Multi-State Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement

The Multi-state Collaborative for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (the “MSC”) promotes robust state-level policies and programs to foster college civic learning for an engaged democracy in both two- and four-year institutions, across the United States as well as U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. (See the list of participating states/state systems below.)

The MSC is organized through a partnership between State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and the National Association of System Heads (NASH), and works in collaboration with the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE) Coalition.

Leadership: The co-chairs of the MSC are:

• Richard M. Freeland, Former Commissioner of Higher Education for Massachusetts, President Emeritus of Northeastern University (representing SHEEO)

• Nancy S. Shapiro, Senior Advisor, CLDE Coalition (representing NASH)

Membership: The MSC is composed of states in which higher education system leaders affirm that:

• public higher education has a civic mission, and that part of that civic mission is preparing students for active, effective, informed participation in civic and democratic life;

• that some intentional form of civic education should be part of the learning experience of all degree and certificate seeking students in their system—even if that is not the case now and may take some time to achieve;

• joining a learning community with other states that share these values and goals means helping each other develop ways of pursuing them while honoring what is appropriate and feasible within the context of each state.

Important Topics for Exploration: The MSC is committed to the principle that participating higher education systems must proceed in their own way toward a fully developed set of programs and policies in the area of civic learning and democracy engagement. As a learning community, the following areas of exploration represent some important topics for the states participating in the work of the MSC:

Civic Learning in General Education: attention to civic learning in the academic curriculum within general education requirements and/or within majors with the goal of civic learning reaching every student.

Civic Skills and Dispositions: attention to cultivating the inclination and capacity to work in the civic arena.

Mutual Respect: attention to working toward bridging areas of potential disagreement and difference; our goal is to foster a nonpartisan commitment to civic learning and democracy engagement.

Free Expression and Civil Discourse in Academic Settings: attention to the issue of assuring free expression of ideas and civil dialogue across lines of difference and disagreement; these values are an essential component of democracy.

Indicators of Progress and Success: attention to identifying measurable learning outcomes related to civic learning goals and instituting assessment systems that will document success in achieving these outcomes.

Alignment with K-12 Policies and Programs: attention to and coordinated efforts of K-12 civic learning.

Campus-level Capacity: attention to faculty, staff, and academic leaders' preparation to support students' civic learning in the curriculum, co-curriculum, and community.

State Summaries of MSC Members’ Work:

The MSC is committed to the principle that participating higher education systems must proceed in their own way toward a fully developed set of programs and policies in the area of civic learning and democracy engagement. The summaries below are a glance at how each state or system in the MSC is fostering civic learning.

Arizona
The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) sets educational policies for its three universities, seeking to codify practices of free expression.  It has charged the state universities to ensure that their general education curricula educate critical thinkers and engaged citizens grounded in American institutions, democratic values, free speech, and civil discourse.

Hawaiʻi 
The University of Hawaiʻi System seeks to foster policies that will help students become lifelong learners, effective workers, and ethical citizens. This includes the ability to work with others, and understand diversity and civic responsibility. There is also a strong commitment to become a foremost indigenous-serving university and to advance sustainability.

Kentucky
The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) seeks to integrate the 10 Essential Skills outlined in the Kentucky Graduate Profile. The skills were identified with employers.  One of these 10 Essential Skills is to engage in civic life to improve society. The CPE is working to embed the 10 Essential Skills in the college curriculum as a quality metric for career-focused learning outcomes in each degree and certificate program. 

Maryland - MHEC

The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) has three primary goals for the postsecondary community in Maryland - Access [Equity], Success, and Innovation. And to meet those goals, the MHEC seeks to incorporate civic learning and civic engagement into all academic programs and revise general education requirements to include civic, information technology, and computer literacy skills.

Maryland - USM
The University System of Maryland (USM) has a robust plan and multiple stated goals to instill in students a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and justice; an understanding of the social, economic, and environmental challenges facing our world; and the will and ability to address them. The USM seeks to be nationally recognized for their commitment to excellence and the greater good.

Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) was the first public system of higher education in the U.S. to call on all its institutions to involve their undergraduates in civic learning as an “expected outcome” of their educational journeys.  It then positioned equity as its top policy priority for public higher education. The plan for racial equity is in concert with the commitment to civic learning; for example, one strategic plan recommendation is for both DHE and campuses to collaborate to identify the knowledge and skills needed for full and effective participation in civic life and public problem-solving in a multi-racial democracy.

New Jersey
The New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) works to enhance postsecondary opportunity with a focus on equity, access, and affordability for students from all backgrounds. In the Student Bill of Rights the high-impact practice of experiential learning is listed as an opportunity that all New Jersey students should have.

New York - CUNY
The City University of New York (CUNY) seeks to foster academic journeys that prepare students to be well-educated and civically engaged citizens, and it also seeks to amplify its position as the nation’s premier urban university and a force for equitable social, economic, and civic impact. Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez introduced the idea of “civic mobility” to support students becoming upwardly mobile and engaged citizens.

New York - SUNY
The State University of New York (SUNY) recently revised its general education framework. The framework seeks to prepare students for global citizenship including diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice; support seamless transfer; and ensure consistency in expected system-level learning outcomes. U.S. History and Civic Education and Engagement is one of six skills areas.  With the appointment of ten Civic Education and Engagement and Civil Discourse Fellows, SUNY aims to amplify civic learning and engagement, civic dialogue and democratic engagement across its campuses. 

Oregon
The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) is currently working on its new strategic plan. The HECC seeks to align the most common transferred courses for ease of transfer between Oregon institutions of higher education.Two courses that have been approved in this scheme reference civic learning directly, and other courses align with civic learning adjacent goals and learning outcomes.

Pennsylvania 
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) continues their system redesign to fundamentally transform education and business models while prioritizing student success. The new PASSHE policy for General Education will become effective in July 2024 with language that highlights the liberal education approach to the undergraduate curriculum and where students are supported in developing a sense of social responsibility.

Tennessee
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) strategic plan shares that widespread evidence exists that higher education affects economies and quality of life for states and individual citizens in myriad ways (e.g., earnings, health, civic engagement such as voting and volunteering, and innovative and resilient economies). A THEC public service award seeks to honor those in the system that are engaged in furthering civics education and engagement at an institution and/or in a community. Further, many institutions have reaffirmed the importance of civic engagement in their general education curricula and THEC is actively convening institutions to seek how to embed civic engagement in general education curricula. 

Utah
The Utah Board of Higher Education (USHE) seeks to provide every Utahn—in every place and every circumstance—an affordable certificate or degree at a USHE institution that will meaningfully improve their lives through economic opportunity, civic engagement, and personal fulfillment. One general education requirement is the core American Institutions course that ensures all degree recipients will have at least one foundational course focused on U.S. civics, U.S. historical and cultural development, and political processes.

Virginia
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is a coordinating body that oversees all higher education activity in the commonwealth. SCHEV’s student learning assessment policy requires public institutions to assess six core competencies among their undergraduates. Four of the core competencies are determined by SCHEV and two are determined by each institution. One of the four competencies required by SCHEV is civic engagement.

Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin System champions the democratic principles of free expression, academic freedom, and civil discourse and has a strategic objective to foster civic engagement and serve the public good. The recently funded and launched Wisconsin Institute for Citizenship and Civil Dialogue (WICCD) provides resources, opportunities, and support for teaching, learning, and practicing viewpoint diversity; freedom of expression; academic freedom; civil dialogue; and civic participation within our universities and communities.