2022 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting
Share knowledge and develop a sense of community around civic learning and democratic engagement.
Meeting the Urgent Needs of Today’s Student: How to Modernize Your Student Success Strategy
Engage in a deep dive into the latest research on the modern student experience.
Sino-US CHEPD 1+2+1 Program
The Sino-US CHEPD program is designed for undergraduate and graduate Chinese students to study at participating AASCU member institutions. The program is jointly administered by AASCU and the China Center for International Educational Exchanges (CCIEE). Students who complete the program receive two separate degrees from a US institution and their Chinese home institution.
Participate.
Sino-US 1+2+1 CHEPD program is the largest student mobility program between the US and China.
Under the platform of Sino-US Cooperation in Higher Education and Professional Development (CHEPD), with joint administration of the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) and the China Center for International Educational Exchange (CCIEE) in China, AASCU is proud to offer the Sino-American CHEPD 1+2+1 Program.
Since 2001, this program has provided the opportunity for Chinese students to spend up to two years at an AASCU institution to pursue undergraduate and graduate studies. Participants then receive two separate degrees from their Chinese home institution and their U.S. host institution.
The CHEPD 1+2+1 Program has become the largest and most successful program of its kind. Recognized by the Chinese Ministry of Education as a Program of Excellence, it is one of most important platforms for cooperation between Chinese and American universities.
Criteria to join.
- AASCU member
- Eligibility to grant J visas
- Institutions MUST offer ESL or bridge programs
- Identified designated campus coordinator
- Ability to host Chinese visiting scholars
How will you benefit?
- Opportunity to partner with an extensive range of Chinese institutions
- Support and network for developing robust academic exchange programs
- Teaching and research opportunities for faculty members
- Scholarship resources for US students
- Additional program development opportunities
impact
20+ years
Our program has built sustainable partnerships for over two decades.
170
Number of participating institutions – 40 AASCU members, 130 from Chinese partners.
$300 M USD
U.S. campuses have received of approximately $300 million in tuition, fees, room and board.
Program Structures and Types
Chinese students who pass the national entrance examination will complete their initial year of study in China. They will study in the US during their 2nd and 3rd years, then return to their Chinese home institution for the final year. After completing all the degree requirements, the student will receive two degrees from both US and Chinese institutions.
First-year graduate students are selected from Chinese universities to spend two or three academic semesters studying in an AASCU member university. They return to their Chinese universities for the final academic year. Qualified students will be granted diplomas and masters’ degrees from both Chinese and U.S. universities.
Students follow the regular 1+2+1 Program, i.e., the International Cohort Program students complete their freshmen year in Chinese university. In the second and third years of the program, students come to the United States to complete their sophomore and junior years at the US partner university. Students return to China to finish their senior year at Chinese university and graduate with two separate bachelor’s degrees from Chinese and American universities. All students participating in this program have already had their four-year curriculum mapped out, through articulation agreements between the two partner institutions.
Learn more about ICP.Students who are not interested in pursuing a degree in the United States, but are seeking study abroad experiences, can apply for the Youth Exchange Student program for one academic semester or one year through US partner institutions. YES students are allowed to transition to 1+2+1 Program degree-seeking status once they are on the US campuses.
CHEPD 1+2+1 Program Participating Institutions
Testimonials
Studying abroad at NAU has helped me exercise my independent thinking and problem-solving abilities. The ability to expand my horizons and experiences will be very beneficial to my future work and life.
During my time at Troy University I gained a lot. I experienced humanistic care; gained professional knowledge; and learned how to face difficulties independently.
Our Partners
The China Center for International Education Exchange (CCIEE) is an independent legal entity established by China Educational Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), affiliated with the Ministry of education of China. Over the past thirty years, CCIEE has extensively conducted short- and long-term programs such as student exchange, study in China, teaching training, self-funded overseas-study. Aiming at promoting education exchange and cooperation between China and other countries, CCIEE insists on bringing in high-quality foreign educational resources, and facilitating China’s education to be internationalized and worldwide recognized.
Founded in 1981, the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) is China’s nationwide not-for-profit organization that conducts programs and activities that facilitate international educational exchanges and cooperation. CEAIE is fully committed to promoting the advancement of education, culture, science and technology; and strengthening understanding and friendship among the peoples of all countries and regions of the world.
Interested in participating in the
Sino-American CHEPD 1+2+1 program?
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Transfer Student Success Equity Intensive
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Student Success Equity Intensive
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Civic Engagement Awards
AASCU’s American Democracy Project recognizes individual leadership at the provost, faculty, and staff levels in civic engagement on AASCU member campuses.
It is our honor to shine a light on the great work being done on AASCU ADP campuses.
Our work to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to be informed and engaged, ready to tackle current and future issues to ensure a thriving and equitable democracy is more important than ever. The American Democracy Project recognizes leadership in civic engagement on AASCU member campuses through awards presented at the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) conference in June.
Honoring Individuals
William M. Plater Award
in recognition of exemplary leadership by a chief academic officer.
Learn more.Honoring Institutions
We the People Award
One of AASCU’s Excellence & Innovation Awards, given to recognize institutional team commitment to meaningful and deep civic engagement work.
Learn more.Awards News
The John Saltmarsh Award for Emerging Leaders in Civic Engagement
Awarded to exemplary early-career leaders who advance the wider civic engagement movement in higher education via community-campus collaboration to build a broader public culture of democracy committed to justice, equity, and inclusion.
2022 Award winner
Bekah’s nominators compared her to “a bright and shining beacon of light that illuminates leadership and civic engagement with the objective of making our world a better place.” In addition, John Saltmarsh acknowledged that Bekah’s work “enhances a healthy and functioning democracy through empowering women, increasing student voting, and studying the issues of voting restrictions and felony disenfranchisement.” Indeed, Bekah’s work on food insecurity and global warming and financial literacy show the depth and breadth of her commitment to impacting lower income individuals and working to resolve inequities in our society that endanger the health of our democracy. We congratulate Bekah on her achievement and look forward to seeing her future accomplishments.
2023 nominations accepted from March 27 through April 21 .
About the award
This award was established in 2011 to honor John Saltmarsh, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
John Saltmarsh is Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Leadership in Education in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He has published widely on community engaged teaching, learning and research, and organizational change in higher education, including the co-edited book Publicly Engaged Scholars: Next Generation Engagement and the Future of Higher Education (2016), and the edited volume with Matthew Hartley, ‘To Serve a Larger Purpose:’ Engagement for Democracy and the Transformation of Higher Education (2011). He is the co-author of the “Democratic Engagement White Paper” (NERCHE, 2009) and “Full Participation: Building the Architecture for Diversity and Public Engagement in Higher Education” (Columbia University Law School: Center for Institutional and Social Change, 2011). From 2005-2016 he served as the Director of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE). From 1998-2005 he was the director of the national program on Integrating Service with Academic Study at Campus Compact.
The award was named in John Saltmarsh’s honor to recognize a long-standing passion of his: nurturing and preparing the next generation of higher education leaders (staff, faculty, or administrators) to sustain and advance the civic engagement movement. The award recognizes emerging higher education leaders whose community partnership work is grounded in reciprocity, mutual respect, shared authority, and co-creation of goals and outcomes.
- Be faculty or staff members at an AASCU institution.
- Demonstrate their community partnership work is grounded in reciprocity, mutual respect, shared authority, and co-creation of goals and outcomes.
- Exhibit contributions to sustain and advance the civic engagement movement in the areas of practice, institutionalization, and scholarship.
- Nominees must be an emerging higher education leader whose community partnership work is grounded in reciprocity, mutual respect, shared authority, and co-creation of goals and outcomes on an AASCU campus.
- Nominations must include an endorsement from campus leadership, the nominee’s curriculum vita, and additional documents that provide examples of the nominee’s contributions in the areas of practice, institutionalization, and scholarship.
- Presentation: Annually in person at the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement conference in June and a virtual acknowledgment will be made at AASCU’s Annual Meeting in November.
- Recipients will receive a commemorative to acknowledge the national recognition.
- 2022: Bekah Selby, Emporia State University (KS)
- 2021: Margot Morgan, Indiana University Southeast
- 2019: Allison Rank, State University of New York at Oswego
- 2018: Nicholas Hartlep, Metropolitan State University in Minnesota
- 2017: Danielle Lake, Assistant Professor of Liberal Studies, Grand Valley State University (MI)
- 2016: Jennifer Purcell, Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies, Kennesaw State University (GA)
- 2015: Adam Bush, Chief Academic Officer, College Unbound
- 2015: Lane Graves Perry, Director of Service Learning, Western Carolina University (NC)
- 2014: Bethany Fleck, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Metropolitan State University of Denver (CO)
- 2013: Brandon Kliewer, Assistant Professor of Civic Engagement and ADP Campus Director, Florida Gulf Coast University
- 2012: Emily Janke, Special Assistant for Community Engagement, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
- 2012: Paul Markham, Assistant Professor and Co-Director at the Institute for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, Western Kentucky University
- 2011: Cecilia M. Orphan, National Manager, American Democracy Project
Questions about the John Saltmarsh Award?
2023 nominations accepted from March 27 through April 21.
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AASCU Award news
Japan Studies Institute
The Japan Studies Institute (JSI) is a multidisciplinary professional development institute focused on helping participants integrate Japan studies into the undergraduate curricula.
Learn more.
Learn about Japan and how to incorporate Japanese Studies into the undergraduate curriculum and co-curriculum.
This multidisciplinary program is designed to engage faculty and staff with little or no prior training, nor professional experience in Japan and Japan studies, who can impact undergraduate education, either through teaching or academic support services that affect undergraduate studies. It provides faculty with expertise and support, to assist them in developing courses and initiatives that will enable students to gain a better understanding of Japan.
Who should participate?
- Faculty
- Staff/Administrators
How will you benefit?
- Peer-to-peer learning with participating colleagues
- Access to curated resources, including special Japanese studies content
- Develop strategies for incorporating Japanese studies into curriculum, notwithstanding academic discipline
- Mentorship and support through developing curriculum and campus initiatives
- Networking and access to JSI alumni, Japanese scholars, industry experts, and diplomats
impact
28
Number of years AASCU has provided this professional development opportunity for its members.
200+
Number of Institutions that have participated in the Institute from from across the US, the Bahamas and Canada.
500
Number of faculty and administrators that have been trained by the Institute.
program highlights
Connect with Japanese scholars, industry experts, and diplomats.
The Institute involves two weeks of intensive seminars, lectures, readings, films, and cultural activities related to various aspects of pre-modern and modern Japanese history, education, business and culture. Previous programs have included topics as diverse as social relations and the changing role of women in Japan, Japan’s policy on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Japanese foreign policy and regional relations, and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Institute faculty includes scholars, representatives from the local Japanese community, artists, and government officials.
Engage in peer-peer-learning with colleagues from across AASCU’s membership.
Selected participants are hosted at the San Diego State University for a two-week residential program. The participants are selected from institutions across the United States and reflect a range of disciplines. While attending the program, participants live and work together on the university campus. Participants attend all classes together, Monday through Friday. Sundays and evenings are reserved for free time and/or independent study. The formal program is also complemented by several off-campus and evening activities for all participants.
our stories
“The most memorable experience of JSI for me was the overall opportunity to participate in this program with faculty from different disciplines, from different universities, from different parts of the country, and even different parts of the world. The biggest impact the JSI program has had on me professionally is how it has better equipped me go back to the classroom and give my students cultural learning experiences.”
“The program is an excellent introduction to educators who do not have a background in Japan but are interested in learning more about the country and incorporating Japan studies in their classes. The multidisciplinary nature of the fellows’ backgrounds helped make the various sessions very informative. Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this institute. It’s a 10/10 program and one of the most valuable professional development program I have attended in my career.”
Meet the 2022 Fellows
| 2022 JSI Fellows | ||
|---|---|---|
| William Crawley | Dean, College of Education and Professional Studies | University of West Florida |
| Lucas Foster | Associate Professor, Mathematics | Northeastern State University |
| Sandra Gonsalves-Domond | Professor, Personality and Social Psychology | Ramapo College of New Jersey |
| Abdul Knowles | Director, Global Studies and Programmes | The University of the Bahamas |
| Michael Mays | Professor, English and Director, Hanford History Project | Washington State University |
| Newly Paul | Assistant Professor, Print/Digital Media | University of North Texas |
| Lokesh Shivakumaraiah | Executive Director, International Relations & Assistant to the Provost | Mississippi Valley State University |
| Binod Shrestha | Associate Professor, Studio Art | University of North Texas |
| Leslie Stewart | Associate Professor, Political Science | Delta State University (MS) |
| Robyn Wall | Assistant Professor, Art | Delta State University (MS) |
| Lingling Wang | Assistant Professor, International Business | Worcester State University (MA) |
| Marie Barnas | Associate Professor, Video and Film Production | Middle Tennessee State University |
Application information
Applicants must:
- be staff able to impact undergraduate education (either through teaching or academic support services that affect undergraduate studies).
- have no prior training or professional experience in Japan studies.
- be able to demonstrate an interest in gaining a better understanding of Japan.
- be nominated by a president, chancellor, or provost, either directly or at the request of the applicant.
Applications usually open around late October and are due by the end of February. All required documents must be submitted by the deadline:
- CV or resume
- One-page recommendation letter from a provost, vice president, dean, or department chair who is familiar with the applicant’s academic achievements and potential career path.
- A typed, single-spaced, one-page Statement of Intent outlining the potential benefits of the award to the applicant’s teaching and professional growth, and to the institution and community. This statement should address the applicant’s:
- interest in broadening their knowledge of Japan
- plans to impact undergraduate education at the institution
- plans to use the experience to effect curricular change
- plans to contribute to the Institute
- AASCU member institutions – Participation in this Institute is complimentary for AASCU members. Costs associated with program administration, academic material, and residence life are underwritten by a generous endowment from the Nippon Foundation.
- Non-AASCU member institutions – $895
Participants in the program are responsible for ancillary expenses related to travel to and from the program site, and all other personal and miscellaneous items.
Our Partners
Interested in participating in this program? Let us know.
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Stewardship of Public Lands
This program provides interdisciplinary experiential learning and professional development for faculty, staff, and administrators by exploring conflict resolution in public lands. It leads to strategic intentionality in prioritizing sustainability and constructive discourse on campuses.
Exploring conflict resolution in public lands.
Who should participate?
- Administrators
- Faculty
- Staff
How you’ll benefit.
- Develop strategies for integrating sustainability into the curriculum and co-curriculum
- Plan for experiential student trips to national parks
- Explore regional collaborations with cohort members
- Share resources and teaching strategies surrounding controversies within and about public lands
Impact
80+
institutions integrated information about public lands or public resources onto their campuses.
170+
participants developed resources to share their work with students.
15
years of participants creating their own unique programs to explore national parks with undergraduates.
Program resources
Released in 2010, this monograph details the work of the AASCU institutions as they explore the various issues surrounding the controversies over public lands.
Read the full report.A faculty member’s story of how she implemented lessons learned from the initiative.
Read more.Member Spotlight
Mammoth to Mammoth documentary
Three faculty members at Western Kentucky University created this film while they participated in the American Democracy Project’s Stewardship of Public Lands Seminar, a one-week professional development course in Yellowstone National Park. As they studied the history, science and politics of some of the major controversies in the Yellowstone ecosystem (snowmobiling, grizzly bears, and bison), they developed a team-taught course to deploy at their local national park, Mammoth Cave.
Buy video.Opportunity to join us in 2024.
Applications to join the summer 2024 trip will open in June 2023.
Let us know if you have any questions about this program.
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Enacting the Vision: Institutionalizing Civic and Community Engagement on Campus
A cohort of senior campus leaders committed to operationalizing and sustaining civic and community engagement across their institutions.
This cohort focuses on leaders enacting strategic and intentional planning about community engagement on campuses.
Since 2020, ADP and Collaboratory have invited AASCU members to join cohorts and participate in meetings to connect with others to form a community of practice; in 2020 and 2021, those cohorts focused on strategies for data collection. For the 2022-2023 academic year, the program focuses on bringing small teams from each campus together to organize and collaborate on implementing an institutional vision for community engagement. As an added benefit, all teams can connect to other institutional teams to share best practices, refine their strategies, and have professional development opportunities.
Who is participating?
- ADP member campuses
- Campus leaders looking to operationalize civic and community engagement across their institutions and who are actively working to identify the most sustainable path forward to support this work
- Senior leaders committed to prioritizing inclusive community engagement as a foundational aspect of their institutional mission, strategy, and infrastructure
Benefits of this program
- Define inclusive community engagement, sharing effective strategies and approaches
- Ensure institutions create more equitable and responsive relationships with community partners
- Build infrastructure to support and sustain deep, pervasive, and integrated partnerships
- Use data to deepen work with community partners and identify the most effective partnerships and models to address pressing issues in the community
- Better tell the institutional story of engagement qualitatively and quantitatively
Cohort membership
Guam
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands
impact
Key data captured in Collaboratory from the 2021-2022 cohort
2,681
published activities
3,300
community partners
894
course sections
57,586
involved students
8.1 M+
hours contributed by those students
$844 M+
total funding for engagement and service
Key data captured in Collaboratory from the 2020-2021 cohort
2,324
published activities
2,834
community partners
637
course sections
74,903
involved students
10.3 M+
hours contributed by those students
$1.7 B+
total funding for engagement and service
Institutional civic engagement activity examples
Several years of assessments indicate that the Town Hall Meeting improves students learning of course content, changes students’ self-perception from an identification with high school notions of schooling as too often boring and meaningless to a college appropriate identification of schooling as relevant and part of students’ development as adult participants in a democracy, improves students’ civic participation, and increases students’ self-esteem.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.By considering the city’s rich history in civil rights and economic justice, as well as the even more powerful desire for civility that has impacted our ability to have deep, community-wide discussion of the area’s struggles, this program explores the different traditions of participation that drive public policy, governance, and citizen engagement.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.Students in the Gender Institute for Teaching Advocacy program work to compile a digital library including information related to various organizations throughout the state.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.Professional practice internship on voter registration, marketing, and increasing voter turnout among youth voters.
Explore more on the institution's Collaboratory site.our stories
“How we’ve approached documenting institutional engagement via Collaboratory has actually shaped my current role and responsibilities. Up until [recently] this role didn’t exist on campus, and I like to think that the effort around Collaboratory was actually driving the creation of my role and its placement within the Office of President. It is ultimately an acknowledgment that community partnerships are a campus-wide priority.”
“In addition to capturing engagement data for accreditation, we have also been using Collaboratory when talking to alumni and advancement about donors and how beneficial it would be to show our donors about what engagement our colleges are doing. Additionally, for faculty, they are now leveraging digital dossiers and Collaboratory is an excellent way to link to their community engagement into their digital dossier; it gives so much more color, description, and complexity to their service work.”
“Ten years ago we were surveying our faculty and hoping that people would respond. Then, we had to chase them down for 6 months, all to write one report. Very soon, we had to start the whole process over again. At the time what we were collecting were numbers of students and numbers of hours. And, now with Collaboratory that whole narrative has changed for the faculty members. They now can connect their engagement activities to other pieces of their work, and our campus community engagement reporting that we now capture through Collaboratory.”
Cohort Webinar
Our Partner
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