Leading for Democracy
A call to action, framework, and toolkit for leaders and institutions to foster civic learning and democratic engagement.
Create conditions for democracy to thrive on campus and communities across the nation.
AASCU’s Leading for Democracy initiative, generously funded by Lumina Foundation, provides campus leaders with the support, tools, and resources to embed deliberate, ambitious, and integrated civic learning and democratic engagement collaborations into their institutions.
This work helps institutional leaders articulate a civic vision that strengthens their institutional mission, motivates faculty and staff to create transformational curricular and co-curricular learning experiences, and engages their communities and regions in the practice of democracy.
AASCU’s Leading for Democracy at America’s State Colleges and Universities provides a framework for leaders to develop a civic-focused mindset and skillset. It includes a call to action for leaders and institutions for fostering civic learning and democratic engagement on their campuses and their communities.
The curriculum that has been developed as a result of this work will be embedded into AASCU’s suite of leadership development programming and incorporated into our communities of experience keeping leading for the democracy at the forefront of our work.
Increase connectedness within your campus community.
A companion piece, also supported by the grant, is a toolkit for measuring and improving social integration and acceptance across campus. Pulse Strategies: a Toolkit is a how-to for campus leaders committed to meaningful change and institutional success. The toolkit was developed by a research team and six AASCU campuses and provides strategies for university leaders to socialize and generate buy-in around increasing acceptance, executing a survey that aligns with university goals, analyze and report data, and engage the campus community in action planning. Our belief is that in order for democracy to thrive as a result of increased civic participation and social cohesion, all voices must be welcomed, accepted, and valued. This toolkit is a resource for AASCU campuses to begin or continue that work.
The Toolkit will be available in February 2025.
Questions about Leading for Democracy? Let us know.
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