Engagement Starts at Home
Earlier this week I attended a lunch discussion on Student Engagement Best Practices. This was the first in a series of Campus Conversations, organized by the Student Engagement and Leadership Initiative in the Office for Student Affairs and designed to bring the university community together to discuss and share ideas that will create a more engaged campus.
The focus on the university as community was emphasized in the event flier: "At this large institution, there are many creative and meaningful ways for students to be engaged. In the classroom, on campus or in the community, students are developing skills to enhance their ability to be leaders and active citizens. Come share your ideas and learn what others are doing on the U of M Twin Cities campus." About 30 staff and a few faculty engaged in a lively exchange of ideas.
One theme that struck me was the importance of getting students engaged where they are, taking advantage of what they already do and are interested in. It connected with an article I had recently read, "Public Work at Colgate: An Interview with Adam Weinberg", written by David Brown, co-editor of the Higher Education Exchange, in the 2006 issue (pp. 12–26) of that journal published by the Kettering Foundation. Weinberg describes the process by which Colgate moved its residence halls from the "professionalized model, where people solve problems for students", to a "public work" model in which "students think of themselves as members of a community who have a responsibility to work with others to create a healthy living environment."
Weinberg says "[W]e need to capture all the educational moments. Civic education takes place in campus controversies, residential halls, student organizations, campus planning, and a range of other places. Finally, we are challenging people to move beyond values. We need to make sure that our students have the skills and habits to act on their values." His account of making the residence halls places to teach, learn, and practice "the arts of democracy" is well worth reading.