Compact25 will take place over the course of three days and feature a wide variety of engaging, interactive sessions focused on civic engagement, community-engaged research, civic- and service-learning, institutional change, university-community partnerships and more.
Pre-Conference Institutes
Monday, March 31, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Join a pre-conference institute for a deep-dive on a given topic before the official kickoff of Compact25 on Monday, March 31. Pre-Conference Institutes are offered at an added rate of $90 per participant. Lunch is included.
Actualizing Campus-Wide Commitments, Strategies, and Action Plans to Advance the Public Mission
Gary Kirk, Virginia Tech
Yetunde Odugbesan-Omede, State University of New York-Fatmingdale State College
Patty Robinson, College of the Canyons
Trygve Throntveit, Minnesota Humanities Center
In this pre-conference session, learn about Campus Compact’s newly re-designed framework that supports colleges and universities in embedding civic and community engagement across their institution in meaningful and sustainable ways. Session participants will preview this framework and a new collaborative guide that takes a “deep dive” into civic learning and democratic engagement (developed in partnership with the CLDE Coalition). The workshop will include breakout groups focused on the Institutional Framework and the CLDE “deep-dive” guide, and allow time for participants to think more deeply about how their college or university can begin building campus-wide commitments, strategies, and action plans to advance their public mission. In order to further support the strategic planning process, you may find it helpful to attend this session with others from your institution.
Campus Compact’s Civic Action Plan Redesign Fellows, all nationally recognized scholar-practitioners, will facilitate this interactive session.
More information →A Work in Process: Compensating Community Partners - A Toolkit of Resources for Community Engagement Professionals
Douglas Barrera, University of California, Los Angeles
Jen Davison, University of Washington- Seattle
Laurel Hirt, University of Minnesota
Mindi Levin, Johns Hopkins University
Building off the well-received Compact24 “Compensating & Recognizing Community Partners: Findings from a Survey of Compact Members,” Knowledge-to-Action Workshop, TRUCEN (The Research University Civic Engagement Network) Sustained Conversation Group members are offering a pre-conference workshop on principles and practices of compensating community partners. The workshop will preview content being developed for a Knowledge Hub to be hosted on Campus Compact’s website, which will provide community engagement professionals and faculty with tools to make the case for compensating community partners for their contributions to community engagement, with examples of processes and practices used by campuses across the country. The toolkit will include a section on the principles and philosophy for compensating partners that advocates can use in conversations with your colleagues in procurement, finance, HR, and fundraising, as well as colleagues in leadership positions. During this working session, participants will be asked to review case studies to help flesh out issues and challenges community engagement professionals face both on campus and off when working to compensate the diverse range of community partners we work with. Attendees will leave the session having had time to reflect on their own institutional context and begin to identify next steps in addressing these issues once you return to your home campus. Participants will also be encouraged to provide feedback on this resource in order to make it as useful as possible for different institutional contexts and types of institutions.
More information →Better Discourse: A workshop to build capacity for bridging divides
Allison Briscoe-Smith, Greater Good Science Center
Nicholas Longo, Providence College
Sara Mehltretter Drury, Wabash College
Lisa-Marie Napoli, Indiana University Bloomington
What does civil discourse mean to you? What are the possibilities and limitations of dialogue across lines of difference? How can your campus engage in better discourse? This engaging and interactive preconference session will guide participants through a series of reflective practices informed by the recently released resource, “Better Discourse: A Guide for Bridging Campus Divides in Challenging Times.” The workshop will begin with stories of the challenges with regard to division and polarization, as well as “what’s working” on college campuses to bridge divides based on data gathered by Campus Compact. A series of curated field resources will also be highlighted, and participants will engage in a collaborative, reflective assessment process. Participants will also have an opportunity to explore topics such as the importance of civil discourse; how to move from initial projects to broader impact; ways to integrate discourse work in curricular and co-curricular settings; and how to build campus-wide support. We encourage participants to attend this preconference with others from their campus to collectively reflect, discuss, and begin creating ways to scale their institution’s dialogue and discourse work. Campus Compact’s Scaling Discourse in Higher Education Project Fellows, who are all nationally recognized dialogue and deliberation experts, will facilitate this collaborative session.
More information →Community-Engaged Scholarship: Imagine! Write! Publish!
Diane Doberneck, University Outreach and Engagement, Michigan State University
This four-hour pre-conference workshop is aimed at community-engagement professionals (CEPs), particularly those who have not previously published about their work. CEPs who want to encourage others on their campus to write and publish are also welcome to attend. In this workshop, we will cover 1) foundational scholarship, 2) community partner voices in writing, 3) unfurling projects into multiple pieces, 4) common structures of journal articles, and 5) potential journals. The workshop is broken into multiple sections, with the presenters sharing a little bit and then participants have a chance to work on that topic individually and in small groups. Participants will come away with specific examples (for the learning areas listed above), tools, and worksheets to use when they return to their campuses.
More information →Cultivating Inclusive Excellence through Relationship-Focused Identity and Intercultural Awareness
Evangeline Su, University of Wisconsin- Madison
Embark on a journey of professional growth with our Inclusive Professional Framework (IPF) Workshop—an experience designed to reframe how you understand, engage and lead in diverse academic and community environments. This immersive workshop is your gateway to: Unraveling the complex intersections of personal identity and intercultural dynamics; developing a nuanced, transferable equity mindset that transcends traditional professional development; and mastering relationship-centered communication strategies that foster genuine inclusion. Tailored for senior leaders, faculty, staff, and students across all levels, this workshop goes beyond conventional training and primes participants for deep, reflective learning. Through research-based methodologies and interactive learning, you'll explore: How your unique identity and intercultural awareness shapes your professional interactions; how individual and collective identities influence professional effectiveness; practical skills for building equitable, collaborative relationships; strategies for meaningful community engagement and inclusive leadership. The workshop will prime participants for deep, reflective learning, ensuring everyone enters the session with a foundational understanding of how individual and collective identities influence professional effectiveness. Whether you're an educator seeking to transform your classroom, a leader committed to organizational change, or a change agent passionate about equity, this workshop provides the intellectual tools and relational skills to drive meaningful, sustainable inclusivity. Join us in redefining professional inclusive excellence through intentional, relationship-driven learning.
More information →Learn-and-Earn Career Pathways for Community Change Agents
Rosa García, Community Learning Partnership (CLP) and California Youth Leadership Corps (CYLC)
Raúl Gutiérrez, Holyoke Community College
Brian Murphy, Community Learning Partnership
John Reiff, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
This pre-conference institute introduces the Community Learning Partnership (CLP), a national non-profit organizing project working with colleges and universities to develop campus-community partnerships that enroll low-income students. Our projects contribute to transformative social change by strengthening the workforce of credentialed, knowledgeable organizers and skilled leaders from and for low-income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities by offering unique academic credentials, work-based learning experiences, and mentoring. Drawing on statewide examples in California and Massachusetts, participants will learn about student recruitment, funding mechanisms, and curriculum in different program models within the network. Participants will be guided in small-group discussions to explore together how this model might resonate with programs they teach in or direct, or how it might be adopted and adapted in their own institutions. Participants will leave with a powerful model for social change and resources to begin discussions about it at their own institutions.
More information →Register for Compact25 to add one of these workshops to your experience!
Already registered? You can easily add Pre-Conference Institutes to your existing registration. Click this link to modify your registration.
Poster presentations
Tuesday, April 1, 4:30-5:45 PM
Join us on Tuesday afternoon for dialogue and learning about innovative civic and community engagement projects happening across the country.