CLDE WILL ADVANCE THESE PRIORITIES FOR ACTION:

Goals & Priorities

Quality & Equity: Build educators’ commitment and capacity—across postsecondary education—to make civic learning and democracy engagement an expected part of a quality college education for all college students, with equitable participation by students from underserved communities a top priority.

Democracy Engagement: Engage students with democracy’s future in a diverse United States, in U.S. communities still struggling to reverse inherited disparities, and in a globally interdependent world where authoritarianism is on the rise.

Collaborative Problem Solving: Prepare each postsecondary student, through creative combinations of general education, arts and sciences, and career-related studies, to work directly on selected public problems that society needs to solve—e.g., problems in racial healing, health, education, housing, climate, digital access, human rights, justice systems, interfaith cooperation, and more—and to collaborate across difference.

Policy Commitment: Secure policy support for and investment in the goals listed above.

  • Bring together the many organizations and hundreds of postsecondary institutions that already are working on different aspects of civic learning and collaborative community-based problem solving—in ways appropriate to their mission and students. Help postsecondary education move from islands of civic learning to democracy learning at scale for all college students; provide shared evidence about “what works” educationally; and vigorously promote public policy and civic learning investments in postsecondary democracy learning at the federal and state level.

  • Showcase the growing number of postsecondary institutions where civic learning already is part of the curriculum in ways appropriate to mission, students, and programs— Democracy Learning at “Scale”—and mobilize to assist others. making CLDE a shared postsecondary priority across public, private, two-year, four-year, and career-related institutions.

  • Compile and expand extant research on “what works” to build students’ civic engagement, intergroup communication fluency, collaborative problem-solving skills, and democracy “know-how."

  • Work with P-16 organizations and leaders, including those involved in the Educating Americans for Democracy (EAD) Roadmap, to align the respective civic learning missions of both school and college so that democracy learning in postsecondary education reliably takes student’ democracy readiness to a higher and wider level— exploring democracy’s future in a context of societal and global change and involving students in public problem solving in ways related to their goals, interests, and intended careers.

  • Provide direct professional development on the “how” of civic and democracy learning in postsecondary education through workshops, institutes, and toolkits developed by CLDE partner organizations committed to students’ civic learning. Showcase multiple models and resources relevant to different educational contexts and to both general education and college majors, including career-related fields. Foster leadership coalitions for democracy learning within states, regions, and across different sectors in higher education.

  • Build CLDE “Dashboard” indicators of students’ postsecondary levels of achievement. Help make reports on students’ democracy learning an expected part of educational accountability at all levels. Strongly support the improvement of civic and history proficiency indicators in the schools.

And, over time, we also seek to create an ongoing Civic Learning and Democracy Trust that will provide ongoing voice, visibility, and technical assistance to ensure the quality of civic learning at all levels in U.S. education—from school through postsecondary education of all kinds.

CLDE Coalition Leaders

The following leaders are working together on the next-level CLDE strategy to make civic learning in postsecondary education an expectation for all students and to collaborate with K-12 civic and history learning reforms.

Lynn Pasquerella
President, American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

Robert E. Anderson
President, State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO)

Yolanda Watson Spiva
President, Complete College America

Martha Kanter
CEO, College Promise and Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education (2009-2013); former Chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District

Bobbie Laur
President, Campus Compact

Charles Ansell
Vice President for Research, Policy, and Advocacy, Complete College America

Ashley Finley
Vice President for Research and Senior Advisor to the President, American Association of Colleges and Universities

Tom Harnisch
Vice President for Government Relations, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association

John Lane
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Equity Initiatives, State Higher Education Executive Officers

Lenore Rodicio
Senior Fellow, The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, and former Executive Vice President and Provost, Miami Dade College

Carol Geary Schneider
Senior Advisor, Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition (CLDE) and the CLDE Multi-State Collaborative (MSC)

David Paris
Senior Advisor, Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement, and Professor of Government Emeritus, Hamilton College

Richard M. Freeland
Senior Advisor for Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE) and Co-Chair, Multi-State Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (MSC); and former Commissioner of Higher Education for Massachusetts; President Emeritus of Northeastern University

Nancy Shapiro
Senior Advisor for Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE) and Co-Chair, Multi-State Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement; Research Scholar, University of Maryland College of Education and former Associate Chancellor, University System of Maryland

Siah Annand
CLDE Program Manager

Carol-lynn Swol
CLDE Program/Research Associate

CLDE Educational Advisors

Fay Akindes
Director, System-wide Professional and Instructional Development, University of Wisconsin System

Charles Ansell
Vice President for Research, Policy, and Advocacy Complete College America (CCA); former Chief Operating Officer, Community College System of New Hampshire

Melody Barnes
Executive Director, UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy

Ronald Crutcher
President Emeritus and University Professor, University of Richmond; President Emeritus, Wheaton College (MA)

Ashley Finley
Vice President for Research and Senior Advisor to the President, American Association of Colleges and Universities

Jodi Fisler
Senior Associate for Assessment Policy & Analysis at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)

Richard M. Freeland
Former Commissioner of Higher Education for Massachusetts; President Emeritus of Northeastern University; and Senior Advisor to CLDE and Co-Chair, Multi-State Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (MSC)

Ari Hoy
Vice President for Program and Resource Development at the Bonner Foundation

Elaine K. Ikeda
Executive Director of LEAD California

John Lane
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Equity Initiatives, State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO

Mary Beth Love
Executive Director, Metro Student Success Program and Professor of Public Health, San Francisco State University

Elaine Maimon
Senior Advisor, Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement, Advisor, American Council on Education; President Emerita, Governors State University and University of Alaska-Anchorage

Caryn McTighe Musil
Distinguished Fellow, American Association of Colleges & Universities and National Field Leader, Bonner Foundation, and lead author of the 2012 AAC&U report A Crucible Moment.

Nancy Shapiro
Research Scholar, University of Maryland College of Education; former Associate Chancellor, University System of Maryland; and Senior Advisor to CLDE and Co-Chair, Multi-State Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (MSC)

David Paris
Professor of Government, Emeritus, Hamilton College; Senior Advisor to CLDE

Verdis LeVar Robinson
Interim Executive Director of the National Issues Forums Institute

David Scobey
Director of Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP)

Carol Geary Schneider
Senior Advisor, Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition (CLDE) and the CLDE Multi-State Collaborative (MSC)

Dawn Whitehead
Vice President, Global Citizenship for Campus, Community and Careers, American Association of Colleges and Universities

Falecia D. Williams
President, Prince George’s Community College, and former President of Valencia College’s West and Downtown Campuses.

CLDE Community College Working Group

Charles Ansell
Vice President for Research, Policy, and Advocacy Complete College America (CCA); former Chief Operating Officer, Community College System of New Hampshire

Melissa Bell
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Success at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE)

Nicola Blake (Co-Chair)
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at Guttman Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY)

Bill Coppola
Former President, Tarrant County College Southeast and Board of Directors, Campus Compact

Brian Dille (Co-Chair)
Political Science Faculty, Mesa Community College

Bret Eynon
Consultant, Achieving the Dream

Ashley Finley
Vice President for Research and Senior Advisor to the President, American Association of Colleges and Universities

Linda Garcia
Executive Director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) at The University of Texas at Austin

John Garcia
Instructor, Liberal Arts Division at William Rainey Harper College

Connie Jorgensen
Assistant Professor of Political Science, QEP Director/Civic Engagement Coordinator at Piedmont Virginia Community College

Carrie Kisker
President, Kisker Education Consulting

Jason Leggett (Co-Chair)
Associate Professor; Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY)

Karen Mayo
Provost (Vice President, Academics, & Student Services) at Bluegrass Community and Technical College

Diane McMahon
Professor of Sociology and Faculty Director, College to Community Partnership Center at Allegany College of Maryland

Caryn McTighe Musil
Distinguished Fellow, American Association of Colleges & Universities and National Field Leader, Bonner Foundation, and lead author of the 2012 AAC&U report A Crucible Moment.

Deborah Moeckel
Assistant Provost for Assessment and Community College Education at State University of New York (SUNY)

Monica Randall
Deputy Executive Director at Maryland Association of Community Colleges

John Reiff
Director of Civic Learning and Engagement at the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (BHE)

Patty Robinson (Co-Chair)
Faculty Director, Civic and Community Engagement Initiatives at College of the Canyons

Verdis LeVar Robinson
Interim Executive Director of the National Issues Forums Institute

Kimberly Rosenfeld
Chair, Education Department and Chair, Gender and Women's Studies at Cerritos College

Joanne Russell
Vice President of Academic Affairs at Mesa Community College

José Sebastián Terneus
Assistant Teaching Professor of English at Wake Forest University and former faculty at Miami Dade College

Janna Vice
Senior Fellow for Policy Development, Academic Excellence and Student Success at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE)

Deanna Villanueva-Saucedo
Associate Vice Chancellor of the Center for Excellence in Inclusive Democracy at Maricopa Community Colleges

Research/Policy Working Group

Charles Ansell (co-chair)
Vice President for Research, Policy, and Advocacy Complete College America (CCA); former Chief Operating Officer, Community College System of New Hampshire

David Paris (co-chair)
Professor of Government, Emeritus, Hamilton College; Senior Advisor to CLDE

Jodi Fisler
Senior Associate for Assessment Policy & Analysis at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)

Jillian Kinzie
Associate Director, National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University School of Education

Thomas Schnaubelt
Assistant Director of the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Nancy Thomas
Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education, American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)