These five prestigious awards recognize individuals and institutions for their achievement in advancing the public purposes of higher education. The awards include the Ernest Lynton Award for The Scholarship of Engagement, The Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award, the Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award, the Richard Guarasci Award for Institutional Transformation, and the Eduardo J. Padron Award for Institutional Transformation.
Montana Western's Director of Student Success, Ilene Cohen (pictured at left) has been a stalwart supporter of students throughout her career, and has helped spearhead numerous campus-community partnerships, supported statewide college access and attainment work, and has helped remove barriers to education for minoritized students over a long and decorated career in higher education.
It's hard to summarize a person's impact in a short paragraph, but suffice to say Ilene has been a spark plug for campus-community partnership, support for first-generation, low-income, and minoritized students, and has contributed an enormous quantity of good work, goodwill, and herself over the years. Ilene retires this month, and we will miss her.
Thank you, Ilene.
Thank You, AmeriCorps Leaders
Our AmeriCorps leaders (pictured with staff, above) just gathered at Montana Technological University for their close of service event. These committed folks served with our campuses and their partner nonprofits and schools across Montana, support college access, attainment and removing barriers to success for low-income and minoritized students.
On September 23rd at 11:00, AM Montana Campus Compact and MontPIRG will co-host a conversation about the implications of Senate Bill 169 and House Bill 176, which require government-issued ID and end same-day voter registration, respectively, and discuss how best to share practical information with staff and faculty at our institutions to remove barriers to student participation in the elections this fall, and keep building toward on your great work to engage students in voting this past fall, and begin thinking about the 2022 midterm elections. All are welcome, please email Josh Vanek to RSVP and get a sign-up link.
Community Partner Highlight
AmeriCorps: Apply today
Montana Campus Compact (MTCC) is actively recruiting recent graduates for AmeriCorps positions with our campuses across the state. These full-time positions come with a modest living allowance, an AmeriCorps education award, and an opportunity to make a difference.
Find space to strategize together, ask questions, find answers, and receive support.
Sustained over time and meeting regularly throughout the year, affinity networks provide space and structure for members to discuss issues of mutual interest and design creative approaches to advancing higher education community engagement in their institutional contexts.
Register now to enroll in an affinity network for the 2021-2022 Academic Year
Credentialing Program
The Community Engagement Professional Credential offers a framework for community engagement professionals to grow and achieve formal recognition for the knowledge and skills they develop in their careers. Micro-credtional certification areas include Community Engagement Fundamentals, Community Partnerships, Community-Engaged Learning and Teaching (Service-Learning), Program Administration, and Supporting Engaged Faculty Development.
It’s time for science philanthropy and communication to co-create a new era of partnership with communities of color.
In March 2020, when COVID-19 officially became a pandemic, sociologist Alondra Nelson launched a crowdsourced collection of interdisciplinary resources placing COVID-19 in historical and cultural context. In the following weeks, the Social Science Research Council, of which Nelson was president, added initiatives to develop insights about the roots of the crisis; its effects across societies; and its disproportionate effects on Black, Native American, and Latino communities. Some of the initiatives included a registry tracking COVID-19-related research, analysis of COVID-19-related misinformation, and firsthand accounts from Brooklyn College students in deeply affected communities...
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this is a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.
Podcast of the Month
The Context of Place
For the last episode of season five of #CompactNationPod, Marisol speaks with Dr. Hilary Link, the new president of Allegheny College about the importance of grounding yourself in the context of place—and how this shapes her leadership of civic engagement, community engagement, and climate action work at Allegheny. Plus, we say a fond farewell to Andrew and welcome Nicole Springer, the newest host of Compact Nation Podcast.
Keep the conversation going! Weigh in online with #CompactNationPod.
Resource: Campus Compact Podcast, tune in for conversations with leading community engagement professionals and discussions of new research and innovative work in the field.
** Discount: Campus Compact member discount. Campus Compact members (if you're reading this, that means you) save 20% on books available through the online Campus Compact bookstore! **
Story to Share? Send it to Us!
The MTCC Network Office wants to share your good news! Especially those pieces related to campus-community partnership, civic engagement, service-learning, volunteerism, and democracy. Email your story ideas, or ready-made pieces to Pete Buchanan to get them included in the monthly newsletter, regularly seen by over education and community leaders across Montana.
