Clearing the Hurdle: Engaging Reluctant Students in Civic-focused Programming

This session is free for members of the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Knowledge Community through November 17, 2019. For more information about pricing (and how to make sure you're getting the appropriate discount), please read below the course description.

Each semester provides opportunities for students to engage with civic and democratic systems, yet participation rates in such opportunities are not as high as they can and should be. To increase rates of student participation in civic life, higher education professionals from three different public institutions will offer insight on ways to engage reluctant students.

Civic engagement on a college campus depends on the creation of an environment cognizant of the characteristics of its student population and respectful of the diverse opinions of all those in the campus community.  In a national political and social environment where the act of engaging civically feels even more “risky,” how do we engage our diverse campus populations in a way that inspires and empowers them to use their voices and join in dialogue?

The first step towards increasing that civic engagement is recognizing the barriers that may prevent students from exploring dialogues or other opportunities in their communities. Student affairs professionals from the University of Maine, Texas Woman’s University, and the University of Connecticut will provide insight into approaches they’ve taken to understand the hurdles that their students face, methods to mitigate these barriers and increase student engagement, and share examples of student-focused programs in the civic engagement space.

Learning Outcomes

By attending this live briefing, attendees will be able to

• identify one's institutional context as it relates to developing an inclusive, democratically engaged community;
• develop a strategy in approaching civic engagement programming with a reluctant student population;
• acknowledge and address barriers affecting student engagement within their institution; and
• develop and apply lessons related to coalition building in order to create more effectively program delivery on college campuses.