American Democracy Project

Practicing Democracy: Voter Education and Engagement on Campus

Join AASCU’s American Democracy Project in helping our campuses prepare students and communities to participate in the 2024 local, state, and national elections. 

Middle Tennessee State University Students get out the vote.
Students at Middle Tennessee State University get out the vote.

Join us for a series of virtual workshops to help our campuses prepare for local, state, and national elections.

This election season promises to be one of the most contentious in American history. The divisions that are apparent in our communities and regions will be played out on our campuses. As “stewards of place,” AASCU campuses are vital sites for building a vibrant and healthy democracy, preparing students to be informed and engaged citizens and modeling for our communities free and open debate on difficult issues.

Throughout 2024, AASCU’s American Democracy Project will convene a series of virtual education and engagement workshops designed to engage faculty, staff, and administrators at AASCU campuses on topics related to voter education, engagement, and turnout.

This non-partisan initiative aims to encourage conversation, demonstrate best practices, and provide critical resources so that our campuses can build capacity and a campus culture that encourages engagement in building a strong democracy.

American Democracy Project

Who should attend?

  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Administrators
  • Librarians

How will you benefit?

  • Develop support systems and gain access to resources for voter education and voter engagement
  • Integrate and apply voter education into learning settings across multiple disciplines
  • Review, validate, build, implement, and assess voter engagement plans for campuses
  • Connect to colleagues to build a campus culture that fosters voter engagement
Upcoming Workshops
Past Workshops
Impact

Voter education is defined as building knowledge, civic skills, and democratic values.

Voter engagement encourages and supports peaceful and meaningful participation in elections within our communities.

In spring 2024, AASCU’s American Democracy Project convened a series of virtual education and engagement workshops designed to engage faculty, staff, and administrators at AASCU campuses on topics related to voter education, engagement, and turnout.

97%

of spring workshop attendees rated the workshops good (34%) or excellent (63%).

98%

said they gained additional knowledge applicable to their work.

86%

planned to apply what they learned on their campus.

“Across the universe of resources for civically active students, especially resources provided by partner organizations, is a wealth of knowledge and skills that we can use as we construct professional development programs for faculty and for students, as well as ideas that we can use in designing assessment instruments that would help us improve teaching and that could make our funding requests more effective.”

Anonymous Spring Workshop Participant

Spring Voter Education and Engagement Workshops
February

Plan for voter engagement and support information literacy and free speech on campus.

Recordings and additional resources.
March

Explore ways to cope with political polarization and enhance well-being on campus.

Recordings and additional resources.
April

Build campus-community ties and integrate voter education in your classroom.

Recordings and additional resources.

Practicing Democracy Series Partners

ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
Campus Vote Project
Constructive Dialogue Institute
National Issues Forums
NSLVE
PEN America
AU PERIL
Students Learn Students Vote

Have questions about the Practicing Democracy Series? Let us know.

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Leadership Development Program Endorsement Confirmation

Thank you for your endorsement.

You will receive an email confirmation shortly. Please contact leadershipdevelopment@aascu.org with questions.

Submit another endorsement.

Leadership Development Program Application Confirmation

Thank you for your application.

You will receive an email confirmation shortly. Please contact leadershipdevelopment@aascu.org with questions.

Leadership Development Program Endorsement Form

Endorse candidates for the Becoming a Provost Academy, Emerging Leaders Program, Executive Leadership Academy, Millennium Leadership Initiative, and the Student Success Institute.

The deadline for applications and endorsements is February 10, 2025.

Candidates will be informed of their acceptance status by mid-March.

You may endorse more than one candidate; please submit a new form for each person.

If you are a president/chancellor endorsing a provost/VPSA pair for the Student Success Institute, you only need to submit your endorsement one time. Choose one candidate to list in the “candidate’s name” field and acknowledge the joint endorsement in the “optional comments” field.

Please only submit endorsement(s) for applicants from your own institution. Please note the following endorsement requirements in order for a candidate’s submission to be considered complete. Endorsements must be submitted as follows:

  • BAPA: Endorsement from the president/chancellor or provost
  • ELP: Endorsement from the president/chancellor or cabinet-level administrator
  • ELA: Endorsement from the president/chancellor
  • MLI: Endorsement from the president/chancellor
  • SSI: Endorsement from the president/chancellor

After you complete this form, both you and the candidate will receive confirmation that the endorsement was submitted. The candidate will receive a confirmation email once their submission is complete (this may take 2-3 business days after submitting application and endorsement).

Please contact leadershipdevelopment@aascu.org with questions.

 

Leadership Development Program Application

Apply to the Becoming a Provost Academy, Emerging Leaders Program, Executive Leadership Academy, Millennium Leadership Initiative, and Student Success Institute.

The deadline for applications and endorsements is February 10, 2025.

A full submission requires candidates to complete this form, and an endorser to endorse your candidacy (via a separate form) by February 10, 2025. You will receive a confirmation email once your submission is complete (this may take 2-3 business days after submitting application and endorsement).

Please note that you must complete this form in one sitting. Some fields are conditional; select the program for which you are applying to view all required application questions. You may wish to prepare your responses in a word document and then paste them into the appropriate fields.

Please contact leadershipdevelopment@aascu.org with questions.