What resources can help increase voter registration and leverage National Voter Registration Day?

This session will feature resources and tools on registering student voters, training students on registering others, best practices, and leveraging National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) to increase participation.

Facilitator: Gayle Hilleke, Kentucky Campus Compact

Nicole Costa is the Campus Outreach Lead at Democracy Works. In her role, she works to grow and sustain the TurboVote higher education program through new and continuing partnerships.

Kathryn Quintin is the Partnerships Manager at the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, whose mission is to increase nonpartisan student voting and engagement on college campuses. She was previously the Programs Manager at Asian and Pacific Islander Vote (APIAVote) where she coordinated most of the youth engagement and outreach and founded the #WetheAAPI Ambassador Program that engaged over 30 campuses around AAPI civic engagement.  She also previously has held a position as the Executive Director of the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) and on the Board of Advisers for SERCAAL (Southeast Regional Conference for Asian American Leaders). She is a graduate of Florida State University and majored in International Affairs with a focus on Sociology.

Josh Young is the director of Miami Dade College’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy where he oversees community engaged learning programming including academic service-learning, community-campus partnerships, America Reads, AmeriCorpsVISTA, CGI U, voter engagement, and myriad other civic engagement initiatives. Josh has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Virginia and master’s degrees in social work and public administration from Florida State University where he was named “Social Work Student of the Year” for his work with the low-income migrant community in Gadsden County and his academic achievements. Josh served two tours with the United States Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa and Paraguay, South America and has been with Miami Dade College since 1994.

From Democracy Works:

1. 1. TurboVote Engaged Community College
   2. Votes & Ballots
   3. “How UChicago Went from Far Behind to First on the National TurboVote Leaderboard” for campuses considering digital integrations
   4. For campuses using Campus Labs Engage, instructions to enable the Voter Engagement Extension: Using the Voter Engagement Extension
   5. “Driving Voter Turnout in 2020: Research on Effective Messaging Strategies for Each Generation”

National Voter Registration Day 2020- Ready To Participate?

Students Learn Students Vote’s- Campus Takeover of NVRD

What resources show and measure the importance of student political participation?

This session will feature resources from The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University.  The topics for conversation will include the Election Imperatives and the National Study on Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE).  The conversation will also feature the impact of these resources on the voter engagement efforts of Raritan Valley Community College.

Facilitator: Irving Zavaleta-Jiménez, North Carolina Campus Compact

Director of Impact, Institute for Democracy & Higher Education
Tufts University’s Johnathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life

Ms. Lori Moog is the Director of Service Learning and Community Outreach at Raritan Valley Community College. She has coordinated the program since 1996, earning national awards including the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll annually since 2006, the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification in 2008 and Reclassification in 2015, and the 2018 New Jersey State Governor’s Jefferson Award for students’ extraordinary volunteer service to the community.  Ms. Moog has extensive experience in developing and coordinating campus and community programs. She has led the development of service learning initiatives with local K-12 schools and offered more than 60 professional development workshops to college faculty and administrators on developing service learning programs regionally, nationally and internationally.  Ms. Moog has developed and coordinated three multi-state service learning grant projects with other colleges on topics that include assessment, disadvantaged youth and emergency preparedness. She also helped to establish the first New Jersey Campus Compact.  She serves on the National Advisory Panel for the Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Community Engagement Classification and is the recipient of the 2019 Community College Spirit Award from the New Jersey Council of Community Colleges and the 2014 Patricia C. Donahue Award from the American Association of Community Colleges.

What resources can help us develop a plan of action?

This session will feature resources from the Students Learn Students Vote (SLSV) coalition including the LEAP checklist and the Strengthening American Democracy action planning guide.  This session will also feature its impact on the voter engagement efforts at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

Facilitator:  Verdis Robinson, Campus Compact

Clarissa Unger leads the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, which promotes nonpartisan civic engagement on college campuses. Clarissa has a background in advocacy, communications, fundraising, and political campaigns, and has worked on strategic campaigns both nationally and internationally. Prior to joining YI, Clarissa served as the Development Coordinator for the Robert. J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas where she helped to promote civic engagement on campus. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Kansas and a Masters in Comparative European Politics from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Catherine (Cat) Fish, associate director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge at Civic Nation, has 10 years of experience in organizing, politics, and advocacy. Prior to joining the Challenge, Ms. Fish worked at the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, a sexual health advocacy organization. She also served as a policy aide and scheduler at the U.S. House of Representatives for Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) and worked on several political campaigns, including as a political assistant at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and as a field organizer for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. Ms. Fish received her BA in political science from the University of Puget Sound and her MSW in nonprofit management from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Ms. Fish is a 2016 New Leaders Council Fellow and served on the advisory board of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.

Connie teaches political science at Piedmont Virginia Community College where she also coordinates civic engagement activities. She also leads the Planning Team for the colleges’ new Quality Enhancement Plan on Civic Engagement.

How do we turn student registrants into voters?

This session will explore programs like the New Voters Project as well as best practices and resources from Lead MN to get out the vote turning students from registrants into full participants.  This session will also feature successful efforts in Iowa at Kirkwood Community College to get students to the polls.

Facilitator: Irving Zavaleta-Jiménez, North Carolina Campus Compact

Manny directs the strategy, fundraising and field work for the New Voters Project so we can engage as many young people as possible in our democracy. Manny got his start organizing in 2009 as a student volunteer with CALPIRG and came on to full time staff after he graduated from University of California Davis. During his time with CALPIRG he recruited and trained hundreds of student activists on college campuses across the state, running projects that have registered thousands of students to vote and campaigns to protect California’s air, water and environment.

Michael Dean began his career a long time ago as a student leader at the University of Wisconsin fighting for affordable tuition and empowering students to become more engaged. Michael is passionate to continue that work as the Executive Director of the Minnesota State College Student Association as we work to developing Minnesota’s next generation of civic and business leaders.  Michael has years of experience in higher education, working for both the University of Minnesota and MnSCU government relations teams to build public support for higher education. Back in 2005, Michael crafted the grassroots strategy that sent more than 15,000 letters to legislators in support of the University of Minnesota Gopher stadium bill.  In addition to his background in higher education, Michael also spent years in business as a small business owner and a public relations professional at Himle Horner and Thrivent Financial. Plus, Michael is no stranger to halls of the Minnesota Capitol as he rebuilt the Minnesota chapter of Common Cause as the leading advocate for open and accountable government.

I am currently an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Kirkwood Community College.  I have been working as a Democracy Commitment, now Community Colleges for Democracy contact for the Cedar Rapids Campus for the past three years.  During this time I have had the opportunity to participate in a research exchange about deliberative practice at the Kettering Foundation.  Additionally, I have helped organize moderator training events for students/faculty and staff at Kirkwood Community College.  Currently, I am developing deliberative dialogues for my Introductory Sociology classes.

Where can we find models for curricular and co-curricular voter education?

This session will feature model programs, strategies, and resources from partners, Compact member institutions, and others that provide electoral and political education to engage registered voters for the sake of full, yet informed participation.

Facilitator: Gayle Hilleke, Kentucky Campus Compact

Jacob I. Wilson is a PhD candidate in Higher Education at the University of Arizona and Faculty Research Fellow at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where he studies student voting efforts on college campuses. Additionally, Jacob works with Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP) providing support and coaching for campuses working to institutionalize voter engagement practices on campus.  Jacob attended Iowa State University, where he received his BA in Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies and The George Washington University and received his MA in Higher Education Administration. He has worked on several campaigns, interned at the U.S. Department of Education, managed an academic internship program in Washington, DC, and taught undergraduate leadership courses at the University of Arizona’s College of Education. He has worked in higher education for the past eight years and has a passion for research, organizing, teaching, and increasing political learning and democratic engagement on college campuses.

Karena Cronin is the Program Director of Vote Everywhere, The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s flagship youth and democracy initiative. In her role, she works closely with a national network of colleges and universities to amplify young voices in our democracy. Karena has extensive civic engagement experience, having worked domestically and internationally to enable diverse forms of engagement through research, convening, and program development. She spent the last 10 years in South Africa, working with local and international non-profit organizations such as CIVICUS and Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa to strengthen youth civic service, corporate employee volunteering, and international volunteering in support of development and social change. Prior to her work in South Africa, Karena was a Council of Women World Leaders Fellow and the Associate Director of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She holds a B.A. cum laude (Political Science and Sociology) from Union College and a Master of International Affairs (Economic and Political Development) from Columbia University.

Jim Nguyen teaches Political Science at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA. Prior to joining the faculty at De Anza, Jim worked for Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and at non-profit legal services focusing on issues like immigration, public benefits, language rights, and housing. His teaching and work on campus center around civic engagement and student empowerment. He currently co-directs the Public Policy School which trains students to be policy advocates on issues related to community colleges in California.

What resources support and recognize successful student voter engagement efforts?

This session will feature national programs and initiatives that support and recognize student voter engagement on campuses and in communities including ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and Campus Vote Project/NASPA Lead Initiatives’ Voter Friendly Campus designation.  This session will also feature the impact of these programs on the efforts of College of the Canyons in California.

Facilitator: Brenna Limbrick, Ohio Campus Compact

Catherine (Cat) Fish, associate director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge at Civic Nation, has 10 years of experience in organizing, politics, and advocacy. Prior to joining the Challenge, Ms. Fish worked at the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, a sexual health advocacy organization. She also served as a policy aide and scheduler at the U.S. House of Representatives for Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) and worked on several political campaigns, including as a political assistant at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and as a field organizer for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. Ms. Fish received her BA in political science from the University of Puget Sound and her MSW in nonprofit management from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Ms. Fish is a 2016 New Leaders Council Fellow and served on the advisory board of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.

Michael Burns is the National Director for Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project.  He spent over five years working in electoral politics prior to law school, including two years as the Executive Director of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. During law school Mike was enrolled in CUA’s Law and Public Policy Certificate program and was awarded a Dulin-Haynes fellowship upon completion.  Mike has worked with various kinds of institutions of higher education from across the country to help them understand the effects different election administration systems have on their campus community and how they can help their students register and vote.  He has a J.D. from The Catholic University of America and a B.S. in political science with a minor in history from Longwood University.  He is a member of the Virginia Bar.

Patty has worked at College of the Canyons since 1999 and has served in various roles, including Sociology Professor, Sociology Department Chair, and Dean of the Social Sciences and Business Division. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Davis, where she pursued her interests in women’s history and medical sociology and eventually focused on the rise of 19th and 20th Century women’s organizations. Inspired by A Crucible Moment (2012) and longing to return to her “sociological roots,” she currently spearheads the College’s campus-wide emphasis on civic, community, and political engagement as Faculty Director, Civic and Community Engagement Initiatives.