kansas

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
www.ksu.edu

Background
Current Institutional Involvement and Commitment to Civic Learning
Proposed Activities to be Funded as Part of the Civic Learning Cluster
Expected Student Learning and Institutional Outcomes
Leadership for Additional Clusters
Leadership Team

Background

Kansas State University is a comprehensive research, land-grant institution. The University's mission includes enriching the lives of the citizens of Kansas by extending them opportunities to engage in life-long learning and to benefit from the results of research. The University addresses this charge through mutually supportive activities on its Manhattan and Salina campuses, research and extension sites at numerous locations, and outreach programs offered throughout the State. Research and other creative endeavors comprise an essential component of Kansas State University's mission. Coordinated teaching, research and extension services help develop the highly skilled and educated work force necessary to the economic well-being of Kansas.

The University indicates that under the leadership of President Jon Wefald and Provost James Coffman, a critical mass of faculty, administrators and students are challenging the assumptions of tradition. New initiatives and creative strategies are encourages and supported. The University is committed to a continual learning and transformation process that creates a flexible and responsive institution for student, faculty, and communities. The recent update of the university's strategic plan, the presence of several innovative programs dedicated to civic learning, and a core group of creative leaders working to position Kansas State for the 21^st century set the stage for its participation in the Civic Learning Cluster Project. The University envisions the Cluster Project as providing an opportunity to build synergy among individual initiatives by facilitating collective action that will not only change, but transform the university.
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Current Institutional Involvement and Commitment to Civic Learning

The Provost has designated three exemplary, interdisciplinary programs that have civic learning at their core as the lead organizations to strengthen civic learning at Kansas State.

The Community Service Program (CSP), the University's service learning program, was founded in 1987. The CSP supports service learning throughout the University and is the home of the CSP Kansas Summer Teams, the CSP International Summer Teams, CSP Tutors, America Reads/Counts, and CALL (volunteer clearinghouse). The CSP coordinates five academic courses that support its service learning activities.

Leadership Studies and Programs was cooperatively establish in 1997 by the College of Education and the Vice President for Institutional Advancement with the mission of "developing knowledgeable, ethical, caring leaders for a diverse world." Currently, over 650 students, representing a wide array of majors, are enrolled in the interdisciplinary minor in Leadership Studies.

The Tilford Group is a research and curriculum developmentgroup consisting of Kansas State faculty, administrators, and students who are developing a multicultural curriculum model. The Tilford Group is identifying diversity competencies and learning objectives needed by Kansas State students to live and work in a diverse world.

Each of these innovative programs is working with students and faculty to change the campus culture and bring the University's resources to bear on important community issues. Together, they have given formal expression to civic learning at Kansas State through their program mission statements and activities.

The University's commitment to civic learning is demonstrated not only through these programs but also in a multitude of ongoing programs and activities. Service learning faculty and fellows, the Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives, membership in Campus Compact, campus-wide participation in service learning and volunteerism, the Leadership Activities Council, the Rural Activities Council, prestigious lecture series, and leadership programs for youth are among the many activities that contribute toward a general climate to encourage civic engagement.

In addition, several planning initiatives from the Provost's office are ongoing and are helping to nurture and environment for change. The Provost has been leading a major effort to revise the criteria used in faculty promotion and tenure reviews. The adoption of an individualized criterion-based approach to using faculty time and talent is a giant step forward in making the best use of our limited resources. The recently completed Strategic Plan for 2000-2005 has identified several themes that are part of the institution's civic learning process. Five of the strategic themes will contribute to the proposed project to be developed as part of the Civic Learning Cluster.
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Proposed Activities to be Funded as Part of the Civic Learning Cluster

The University indicates that its challenge is to take civic learning as articulated and practiced at the level of these and other distinct programs and engage the entire campus in a cultural transformation that will be institutionalized. The starting point for institutional transformation is establishing a shared understanding of the issue. After finding this common ground, the institution can develop a collaborative vision for change and provide the leadership to enact it. The University currently has the critical mass of strong programs and activities supported by transformational leadership to initiate and maintain the change process over the five-year life of this project. Its experience in approaching institutional change is multidimensional and seeks to create an environment that encourages faculty, administrators, and students to recognize and take advantage of opportunities to create new approaches and to discover new ways of thinking and acting. The proposed strategy is two-pronged. The University will empower positional leaders to clearly articulate a message that supports change and advocates for civic learning without mandates from the top. At the same time incentives and support for change at the grassroots level will be provided by the institution.

The University does not propose to create new organizations or centers or to develop new administrative positions. The institution believes that the necessary collaborative organizational structures with effective leaders to facilitate change are in place. The University plans to work with existing innovative programs to strengthen and expand their influence and activities. Three strong programs will provide the vision for the proposed project with high-energy leaders who have demonstrated their capacity for innovation, their enthusiasm for their work, and deep personal commitment to civic education and engagement.

Proposed project initiatives include the following:

§ The Leadership Team will facilitate the development and articulation of a vision for the campus change strategies. This group will meet monthly and will provide the leadership to create and environment that encourages creativity and supports change. Following the model of the Tilford Group, the Leadership Team will identify the civic learning competencies for the University.

§ The Provost will host a special Provost Lecture Series focusing on civic learning to stimulate discussion and introduce new ideas to the campus community.

§ During each year of the project, a Department Heads Workshop on civic learning and multicultural competencies will be co-sponsored by the Provost and the Leadership Team. Departments will continue to be encouraged to revise the standards for promotion and tenure to reward teaching, service, and research activities that support the university's civic learning competencies.

§ The current partnership between the Community Service Program and Leadership Studies and Programs will be expanded to create a secondary major in Leadership and Community Service. This academic program will build upon the Leadership Studies minor and the current service learning courses and activities of the Community Service Program to create a 24 credit hour curriculum that includes community-based learning projects and involves faculty throughout the university. It is anticipated that the secondary major would be approved by Faculty Senate during the Spring 2001 and would be implemented during Fall 2001.

Cultural Change will not occur without the support and involvement of faculty. Faculty and staff development will be essential for the University to infuse civic and multicultural competencies across the curriculum. Providing incentives for faculty participation is a key strategy for promoting change at the grassroots level. Each year of the project includes multiple activities for faculty involvement.

§ Faculty who currently offer courses in the Leadership Studies minor will be trained in service learning and will serve as mentors to Community Service Program projects and community-bases learning project for student in the secondary major.

§ Faculty will receive stipends to incorporate community-based learning projects into their teaching.

§ The Leadership Activities Council and the Rural Activities Council will participate in civic learning workshop/training events.

§ Faculty will be sponsored to attend the National Society for Experiential Education annual conference, summer institutes of Campus Compact, American Association for Higher Education events and other professional development opportunities for civic learning.

In addition, focus groups will be conducted with faculty in each of the nine colleges to identify the multicultural and civic competencies essential for each discipline. An assessment will be conducted to determine where in the curriculum these competencies are being addressed. Upon completion of the focus groups, a faculty development model which includes training and coaching will be implemented. The focus groups will discuss faculty and staff's knowledge about pedagogical strategies related to developing and evaluating instructional processes which emphasize civic and multicultural learning.

The training focus will be working with faculty and staff to integrate civic and multicultural competencies, where appropriate, in their courses, programs and other activities within the total student experience. Faculty mentors who are experienced and knowledgeable about multicultural curriculum infusion and civic learning will be identified as coaches to assist new and existing faculty with implementing the newly acquired knowledge.
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Expected Student Learning and Institutional Outcomes

Drawing on its significant experience in developing and implementing change strategies, Kansas State University indicates that the current strength of it programs and leadership should result in establishing collaboration across and throughout the institution in its commitment to civic learning. This will result in firmly establishing the University's commitment to civic learning by involving more faculty and more students in the current successful programs and by providing greater coordination of programs within the institution. The University's goal is to reach one-half of the professorate, either directly through faculty incentives or indirectly through the Provost and Leadership Team activities, during the Civic Learning Cluster Project. Opportunities for student learning will be enhanced through the establishment of a major in Leadership and Community Service, as well as by increasing faculty commitment to the goals of civic learning.
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Leadership for Additional Clusters

The University indicates that it has many partnerships with other higher education institutions and organizations and membership in several university consortia that will help to provide leadership for the formation of additional civic learning clusters. It collaborates, for example, on many levels with colleagues in the Big 12 Conference, and President Wefald provides leadership within this group.

Within the state of Kansas, Kansas State is a member of the Western Kansas Community Service Consortium (WKCSC) along with eight western Kansas community colleges. The institution currently has several joint projects with these institutions including the Community Service Program /WKCSC partnership in the Corporation for National Service project. Kansas State is the recognized leader in service learning in the state.
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Leadership Team

Dr. James Coffman, Provost
Carol A. Peak, Director, Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives and Community Service Program, Project Co-Director
Dr. Susan Scott, Director, Leadership Studies and Programs, Project Co-Director
Dr. Juanita McGowan, Chairperson, Tilford Group, Director, American Ethnic Studies
Dr. Marion Gray, President, Faculty Senate, Professor, Department of History
Jason Heinrich, Student Body President
Dr. Michael Holen, Dean, College of Education
Lane Marshall, Professor, College of Architecture, Planning and Design, Former Dean of the College
Dr. William Pallett, Director, IDEA Center
Ms. Susan Peterson, Assistant for Government Relations, Office of the President, Chair, Leadership Activities Council
Leobardo Prieto, Senior, Political Science
Dr. Thomas D. Warner, Head, Department of Horticulture, Forestry, Recreation Resources
Dr. Chuck Werring, Director, Housing and Dining Services
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