From the Director’s Desk – November 2017

Hard to believe it is November already! The semester continues to move along…midterms have come and gone (for the most part), and we creep toward finals and the winter break season!

We have been hard at work creating a statewide movement to bolster the civic mission of higher education, and now we really need your help.  WiCC will be hosting a series of “coalition building” breakfasts where we introduce new civic-minded individuals across Wisconsin.  I would love to have institutions across the state host us.  We want to tell the story of how higher education is helping address critical issues across Wisconsin, which would include telling YOUR institution’s story.  We’re trying to expand our reach beyond traditional higher education stakeholders.  Think servant and civic leaders in your community.  They could be current or retired CEOs, prominent volunteers, or some other individuals in your community who would have a stake in developing the next generation of civic leaders.  Perhaps you’re reading this, and you’re not based at an institution.  Great! We’d love to have you involved.  If you’d like to learn more, please e-mail gavin {at} compact(.)org.  Be thinking of 2-3 people who could be invited to such an event.

Earlier this month, we held four regional meetings.  A special thanks to UW-Stevens Point, Medical College of Wisconsin, UW-Oshkosh, and Edgewood College for hosting us! The speaker, David Liners from WISDOM, reminded us how to have the attitudes and disciplines of community organizers.  It reminded me how relational our work is.  At the gathering, he challenged participants to name five people who could help move community engagement projects forward on campus.  If you were there, how are you doing with that list? Even if you weren’t there, who could you meet with on campus or in the community to advance community engagement? I challenge all of us to broaden our networks so we can continue to advance our work!

Keep your spirits high! Thank you for your dedication to this important work.

Best,

Gavin