First-Year Civic Engagement: Sound Foundations for College ...

CASE STUDYINDIANA UNIVERSITY-PURDUE UNIVERSITY FORT WAYNECivic Engagement Through First-Year Experience ConversationsRachelle L. Darabi, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic SuccessBarbara Jane Ehle, Director of Individual Support ProgramsThe First-Year Experience (FYE) program at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) began in fall 2004, withour target audience as “first time at any college students.” OurFYE’s main vehicles are curricular learning communities (LCs)that link two or three courses as integrated curriculum for a cohortof students. First-Year Experience Conversations are co-curriculardiscussions that connect to these curricular learning communities.ConnectionsThe overarching theme of FYE is Connections, with five primarygoals: (a) connecting by writing to learn, (b) connecting throughinformation literacy, (c) connecting through technology, (d) connectingto IPFW as a resource, and (e) connecting students’ livesto their disciplines and their community. This final goal includescivic engagement, which is specifically addressed through First-Year Experience Conversations, a co-curricular series developedby FYE support staff. FYE learning community faculty membersembed co-curricular activities into each LC, addressing goals ofboth FYE and LC.ConversationsFYE Conversations are held each fall on Mondays at noon, atime when no classes are scheduled, with lunches funded bystudent government. Conversations are designed for first-yearstudents, but any student can attend; about 60 do. Our fall 2004Conversation Series theme was diversity. Faculty led conversationson essays and book chapters, including: Why Are All the Black Kids SittingTogether in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum to John GardnerThe theme of the 2005 conversations was “You and Your World”and focused on topics developed by IPFW faculty, including: Sociology and Environmental Affairs by Leslie Raymer, Women’s Studies Dr. Bruce Kingsbury, BiologyThe culminating experience for the 2005 FYE Conversation Serieswas a Hunger Banquet based on the Oxfam model. Invited speakersdetailed facts about poverty in the world and in our county.Students stepped into the lives of those in poverty through roleplayand received meals corresponding with the realities of hungerin the world. It was a powerful experience. Students also learnedabout volunteer opportunities in the community.We continued the “You and Your World” theme and severalkey elements (i.e., developing skills for civic discourse, voting,and the Hunger Banquet) in fall 2006. The Conversation Seriesalso included: Theatre” by Dr. Shari Troy, Theatre Geology Political Science and Nutrition Issues for College Students” by Linda Lolkus,Consumer and Family SciencesThe FYE Conversation Series purposefully helps studentsdevelop the skills necessary to engage in difficult, public dialoguesand increase their knowledge of democratic processes. Throughexperiential learning at the Hunger Banquet, students reflect ontheir own lives and those of others in the community and the worldbeyond. The cumulative experience promotes critical thinking.AssessmentThe FYE Conversation Series uses several methods of assessment.Quantitative analysis shows increasing attendance overthree years, with per-event averages growing from 20 to 60. Thefirst Hunger Banquet served 80 students, faculty and staff; thesecond banquet, 160.