Campuses around the country are currently creating a new normal as we continue to address the impacts of COVID-19. Institutional priorities are shifting, financial models are unstable, and teaching, learning, research, and service expectations are in flux. As institutional leaders begin to make difficult resource decisions, our communities require even greater levels of research, knowledge, leadership, and civic action from higher education to address the current public health crisis. Our work is more important than ever. During this webinar targeted to faculty, staff, and administrative civic and community engagement leaders, we will hear best practices from about how to talk about their work to senior administrators and articulate the value of being an engaged campus. Participants will have the opportunity to join breakout sessions to discuss tools, experiences, and ideas.

Featured Presenters:

Dr. David Potash, President | Wilbur Wright College (City Colleges of Chicago)

David Potash is president of Wilbur Wright College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. Under his leadership the 85-year old community college in northwest Chicago has seen significant increases in student success, new programs and certificates, sustained efforts at equity, community service and civic engagement, career and apprenticeships, and serving the college’s growing Hispanic population. In prior roles he served as Chief Academic Officer at Curry College, a four-year institution in Massachusetts and as Associate Provost at Hunter College, CUNY, and at Baruch College, CUNY.

President Potash holds a BA from Rice University, an MA from NYU, and a PhD in history from Cambridge University. He has taught a variety of US history courses. He is active on social media and serves on several advisory boards.
 

Dr. Abe Goldberg,  Executive Director of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement | James Madison University

Abraham Goldberg is the Executive Director of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement and an Associate Professor of Political Science at James Madison University.  Prior to arriving at JMU in 2017, he was the Director of the Office of Service-Learning and Community Engagement at the University of South Carolina Upstate.  Abe recently co-authored a chapter in Democracy, Civic Engagement, and Citizenship in Higher Education: Reclaiming Our Civic Purpose with JMU President Jonathan Alger.  He also published an article in the eJournal of Public Affairs arguing that colleges and universities can combat political inequality if civic education is prioritized, as well as the South Carolina Civic Health Index.  Abe has also written about how the built environment of urban places and the accessibility of community amenities contributes to the social connectivity, health, and happiness of residents, as found in Social Science and Medicine, Urban Design and Planning, Urban Affairs Review, and Journal of Urbanism.  He teaches courses in civic engagement, urban planning and policy, and American politics.  Abe is originally from Charleston, West Virginia and earned his doctorate from West Virginia University.