Engagement

I took part in the Utah Campus Compact "Civic Engagement Retreat" meeting yesterday at Snowbird, and I have to say that there's a tremendous amount of interesting stuff going on around the state. I thought I'd use this space to document a few of my thoughts on the subject.

First: it's amazing to see so many people from all over the state convene to talk about the various aspects of service learning in Utah. All of the colleges and universities were represented, which means that unlike in other places, we have a bit of a head start on getting a statewide initiative going.

Second: as we all sat down with our school-groups (many of which included Chief Academic Officers [CAOs]), many of us came to the same conclusion(s). Our university Presidents are generally very supportive of civic engagement/service learning/community-based research. Our faculty are also generally very interested in this. Our Deans and Department Chairs, however, are our biggest stumbling block. I suggested to our group that we work toward installing some kind of "Community Centered Research" office—to move away from words like "service" and "civic"—to operate as a clearinghouse. Community leaders could approach this center, which could then disseminate information out into the university. I also suggested that this center be headed by a full-time faculty member who is an absolute <i>evangelist</i> for the cause.

Third: there is a tremendous amount of community based/civic engagement/service learning going on all over the various universities in the state.

A few cards on the table, first.

I should say that "service learning" frightens me a little, mostly because in disciplines like Composition the problem is connection: "let's build houses for Habitat and then go back to our classroom and write modal essays" isn't going to cut it. I am also deeply troubled by the tendency among faculty to bring their hobbies into the classroom (this, of course, is not limited to Utah). This is not to say that I don't like service learning; it's just that I think it can be done very, very badly. And in a political climate like Utah's, doing it badly could have devastating consequences.

I am also frightened a little by the degree to which many are involved in service projects that are unabashedly liberal/progressive in nature but which do not seem to recognize this fact—or which shy away from their progressiveness. I suspect that this is easily rectified simply by spinning civic engagement as being ecological in nature. That is, when Hispanics/Latinos, who make up 35% of the population of Ogden, drop out of high school at a rate of 40+% (among males), the problem is hardly isolated to that one community.

With that said, I'm interested in the slippage in terminology. What began as "service learning," which insisted that students learn more and better when what they learn in the classroom is reflected in some kind of activity outside the classroom. But "service" doesn't really play well. Then came "civic engagement," which is a much more blatantly political animal. As I understand it, the idea is that the university is to be the site of a rejuvenation of civic engagement among students, who of course vote in appallingly low numbers.

The amazing Barbara Holland led us through all of this, and at one point used the term "Community Connected Learning," which I like a great deal. Interestingly, when I asked her if that had been intentional, she said that it wasn't, but was willing to admit that she'd had an epiphany.

I suspect that there's about to be a large push for this community connected learning at each of the schools in the state. It'll be interesting to see what comes of it.