Nota Bene: Campus Compact

January 12, 2016

I write today to tell you about Virginia Wesleyan's involvement with Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 1,100 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. As the only national higher education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, Campus Compact enables campuses to develop students’ citizenship skills and forge effective community partnerships. Its resources support faculty and staff as they pursue community-based teaching and scholarship in the service of positive change.

Before coming to Virginia Wesleyan in July, I served as the state-wide chair of West Virginia’s Campus Compact. I was happy when our director of community service, Diane Hotaling, recommended that I support Virginia Wesleyan’s involvement in Campus Compact to further the College’s connections and improve our civic engagement efforts.

Now in its 30th year, Campus Compact has called on its member presidents to affirm a 30th Anniversary Action Statement committing them to leveraging the civic engagement infrastructure that has been developed over the past three decades in service of public outcomes. The Action Statement asks campuses to get specific about the steps they will take to build on existing engagement efforts and to develop a Campus Civic Action Plan that crystallizes their commitments.

I am proud to announce that I have become a signatory of this Action Plan, affirming the following statements, which characterize Virginia Wesleyan’s current commitments and name the ideals toward which we will work with renewed dedication, focus, and vigor:

• We empower our students, faculty, staff, and community partners to co-create mutually respectful partnerships in pursuit of a just, equitable, and sustainable future for communities beyond the campus—nearby and around the world.
• We prepare our students for lives of engaged citizenship, with the motivation and capacity to deliberate, act, and lead in pursuit of the public good.
• We embrace our responsibilities as place based institutions, contributing to the health and strength of our communities—economically, socially, environmentally, educationally, and politically.
• We harness the capacity of our institutions—through research, teaching, partnerships, and institutional practice—to challenge the prevailing social and economic inequalities that threaten our democratic future.
• We foster an environment that consistently affirms the centrality of the public purposes of higher education by setting high expectations for members of the campus community to contribute to their achievement.

In affirming these statements, I have made a commitment to develop a Campus Civic Action Plan for Virginia Wesleyan within one year. Our Civic Action Plan will be shared publicly, as will our assessments of the progress we are making in achieving our goals.

As we move forward, I welcome your feedback on how we may best create a Civic Action Plan consistent with Virginia Wesleyan College's history, traditions, values, and strategic priorities.