to interact more informally with campus personnel and administrators had an opportunity to interact more with students. In less than two weeks, all 24 classes were assigned. President Gaudet volunteered to be consultant to an 8th grade class. (As an extension activity, he and the nursing faculty member who was the consultant to the other grade class, sponsored Career Awareness visit to the campus for the 8th grade students and their parents. Thirty-five participants spent three hours at the campus completing computer based career assessments and touring the campus.)

A core team with faculty representation from each instructional division and the Director of Community Partnership Programs participated in a training workshop with the teachers from the elementary school and went through a Junior Achievement provided train-the-consultant workshop. Team members in turn provided training to campus volunteers. During the next three months, teams made 6-8 visits to their assigned classrooms to deliver the citizenship lessons. The evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive and about 75% of the consultants have asked to participate next year.

Our campus has decided to continue the project. Ideally, children who spend their K-8 years at Crockett Elementary will have nine years of citizenship and stay in school messages. We also see it as an opportunity to informally mentor our future civic leaders and our future GateWay students. We are certain that there will be additional related service-learning opportunities at the school.

Website: www.gwc.maricopa.edu/partnerships

Contact person: Michele Bush, michele.bush {at} gwmail.maricopa(.)edu

SDSU Service Learning home: http://servicelearning.sdsu.edu/
E-mail: servicelearning {at} sdsu(.)edu

Community Concepts is an upper-division course based in the College of Education (EDUC 157) and cross-listed in five other colleges (Applied Sciences and Arts, Engineering, Humanities and Arts, Science, and Social Science). It is intended to provide mutual benefit to both community partners and students. For community partners, it responds to problems and issues which they identify as important, strengthening community resources. For students, its main goal is to enrich students understanding of themselves as citizens in an evolving multicultural society. It enrolls approximately 150 students a year. The course structure includes the following key components:

• Fifty-two hours of supervised community service to a school or social organization that addresses the needs of an at-risk population.
• A core reader with articles selected to help students understand their own service roles, the social forces that shape equality and inequality, and strategies for social action.
• Large-group meetings to engage students in critical reflection through structured exercises with classmates at their own and other service sites
• Weekly on-site seminars facilitated by community site coordinators to help students link their readings and experiences and to resolve problems.
• Two papers plus weekly journal entries that require students to analyze their experiences in light of their readings and additional information gathered from individual library and internet research.

Through this course, our institution has created and sustained long-term partnerships with local schools and social service organizations, improved the condition of the community surrounding San Jose State University, and enabled students to encounter and learn from others different from themselves.

Contact person: Dr. Bob Gliner, Acting Faculty Director, Community Service Learning, rvgliner {at} email.sjsu(.)edu

Yan Matan is 74 years old. She is preparing to become naturalized as an American citizen. Her volunteer coach is one of 100 students at San Francisco State University and City College of San Francisco who work this semester with elders in citizenship and ESL literacy classes through SHINE, Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders. Project SHINE is a national community- service learning effort with sister sites in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco. Co-directors Gail Weinstein of SFSU and Nina Gibson of CCSF, work with faculty from a wide range of disciplines to develop “”project options”" for academic classes. Students who choose to participate in SHINE are trained as “”citizenship coaches”", and are placed in citizenship classes to tutor one-on-one or in small rows. The hope is that all participants gain citizenship knowledge and skills, develop confidence in themselves as learners, and nurture intergenerational relationships that last long after the project ends.

In Spring 1999, approximately 100 students from two campuses participated from English, Asian-American Studies, La Raza, Anthropology, Women’s Studies, ESL and Political Science. Project evaluations to date have indicated that as students assist elders in preparing to become citizens, their own academic learning is deepened, and they themselves have an opportunity to participate in our communities in the best sense of true citizenship.

As one coach says: “”I feel very fortunate to have landed in such an exciting class, where so many students experience success in their learning and citizenship attainment. The elders are so appreciative, and tell us how much we make a difference. I feel lucky to be working with a teacher who is an outstanding educator. Thanks so much for helping to set up such a great learning experience for me.”"

There is enormous satisfaction in building a program where academic course work comes to life; language is learned, and our community is strengthened through intergenerational relationships that we hope will last.

Contact people: Gail Weinstein, SFSU, gailw {at} sfsu(.)edu; Nina Gibson, CCSF, ngibson {at} ccsf(.)edu
SHINE web site: http://thecity.sfsu.edu/~shine/

What is your nation of residence? Why are you crossing the border? How frequently do you cross in a month? For what purposes do you cross the border?

The research that the students compiled dispelled a number of common misconceptions about border crossings here, at the most traversed transnational border in the world. Contrary to popular belief, nine out of ten crossings were not by tourists or smugglers, but by commuters who were going back and forth as part of their daily routine.

Faced with this new information, community leaders on both sides of the border suddenly realized that the economies and lives of their two cities were intertwined. Policy makers came together to discuss how they could make border crossing easier for these every day commuters. By the time discussion was through, their efforts had been profiled by papers from The San Diego Tribune to The New York Times, and the United States Congress had passed a bill authorizing expansion of the border to make crossing easier.

This small study with large implications provides important insight into democracy. Democracy, ideally, is a system where people come together to engage in civil discourse a process of participating in informed discussion of how their community looks today, and how they envision it looking tomorrow. Unfortunately, community members often don t have access to the information they need to make informed decisions about their community, and there are typically few places in a town or city where people can come together for such discussion.

The San Diego Dialogue, an initiative of the University of California that was the springboard for this cross-border research project, seeks to rectify both of these situations. The Dialogue is the name given to a center based at the university founded to provide the information, public education, and forum for effective civil discourse in the San Diego-Tijuana region.

The Dialogue is led by a group of one hundred regional leaders of industry, government, the media, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations in Mexico and the United States. The group identifies issues of regional significance in three issue areas: regional integration; equity, diversity, and urban development; and globalization. For any particular issue, the progress of promoting civil discourse follows five steps. First, a plenary session is held providing public education and introducing the issue. Second, working groups are formed that include community members interested in the issue. Third, faculty and research fellows from the university provide applied research on the topic to give the working groups information they need to make informed decisions. The fourth key step in the development of civil discourse is the holding of community forums. The Dialogue regularly convenes workshops, roundtables, and community discussions that focus on research findings and regional issues. The group also sponsors a regular forum for discussion of cross-border policy issues that attracts participation from nearly 500 business, government, and academic leaders; and a regular breakfast forum series in which 200-300 business executives and public officials discuss economic issues and trends.

Once discussion of an issue is complete, the last step in the process is the publication of results. These may be published as separate articles available to the community, or as part of the San Diego Dialogue Report, the group s monthly newsletter.

By the time proceedings are published, community members have become involved in the process of sharing ideas that makes democratic communities come to life. Starting with a sociology class that got people talking all over the nation, the University of California, San Diego, has developed a project that has gotten people talking in a much more important venue: their own communities.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

For more information: http://www.sddialogue.org/

The Tutoring Program utilizes the volunteer services of the University s student body to act as Reading and Math tutors for K-6 grade pupils in the Alvord Unified School District. While realizing the nation s need for quality teachers, the Tutoring Program provides an opportunity for University students to explore teaching as a career goal. As a result of the tutoring experience, several tutors express a new or increased desire to enter the teaching profession. They also state benefits of acquiring effective teaching skills, gaining leadership confidence and making a difference in the lives of others. While disadvantaged students receive this additional learning opportunity, they also gain self-esteem, enthusiasm for learning, hope for a better future and a positive perception of La Sierra University.

The Mentoring Program is providing an equally beneficial experience for its participants. This program places high school students in a one-to-one mentoring relationship working with a University professor. This employment opportunity allows them to explore their interests in a chosen career field. The mentoring experience teaches them how to operate in a professional work environment. In addition to learning new skills, these students testify about other benefits increased self-esteem, motivation toward higher education and a positive perception of the La Sierra University s educational experience. The University professors make these benefits a reality through their dedicated volunteer service. While the professors appreciate the assistance they receive from these students, they welcome the chance to make a difference in the lives of our youth.

The Tutoring and Mentoring programs twofold ability to benefit every participant makes the Arlanza/La Sierra Community Collaborative a perfect example of “”best practices.”"