North Carolina Campus Compact is one of 34 state and regional affiliates of national Campus Compact. Founded in 1985 by the presidents of Brown, Georgetown and Stanford Universities and the president of the Education Commission of the States, our national coalition has grown to include nearly 1,100 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. In 2014, Dr. Andrew Seligsohn took over as president of the national network, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Since then Campus Compact has moved to implement a new strategic plan, improve public communication, and update a keystone document in the run-up to a 30th anniversary event in 2016.
The Compact’s new strategic plan reaffirms our mission and calls on us to build upon our strong foundation of work to expand and deepen our efforts and impact both locally and nationally. The plan provides a roadmap to catalyze collaboration, develop the field and its leaders, and leverage resources to further advance civic engagement in higher education. Over the next five years, our network will focus efforts to:
- Establish meaningful, reciprocal community partnerships – support and highlight strong, sustainable, democratic partnerships between higher education and community organizations for positive impact on society
- Improve college access and retention – demonstrate that civic engagement is a vehicle for positively impacting an individual ability to access and achieve post secondary education
- Enhance college readiness in K to 12 education – improve and strengthen young people’s ability to have successful college careers
- Better prepare college students for their careers and for society – educate the next generation of citizens to be active and responsible participants in our democracy
Dr. Seligsohn and the national team have also been working to improve public communication. This spring, national unveiled an updated logo and website, www.compact.org. In his new blog, Public Purpose, Seligsohn reflects on the role of Campus Compact and wrestles with the issues of the day in higher education. For example, in one recent post, Dr. Seligsohn considers what we know about the “nuts and bolts” of university : community partnerships, citing an article in the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement by UNC Charlotte researchers Morrell, Sorensen, and Howarth. The authors describe employing graduate students to support action research partnerships in Charlotte communities.
In addition to making new plans and raising new voices, national Campus Compact is engaging institutional leaders to affirm and extend one of the organization’s founding documents, the original Presidents’ Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education. This spring, state affiliates — including NC Campus Compact — began working with member presidents and chancellors to outline “action commitments” that build on the promise of the Presidents’ Declaration. This new statement will be affirmed by the leaders of member institutions at a summit of chancellors and presidents celebrating Campus Compact’s thirtieth anniversary in March of 2016. As part of its summit planning, the national office has issued a Call for Proposals.
A number of ongoing projects supported by the national office are worth noting. A new report – Three Decades of Institutionalizing Change – shares the results of the 2014 survey of Campus Compact member institutions. (In an upcoming NC Campus Compact news post, we’ll break down the North Carolina results and compare with national responses.) National is accepting nominations for the 2015 Thomas Erlich Faculty Award for Service through May 22. And a nationally-supported program, “Connect 2 Complete,” designed to increase retention of at-risk community college students through peer mentoring and community engagement, was spotlighted last month in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Executive Director Leslie Garvin is excited about these new directions. “With the strong leadership of the national staff and Board, Campus Compact is poised and ready to reclaim our position as the premiere national organization promoting the public purposes of higher education,” says Garvin. “I think our statewide Compact is already strong, but given the critical challenges so many communities face, we can continue to benefit from innovation and leadership from national.”