Minnesota Campus Compact

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big ideas · college health corps

How do we describe people?
- June 13, 2013
By Gwen Neumeister The Minnesota Internship Center (MNIC) is a charter high school in Minneapolis. Like many non-profits, MNIC relies on grant funds for a number of its programs. Funding is competitive, and grant applicants often demonstrate need by emphasizing the barriers faced by the population that they serve, a slippery slope to a cycle of deficit-based advocacy in an effort to retain funding, volunteers, and community support. This video highlights the contrast between MNIC [...]

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University of St. Thomas

Lest Best Intentions become the Enemy of the Good
- June 11, 2013
By Gerald W. Schlabach, University of St. Thomas No student should do “service learning” in another cultural setting without having to stop in his or her tracks at some point by reading Ivan Illich’s famous 1968 speech, “To Hell with Good Intentions.” But neither should faculty members hesitate to lead classes with a service-learning or community-engagement component because Illich has left them paralyzed. “To Hell with Good Intentions” is certainly a devastating read. Illich was [...]

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Service · service-learning

Where’s the Service in Service-Learning?
- April 26, 2013
A popular book in the service-learning literature asks the important question, Where’s the Learning in Service-Learning? —and it has guided many educators to community engagement practices that maximize student learning. At a recent event at Hamline University, Robert Lupton, the author of Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, essentially asked people to think critically about the other side of that question. Where’s the service in service-learning and other efforts by volunteers [...]

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cultural capacity · Engaged Campus

Knowing Your Capabilities, Making a Declaration, and Being Believable
- March 29, 2013
Tony LookingElk spoke at Minnesota Campus Compact’s Assets and Wellness event on March 8th. Below are excerpts from his powerful remarks. There are three things I think are essential in doing asset-based work, especially when working with marginalized communities: capabilities, making a declaration, and being believable. What are our institutions capable of? It’s amazingly important to know your capabilities when you engage communities. People are going to wonder about that if they don’t have a [...]

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Most Recent

How do we describe people?

June 13, 2013

By Gwen Neumeister The Minnesota Internship Center (MNIC) is a charter high school in Minneapolis. Like many non-profits, MNIC relies on grant funds for a number of its programs. Funding is competitive, and grant applicants often demonstrate need by emphasizing the barriers faced by the population that they serve, a slippery slope to a cycle of deficit-based advocacy in an effort to retain funding, volunteers, and community support. This video highlights the contrast between MNIC [...]

University of St. Thomas

Lest Best Intentions become the Enemy of the Good

June 11, 2013

By Gerald W. Schlabach, University of St. Thomas No student should do “service learning” in another cultural setting without having to stop in his or her tracks at some point by reading Ivan Illich’s famous 1968 speech, “To Hell with Good Intentions.” But neither should faculty members hesitate to lead classes with a service-learning or community-engagement component because Illich has left them paralyzed. “To Hell with Good Intentions” is certainly a devastating read. Illich was [...]

Service · service-learning

Where’s the Service in Service-Learning?

April 26, 2013

A popular book in the service-learning literature asks the important question, Where’s the Learning in Service-Learning? —and it has guided many educators to community engagement practices that maximize student learning. At a recent event at Hamline University, Robert Lupton, the author of Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, essentially asked people to think critically about the other side of that question. Where’s the service in service-learning and other efforts by volunteers [...]

St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State Partners with the Community to Effectively Reduce High Risk Drinking

March 21, 2013

By Jennifer Sell Matzke Thanks to a series of successful collaborative efforts to alter the culture when it comes to alcohol and drug use on the campus of St. Cloud State University and the surrounding community, dramatic, positive and measurable changes are occurring. In 2005, results from a college student health assessment showed that 58% of St. Cloud State students reported engaging in high risk drinking (defined as 5 or more alcohol beverages in a [...]

Gustavus Adolphus College

Discovering Citizenship: Public Discourse at Gustavus Adolphus College

March 19, 2013

By Tristan Richards “As a citizen, I have the responsibility to act,” said Junior Management and Communication Studies major Blia Xiong. This is what she learned from Public Discourse, a 100-level course in the Department of Communication Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College. Public Discourse challenges students, who are often first-years, to identify a problem in their community, research it fully, and take action to address that problem. They are encouraged to choose an issue that [...]

cultural capacity · Engaged Campus

Knowing Your Capabilities, Making a Declaration, and Being Believable

March 29, 2013

Tony LookingElk spoke at Minnesota Campus Compact’s Assets and Wellness event on March 8th. Below are excerpts from his powerful remarks. There are three things I think are essential in doing asset-based work, especially when working with marginalized communities: capabilities, making a declaration, and being believable. What are our institutions capable of? It’s amazingly important to know your capabilities when you engage communities. People are going to wonder about that if they don’t have a [...]

President's Honor Roll

Congratulations to Minnesota Campuses Named to President’s Honor Roll

March 4, 2013

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, launched in 2006, annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement by recognizing institutions that achieve meaningful, measureable outcomes in the communities they serve. The 2013 Honor Roll recipients will be announced at the American Council on Education’s 95th Annual Meeting, Leading Change on Monday March 4, 2013. We are delighted to [...]

civic engagement · dialogues

Some Reflections on our Conversations About the Public Purposes of Higher Education

January 3, 2013

“How should higher education help us create the society we want?” isn’t your usual water cooler topic of conversation. When Minnesota Campus Compact and partners around the state convened 12 dialogues focused on that question, many of the 295 participants—students, educators, nonprofit leaders, newspaper editors, even state legislators on higher education committees—commented that they had never talked about it before. Yet when given the chance to share their own experiences and perspectives, and to listen [...]

St. Olaf College · Student Profile

Student Profile: Will Lutterman, St. Olaf College

November 29, 2012

Will Lutterman is a sophomore studying Economics, Environmental Studies and Statistics at St Olaf College. In his first year at St Olaf, Will wanted to pursue his passion for public policy through opportunities that would give him practical experience. He explains, “I see my college education going hand in hand with community development work. They are equally valuable to me.” In exploring his options, he was connected to a city councilwoman who opened the door [...]

Sustainability · University of Minnesota Morris

UMM Civic Engagement Rooted in Sustainability

November 27, 2012

The University of Minnesota Morris is one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States with recognition from multiple national organizations. Civic engagement and sustainable, environmentally friendly focused initiatives are foundational pieces of the institution’s mission. Students seeking change in their local communities have led these efforts and have also received national leadership recognition for their efforts. Students are involved in many outreach programs that promote community engagement as it relates to Morris’ [...]

Browse latest posts

How do we describe people?

Lest Best Intentions become the Enemy of the Good

Where’s the Service in Service-Learning?

Knowing Your Capabilities, Making a Declaration, and Being Believable

Most Recent

How do we describe people?

Lest Best Intentions become the Enemy of the Good

Where’s the Service in Service-Learning?

St. Cloud State Partners with the Community to Effectively Reduce High Risk Drinking

Discovering Citizenship: Public Discourse at Gustavus Adolphus College

Knowing Your Capabilities, Making a Declaration, and Being Believable

Congratulations to Minnesota Campuses Named to President’s Honor Roll

Some Reflections on our Conversations About the Public Purposes of Higher Education

Student Profile: Will Lutterman, St. Olaf College

UMM Civic Engagement Rooted in Sustainability

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