Where did the summer go? It has flown by here in the Wisconsin Campus Compact office! Most of the summer was spent working on funding proposals, visiting campuses, exploring strategic partnership opportunities, membership renewals, and professional development trainings. What has been most fruitful has been the time we spent with 13 of our member campuses as they worked through their Civic Action Plans.

Over the sessions, I was incredibly impressed by the level of discussions happening on your campuses related to Civic Action Planning. In one of the breakout sessions, we discussed what areas of overlap exist between campuses. One major theme that arose out of a discussion was the lack of preparation that faculty and staff have when going out and representing the university on community engagement projects. People who have talked with me know that I’m interested in trying to build connections across institutions, and this might be a place to start. Hopefully that could be followed with increased coordination of efforts related to impact areas, such as K-12 education improvement or health-related projects. If anyone is interested in helping me think through faculty / staff preparation to represent community engagement, e-mail me. My initial thinking is being shaped by an effort at Stony Brook University called “The Public Intellectual.” Please keep in mind that these Civic Action Plans should be moving your campus toward BOLD change that will not only advance your institutionalization work, but will also orient our work toward community impact. For any campuses who are interested in having Civic Action Planning discussions on your campuses, please e-mail me.

Another interesting update is my participation on a conference planning committee called “Forward: Building the Social Justice University.” We are moving in the direction of trying to set up an opportunity where people working on the front lines of social movements can connect with academics to discuss areas of overlap. There has been some great examples of projects where this is happening (for instance, the Obesity Prevention Initiative in Central Wisconsin). I’d like to find more ways to create these discussions, which could lead to more community-responsive scholarship, projects, and placements.

What’s new at WiCC? We will be hiring an Associate Outreach Specialist! We thank Donna Troestler for her hard work and dedication to WiCC, but she will be leaving on October 3. We will also be welcoming an intern on staff starting this fall named Morgan Livingston, a senior at UW-Madison. Her project will include trying to piece together a communications and social media strategy about how universities are working alongside the community to solve public issues in Wisconsin. We’re looking forward to having her on staff.

Thank you all for making my first year as WiCC Executive Director a successful one! I have enjoyed getting to know everyone and look forward continuing to grow our connections!