GCSU newest member of Civic Agency Initiative

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities has selected GCSU as a participant in its Civic Agency Initiative, a project to build connections between the college and the community.

The Civic Agency Initiative is a recently developed concept created by Dr. Harry C. Boyte of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Democracy and Citizenship, in partnership with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. It aims to give college students the tools to work with local communities and to encourage students to use those tools and their education for the good of those communities.

Dr. Robert Haney, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, supports the agency.

“The Civic Agency Initiative seeks to create the next generation of informed, engaged citizens. I hope that students will see that they have the ability to leave higher education with the skills they need to become leaders in their communities,” Haney said. “Liberal arts education, which has been defined as the education of a free people, is the perfect backdrop for this initiative.”
Dr. Gregg Kaufman is responsible for bringing the Civic Agency Initiative to GCSU and is thrilled for the opportunity.

“This will allow students to apply what they learn in class to help the community. It will let them see that they can make a difference in a real-world situation,” Kaufman said.

Although Kaufman says that so far the Civic Agency Initiative is only in its formative stages, he plans to involve students in the planning process at a later date.

Kaufman says that the Civic Agency Initiative should formed more by spring.

Kaufman already has plans for the direction of the Civic Agency Initiative. He has volunteer faculty from several departments, including Government & Sociology, Marketing, Rhetoric, English, Speech and Journalism, Early Childhood & Middle Grades Education and Economics.

“We are open to any students and faculty interested in applying their disciplines,” Kaufman said.

Sophomore English major Cody Fox thinks students should be more involved in the community.

“I think that involving students in their classes would give them a lot more incentive,” Fox said.

Kaufman plans to kick off the Civic Agency Initiative on Sept. 15, when Dr. Boyte, the creator of the Civic Agency Initiative, comes to GCSU to speak to students and faculty for Constitution Week. Kaufman also plans to host a candidate forum for Baldwin County Commission and School Board candidates. He plans to involve GCSU students and members of the Milledgeville community.

“We’re going to have a team of mass communication students promoting the forum, writing the press releases, etc. Then we’ll have students in the Political Science 1150 classes writing questions for the candidates, and we’ll assemble them,” Kaufman said. “We’re partnering with the Milledgeville Chamber of Commerce, 100 Black Men of Milledgeville, and other community groups for this forum.”

Kaufman also hopes that later in the fall, GCSU will host similar forums for U.S. House of Representatives District 12 candidates John Barrow and John Stone, and U.S. Senate candidates Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin, though these events have not been officially announced.

Kaufman also said that GCSU would play host to Government Career Panels on Nov. 17-18. Representatives of different parts and levels of government, from the federal government all the way down to local government will speak to GCSU students and lead panel discussions about the need for public service and the many ways in which students can help fill that need.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 12 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry