American Democracy Project (ADP) Becomes a Reality at UNK

In mid-May, John Anderson (Political Science) was named the Director of the American Democracy Project (ADP) at UNK. With his appointment, the ADP gains an official presence on the campus, and momentum for the program will increase. Anderson has been working with Tim Burkink (Marketing), Martha Kruse (English), Dennis Potthoff (Teacher Education), Jeanne Butler (Center for Teaching Excellence and Assessment) and others across campus throughout the process of bringing the program to UNK. A committee comprised of representatives from each college as well as other interested individuals will be working together to promote the ADP on campus.

The purpose of the ADP is to promote both civic and political engagement among students, providing opportunities across campus for individuals to be involved in the democratic community through volunteering, advocacy, voting and service learning.

UNK has a long history of providing students with opportunities for civic and political engagement. Many entities across campus have developed activities that will fit under the umbrella of the ADP. What the presence of the ADP will do, however, is coordinate those efforts, creating a coherent and recognizable culture of student engagement, as well as provide resources to aid in increasing growth. The ADP group hopes to increase the activity of and conversation about civic and political engagement across campus, not just among students but also among faculty and staff. One thing the group hopes to implement soon in order to do this is a reading group among faculty members to support increasing commonality in the vocabulary used to discuss civic and political engagement. “After all,” says Anderson, “the lynchpin of a democracy is common conversation.”

Now is a crucial and formative period for the ADP at UNK. The ADP group has been brainstorming new activities, which can complement the activities already taking place at UNK. The strategy of the group has been to identify the good things UNK is already doing and seek to continue to improve them, as well as begin planning to introduce new programs on campus.

In an effort to build on what is already being accomplished, the ADP will partner with the History Department, the Political Science Department, and the College of Education to host Constitution Day. The History and Political Science departments have sponsored Constitution Day activities in the past. The College of Education has been involved, in cooperation with the Nebraska Network for Education Renewal, which seeks to prepare teachers to be part of a democracy.

Additionally, the ADP at UNK hopes to be able to host “Times Talks,” which would include campus professors giving small talks on a regular basis, as well as drawing on resources to bring in a nationally-known speaker on campus once a year from the New York Times Speaker’s Bureau. The ADP group is excited about this possibility to coordinate with the student government’s recent initiative to bring several newspapers to campus, including the New York Times.

With the elections approaching in November, the group also anticipates opportunities to involve students in political conversation and activity, including the possibility of an ADP-sponsored voter drive.

Across campus, departments have been increasingly concerned about encouraging, and even requiring, students to be involved in engagement activities. The Political Science department has a tradition of these types of activities with sending students to observe governmental processes at work, as well as sponsoring UNK’s Campus Kitchen. Individuals in the Management Department sponsor UNK’s chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), which has gained a strong positive reputation in our community, as well as at regional competitions. Several departments on campus are working in cooperation with the Office of Service Learning to connect students with opportunities for engagement. The ADP committee hopes to be able to support the work of these groups and the many others who are offering similar types of activities, as well as draw on their expertise and resources to grow the ADP at UNK.

Those involved in the work of the ADP are excited about the potential growth of the program at UNK. They encourage anyone with an interest in engaging students in civic and political activity to become involved, and they plan to develop a website soon in order to provide the community with more information about the program.

Four New Minors Now Available

In the last academic year, Academic Affairs and Faculty Senate approved four new minors, which will be effective with the Fall 2008 catalog.

In the College of Business and Technology, the Department of Management now offers an Entrepreneurship Minor in order to provide an opportunity for students to explore the area of entrepreneurship. The Department of Marketing and Management Information Systems is now offering an International Business Minor, with course distributions from departments in business, as well as several interdisciplinary elective options.

In the College of Natural and Social Sciences, the Departments of Biology, Sociology, Geography and Earth Science, and Chemistry have combined efforts to offer an Environmental Science Minor. Health Science Programs is offering an interdisciplinary minor in Public Health to complement the coursework of students in health-related programs.

Storm Affects Campus but Cleanup Allows Activity to Continue

The tornadoes that hit Kearney on May 29 damaged several buildings on campus, most significantly the roofs of the College of Education building, the Fine Arts building, and the Nebraskan Student Union. A skylight blew off the north end of Founders Hall, allowing water to come into the building. Several trees were also uprooted, and facilities personnel have worked in the days following the storm to remove the damaged trees and broken limbs.

In order to ensure the safety and security of the campus, University personnel immediately began to assess the damage on Thursday night after the storm, and the facilities team worked long hours in the following week to clean up the debris and repair the damage, restoring the campus to its normal state. Their quick response enabled the campus to quickly return to a functional level, allowing the summer Student Advising and Enrollment Session scheduled for Friday, May 30 to take place in the Student Union, as well as university business and summer classes to continue as scheduled on Monday, June 2.

We are in the season when severe weather threats are likely. Be sure to review the university policy for handling a tornado watch and warning on campus (scroll down to letter H), and review the location of the tornado shelter in the buildings on campus.

Spring Commencement Sets Record

670 graduates participated in UNK’s 2008 Spring Commencement. With 529 undergraduates and 141 graduate students, the total number of May graduates represents the largest graduating class since UNK joined the University of Nebraska system in 1991.

Recognition

Calendar of Events within the Academic Affairs and Student Life Division

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