Call for Montana College Grads: MTCC AmeriCorps Applications Open!
The MTCC network just began accepting applications for its full-time, yearlong AmeriCorps positions. These paid positions begin in July, August, and September of 2022 and include a living allowance, (Pell-sized) AmeriCorps Education Award, and other benefits. Explore the benefits of service.
In 2022-2023, AmeriCorps members will serve with a range of schools and nonprofits, including Helena College, the Arlee Rehabilitation Center, the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities at the University of Montana, Poplar High School and Fort Peck Community College, and many more!
Interested candidates are invited to learn more and apply!
Kat Cowley, Director of ASUM Bear Necessities, cuts a ribbon Tuesday during the grand opening of the new agency. Bear Necessities, located in University Center Room 118, is dedicated to supporting UM students in need of basic services
Bear Necessities Agency Opens at UM
Members of the University of Montana campus and Missoula community celebrated the opening of the Bear Necessities (Basic Needs) agency, making [Kate Cowley's] dream a reality and offering support beyond food to the estimated 63 percent of students who need help with things like personal care products, housing, or mental health.
On the third anniversary of the opening of the food pantry, Cowley cut the ribbon on the Associated Students of the University of Montana Bear Necessities Agency at the University Center.
‘This kind of suffering was never meant to be a part of the college experience’
UM billed the mission of Bear Necessities as supporting students who are experiencing basic needs insecurity, closing gaps in resources, and advocating for change to prevent future need.
Blackfeet Community College is a public two-year tribally-controlled community college located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Montana, with an average student enrollment of 650 annually. Photo credit Kath Williams + Associates
Blackfeet Community College establishes $3 million endowment fund
Blackfeet Community College announced on Friday it had established a $3 million endowment fund — the first endowment in school history.
The school's investment committee decided that the fund will remain in place for at least ten years, "while interest is used to perpetuate the educational growth of Blackfeet Community College," according to a news release. USI Advisors, Inc. will provide financial management over the fund.
College President Karla Bird said the "opportunity would not be available without the generosity of philanthropist, MacKenzie Scott."
Scott, formerly married to billionaire Jeff Bezos, in 2020 donated $4.2 billion to 384 organizations nationwide, including Blackfeet Community College. Her gift was the largest donation the college had ever received.
In mid-winter 1972, 100 grassroots delegates and a staff of some of the best and brightest young people under the Big Sky, gathered in Helena for what many would recall as the proudest time of their lives. Their task: to re-write the lumbering, old state constitution.
1972 Constitutional Convention celebration to be held at MSU
A celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Constitutional Convention will take place March 22 at Montana State University in Bozeman, MSU announced Thursday in a news release.
MSU said former U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus, former Gov. Marc Racicot, former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau, 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention delegate Mae Nan Ellingson and longtime state political journalist Charles S. Johnson will participate in a panel discussion at an event that’s free and open to the public.
Moderators for the discussion will be bestselling author Sarah Vowell and John Adams, founder and editor-in-chief of Montana Free Press, which is sponsoring the event along with MSU, according to the news release.
The event will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Ballroom A of the Strand Union Building and also will be livestreamed by MSU on YouTube and recorded for later viewing.
Funding Available: Summer AmeriCorps Placements for Montana College Students
MTCC's network office is excited to announce the availability of funding for its campuses to support full-time, ten-week AmeriCorps placements for the summer of 2022.
Through its AmeriCorps (AKA "domestic Peace Corps") program, MTCC places college student members with colleges, universities, nonprofits, city and county offices, and schools to support youth programming, summer nutrition, college access projects, and more.
Students receive a living allowance and AmeriCorps Education Award following service, moreover they do amazing work to make our communities safer, smarter, and healthier and support the public mission of higher education.
Please contact VISTA Program Manager, Callye Foster at foster@mtcompact.org or, AmeriCorps Program Manager, Dannette Fadness at fadness@mtcompact.org with questions.
The priority deadline for applying to host summer AmeriCorps members is March 6th, 2022.
A message from new Campus Compact President, Bobbie Laur
Greetings—
On this first day of my job as Campus Compact’s new president, I want to begin by thanking you all for the messages I received in advance of my start. I’ve heard from presidents, community engagement practitioners and administrators, faculty, engagement field leaders, and philanthropic partners—all sharing best wishes and excitement about what is ahead for Compact, our collective missions, and offering their support and collaboration.
The messages were a wonderful reinforcement of the passion and commitment so many have for Campus Compact–both what it has meant to the field historically and the critical role it will play as we collectively evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.
I am joining the Compact at a moment when leveraging the power of our coalition and position as the national voice for higher education community and civic engagement is essential. As a values-driven and relationship-focused organization, we are ready to build and grow to advance our mission and the public purposes of higher education. The work will take all of us.
The evolution of our Compact network, to one that meets the field where it is now, requires patience, deep collaboration, and openness to change. The work our institutions and leaders are doing every day in their communities to support students, partners, and neighborhoods navigate the impacts and loss from the pandemic, actively engage in our democracy, and address systemic racial inequities, demands that we remain laser-focused on the work and supporting each other.
In the coming days and months, I’ll be focused on learning from and connecting with you, our members and partners to hear:
What’s working and not working currently?
What are new ways Compact can support you?
How can we collaborate?
How can your institution/organization help push our collective work forward?
I join the incredible Compact team in being energized to work with you as we catalyze around new ideas and ways of working, convene leaders to advance the work, and drive our collective impact as a field of institutions and leaders!
Thank you for the warm welcome, Compact Nation! Let’s get to work.
During AmeriCorps Week we recognize the millions of Americans who have chosen to serve their country through AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors and encourage more Americans to follow in their footsteps in service.
This year's theme is 'Together, we are AmeriCorps.'
Service brings people together and bridge divides, and that's what our members, volunteers, and programs do every day. This theme is also fitting this year as we include National Service Recognition Day in AmeriCorps Week. Instead of having a standalone day a few weeks later, we want to include this important group of service champions in our weeklong celebration.
You and your partners are encouraged to celebrate with us during AmeriCorps Week!
Follow the digital conversation about AmeriCorps Week and the days leading up to it on AmeriCorps' Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Interested in addressing local challenges in communities across the country while developing job skills and earning money for school?
Learn the Value of AmeriCorps Service
Join us for a virtual information session to find out if a year or summer as an AmeriCorps member serving with the VISTA program could be right for you. We’ll share service opportunities, benefits, requirements, and more.
NOTE: This event is intended for people interested in learning more about AmeriCorps VISTA. All who register at the link above will receive a recording of the webinar.
2024 Elective Classification for Community Engagement
New website and 2024 cycle frameworks
The Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement is an elective classification, meaning that it is based on voluntary participation by institutions.
Explore the application process:
The elective classification involves data collection and documentation of important aspects of institutional mission, identity, and commitments and requires substantial effort invested by participating institutions.
A Better Way Forward: Innovation with Equity at the Center
March 29-31, 2022 | Online
Compact22 is Campus Compact's all-virtual 2022 national conference. It is the largest and most inclusive national conference focused on the role of higher education in building healthy communities and fostering a just and equal democracy.
Sessions explore topics such as civic engagement, community-engaged research, civic- and service-learning, institutional change, university-community partnerships, and more.
Compact22 provides resources, professional development, networking opportunities, and inspiration to community engagement professionals, engaged faculty, community partners, student civic leaders, and campus senior leaders to help them create the positive change we seek.
"If we get back to normal we will have failed. We come together to imagine a better way forward, mobilizing the power of higher education to drive innovation, build connections, and create a new normal centered in equity and justice."
Campus Compact’s 2021-2022 national webinar series
Campus Compact’s National Webinar series returns for 2021-2022 with more to support and inspire you. Topics touch on issues of relevance to faculty, staff, students, and their partners in education and community building. Be sure to tune in to each session for information, tools, and resources to help you in your work.
Share MTCC #Digest with your colleagues!
Have them scan this QR code -beep boop!
#FEATURED ARTICLE
The Montana State Capitol in Helena (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
50 years later, the ‘Con-Con’ still a model for today By Evan Barrett
February 22, 2022
I recently sat in awe as I listened to 94-year-old Montana Constitutional Convention Delegate Wade Dahood, one of 12 remaining delegates of the original 100, talk about his convention experience 50 years ago. From his Anaconda law office, Dahood addressed a camera and a reporter for an interview, part of a series noting and celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Montana’s 1972 Constitutional Convention where the delegates drafted what is arguably the best state Constitution in the nation.
Dahood, chairman of the convention’s critically important Declaration of Rights Committee, mostly answered questions about the important rights conveyed to Montanans by Article II. Under Dahood’s guidance, the committee, and the entire convention, made the conscious decision to maintain every right Montanans had under the 1889 Constitution, then added immeasurably to those personal rights.
As a result, in the 35 sections of Article II – Declaration of Rights, the citizens of Montana have been guaranteed more constitutional rights than any other American citizen – things like the right of privacy, right to know, right to participate, right of individual dignity, right of suffrage, right to a clean and healthful environment, and more.
The reporter asked about the importance of the unusual alphabetical seating in the Convention as a means of reducing partisan rancor. While addressing that, Dahood reflected concern about the bitter divisiveness of today’s political climate, yet voiced an optimism, tempered by time and experience, that Montanans and our elected officials can return to the time of civil discourse – where we can be opponents without being enemies; where we can argue ideas yet still come together, sometimes compromising, to do what is best for our state and country – where we can understand that we all are striving to find a common good and find good faith in the efforts of all.
Andrew (left) and his husband Johanna (right) posing for their wedding photo.
Collective Action Is Key for Climate Justice By Andrew Mades
January 31, 2022
My name is Andrew Mades. I began serving as a VISTA member at the National Center for Appropriate Technologies (NCAT) in November 2021 and will serve until November 2022. A historian by training, I studied in Massachusetts before moving to Berlin, Germany in 2018.
There I completed a master’s degree in project management and law and was married to my husband. While that is my background, and history is a passion of mine, I have become dismayed at the lack of urgency in addressing the climate crisis.
I felt I had to act, and so began looking for a way to help others by addressing the problem. Many argue that the crisis can be ‘solved’ through new technologies, or that by tweaking the private sector everything will be okay. It is the public sector, however, where we can prevent the crisis from becoming a true calamity, and so I signed up with AmeriCorps.
Collective action is imperative; but how? And who? Can addressing the climate crisis bring equity to those most affected? And where are opportunities to address the crisis for folks that aren’t STEM experts? So much of the climate crisis is tied up in resource allocation, government policy, and decisions made at every level of government that an individual can feel powerless.
The big questions of how we structure our society; what kind of work people do, what modes of transportation do we use, and how/why we consume cannot be answered by consumer choices but by decisions made by our local, state, and national legislatures. Individual action can only accomplish so much, but by working together we can develop resilient communities for decades to come.
Tom Osborn: A new way to help young people with their mental health Feb 21, 2022 | 6 mins
Fellow Tom Osborn wants more young people to have access to the mental health support they need.
With the Shamiri Institute, he and his team are training 18- to 22-year-olds to deliver evidence-based mental health care to their peers in Kenya -- which has only two psychiatrists for every million people.
Hear how their community-first, youth-oriented model could become a template to help kids across the world lead successful, independent lives.
#RESOURCES
Discounts
Campus Compact Bookstore - Campus Compact is pleased to offer 20% off of book prices for Campus Compact member campuses.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement - The mission of the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement is to serve as the premier peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal to advance theory and practice related to all forms of outreach and engagement between higher education institutions and communities.
Journal of Service-Learning in Higher Education - The Journal of Service-Learning in Higher Education is an online, international, peer-reviewed journal for the dissemination of original research regarding effective institutional-community partnerships. Our primary emphasis is to provide an outlet for sharing the methodologies and pedagogical approaches that lead to effective community-identified outcomes.
Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement - Partnerships recognizes that successful engaged learning depends on effective partnerships between students, faculty, community agencies, administrators, disciplines, and more. The articles in this peer-reviewed journal focus on how theories and practices can inform and improve such partnerships, connections, and collaborations.
Podcasts
Campus Compact Podcast - Bring higher education community engagement on the go with Compact Nation Podcast! Tune in bi-weekly for conversations with leading community engagement professionals and discussions of new research and innovative work in the field.
Hidden Brain - Hidden Brain explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and questions that lie at the heart of our complex and changing world.
The Way Forward - The Way Forward features conversations between an array of academic leaders and faculty innovators. The conversations range from visions of engaged, "outside-in" universities committed to their communities, to proposals that center "wicked problems," not disciplinary 101's, at the heart of general education, to stories of successful institutional transformation in the face of fiscal, racial, and health crises.
Stuff You Should Know - If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime, and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Tiny Spark - A podcast that takes a hard look at non-profits, international aid, and philanthropy. Tiny Spark investigates the business of doing good. In-depth interviews and shoe leather reporting from across the globe.
Resources and Toolkits
Benefits of Civic and Community Engagement Primer - The Primer on the Benefits and Value of Civic & Community Engagement in Higher Education, was created by the NC Campus Compact Community of Practice, Inquiry & Learning (COPIL). COPIL is comprised of practitioner-scholars interested in being part of the ongoing inquiry that is helping to establish promising practices of civic and community engagement and to build a knowledge base around it.
Campus Compact Knowledge Hub: Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning In the Time of COVID - Campus Compact’s Fusion Course aims to provide critical training and support for faculty as they adapt to online teaching and offers instruction for how to integrate community engagement methodologies into existing curricula to improve the quality of course delivery and foster student engagement.
Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement - The Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement is an elective classification, meaning that it is based on voluntary participation by institutions. The elective classification involves data collection and documentation of important aspects of institutional mission, identity, and commitments and requires substantial effort invested by participating institutions.
Civic Action Plan Library - Civic Action Plans from Campus Compact’s 30th Anniversary Action Statement initiative. We are consistently updating the CAP Library as new plans are submitted, so check back often to view the bold approaches our member campuses are taking to further the public purposes of higher education.
Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative - Through a network of educational institutions and community organizations, The Collaborative advances ethical, critical, and aspirationally de-colonial community-based learning and research for more just, inclusive, and sustainable communities. The Collaborative is hosted in the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship at Haverford College, and funded through member contributions.
Daily Chatter World Newsletter - Campus Compact is proud to partner with DailyChatter to provide independent, non-partisan, global news for free to our member institutions. We hope that this daily newsletter provides a deeper understanding of global issues and inspires more nuanced conversations about what’s happening in the world around us.
Virtual Volunteer Resource Collection - To help students, we have compiled a collection of virtual volunteering opportunities – this resource includes non-profits, search engines, news articles, research papers, videos, and software links.
Training
Campus Compact Virtual Dialogue Training - Campus Compact is pleased to share this offering for faculty, community engagement professionals, and others interested in using the deliberative dialogue method as an educational tool for building student capacity to engage in thoughtful, constructive, and critical discussions of public questions.
YouTube
Campus Compact Webinar Series - Campus Compact’s webinars take the great and varied work happening on the ground around the country and bring it straight to your desk.
TED Talks - TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment, and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events to help share ideas in communities around the world.
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 at buchanan@mtcompact.org to get them included in the monthly newsletter, regularly seen by education and community leaders across Montana.
