Some programs and courses within the Center for Community-Based Learning and Research, CU Engage, are still accepting interested students to apply and enroll for this summer and fall 2020. This includes LEAD 4000: Leadership in Context and Emerging Challenges: A Capstone, for any students who have completed the course, LEAD 1000: Becoming a Leader, Public Achievement (EDUC: 2919 Renewing Democracy in Communities and Schools) for any undergraduate students at CU Boulder or another college or university and can dual enroll, INVST Community Studies for any undergraduate student at CU Boulder who can commit to the program for two years, and the Aquetza summer program for high school Chicano and Latino students. 

LEAD 4000: Leadership in Context and Emerging Challenges: A Capstone

Have you been interested in the Leadership Studies Minor but not quite sure when to fit in the courses?... Have you given up on getting a Leadership Minor because it doesn't fit in your schedule? ...Or, have you been planning to complete the minor but have to take extra credits in the fall and spring to do so? 

If so, we have some exciting news for you -- This summer Lead 4000, the capstone course for the Leadership Studies Minor (Leadership in Context and Emerging Challenges: A Capstone), will be offered online! 

LEAD 4000 offers a vision of leadership development that focuses on students becoming ethical leaders who can foster change in the world.  We emphasize the word “becoming” because this course, although intellectually rigorous, is not merely a school exercise.  In addition to completing academic requirements (thought-provoking readings, lively discussions, and written papers), students practice, observe and reflect on leadership in a hands-on practicum experience.  

The course focuses on three overlapping but distinct domains: (1) personal leadership development, (2) leadership theory and analysis, (3) ethical and moral leadership. Students will:

• Evolve articulate and defend a personal leadership philosophy and identity;
• Reflect critically and deeply on themselves in community, including social identities, assumptions about leadership, and the ways power, privilege, and oppression influence various leadership contexts;
• Examine a wicked problem and present multiple leadership approaches to addressing the problem in contemporary society; 
• Identify and reason about ethical dilemmas that emerge in leadership practice
• Critically engage in discussion and practice of ways to organize and move towards ethical action & moral courage.

The course will take place during A-term, June 1st - July 2nd. The lecture will meet remotely via zoom MTW 10-11:50 am, and the practicum will meet asynchronously.

Registration for this course will be available soon. Please contact Allie Van Buskirk, the course instructor, with questions or to communicate your interest in this offering at allison.vanbuskirk@colorado.edu.  

      Aquetza Summer Program

Aquetza 2020 is a free, virtual summer program that provides high school students with strong ties to Chicano/Latino communities from across Colorado with an interactive, academic enrichment experience focused on engaging Chican@/Latin@ youth in examining the history, literature, health science, and relevant social and political issues surrounding their cultural communities, through rigorous academic work in ethnic studies, writing, reading, and science. Through our programming, attendees will have opportunities to see themselves as scholars – as holders and producers of new and valuable knowledge – as well as a chance to develop the skills to become leaders in their communities.

Aquetza 2020 will operate as a virtual program that takes place in July of 2020 and runs through Friday, July 10th – Friday, July 24th 2020. 

Application Deadline Extended until June 1st, 2020

Interested students can apply to Aquetza!

For further information or questions, please contact:  Aquetza@colorado.edu 

Public Achievement, EDUC 2919: Renewing Democracy in Communities and Schools

The Public Achievement (PA) program and the course EDUC 2919: Renewing Democracy in Communities and Schools is recruiting undergraduate coaches for fall 2020 and spring 2021. This course and program are for those interested in learning about education as a tool for social change and addressing social injustices in collaboration with middle and high school youth in Boulder County. Undergraduates attend a weekly on-site practicum in BVSD working with k-12 youth to address issues in racial justice, immigration, climate and environment, mental health, poverty, and others. 

We have a 10 minute an overview of the course and the program and the information I would share during a class visit.  that is a helpful first place for interested students to visit:

You can find more information about PA by visiting our Instagram and facebook pages (@cupublicachievement) and see the Public Achievement (PA) program website. Currently, PA is sharing daily testimonies from current undergraduate about their experience doing this work across these social media platforms. 

How to enroll and learn more about joining Public Achievement? Contact Charla.Agnoletti@colorado.edu and Soraya.Latiff@colorado.edu to set up a 1-1 in May or June to learn more and get help enrolling. 

INVST Community Studies

The 2-Year INVST Program offers transformative service learning for social and environmental justice. This intensive two-year training program develops community leaders who engage in compassionate action as a lifetime commitment. Through a combination of theory, skills and community-based action for positive change, young people learn to be effective and responsible community leaders. INVST students take two theory classes, Facilitating Peaceful Community Change and People of Color and Social Movements; four skills-training classes; and two month-long Justice Summers.

INVST offer scholarships to more than half of all students, including the Dreamer Scholarship: Dreamers at CU with DACA are encouraged to apply for an award up to $2,000 to help cover tuition and life expenses. 

INVST students intern off-campus with fabulous non-profits that work on immigration, economic justice, climate justice, sustainability, youth voter turnout, gender justice & organic farming, to name just a few of the many topics that we take on together. 

Here is a story on INVST alumna Olivia Gardner who, after the Parkland, FL shooting, was motivated to turn people out for a huge march in Denver against gun violence. 

Here is a profile of an INVST alum who started a music studio because he believes music is the one language we all speak. It has the potential to help us live together in peace on this planet. 

INVST students are enthusiastic, hopeful, passionate, optimistic, active, reflective, driven critical thinkers. Are you one of us?

Apply to INVST

Email: invst@colorado.edu

Off

A newly configured leadership team for CU Engage: the Center for Community-Based Learning and Research is uniquely positioned to continue and expand the University of Colorado Boulder’s legacy of collaboration with community organizations and advancing social change.  

In fall 2019, Roudy Hildreth became the Center’s Executive Director, and Siomara Valladares and Enrique Lopez will be Co-Faculty Directors starting July 1, 2020. The team succeeds Ben Kirshner, who is the Center’s founding director and will remain in CU Engage as a faculty member.

Founded in 2014 and housed in CU Boulder’s School of Education, CU Engage collaborates with communities, schools, and organizations to address complex public challenges. The Center facilitates the development of equity-oriented partnerships that sustain engaged learning and mutually beneficial community-based research. CU Engage serves the entire campus with programs for undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff. CU Engage’s formation brought together five separate community-based programs on campus and has grown to 12 programs that enroll more than 1,000 students and partner with numerous community partners across Boulder Valley, Longmont, and Denver. 

Although community engagement offices are ubiquitous in colleges and universities, they vary considerably in how they approach their work. CU Engage has been recognized for two unique elements. First, CU Engage decided not to separate undergraduate service learning from faculty involvement in community research partnerships early on. This integrated approach enhances student access to research experiences and ensures that program design is guided by cutting edge research and theory. A second distinguishing feature is CU Engage’s commitment to mutualism and reciprocity in its partnerships. Drawing on the community organizing and critical service literatures, the Center has tried to take a patient and sustainable approach that seeks shared decision-making and jointly defined goals. 

“I am excited by the new changes in CU Engage. As the founding director, Ben Kirshner lent his powerful vision, humanity, understanding of the power of working with community members to address inequities and build a transformative Center. His contribution to the university through this work has been invaluable beyond words. We are incredibly grateful that Roudy Hildreth, Enrique Lopez, and Siomara Valladares have agreed to take on the leadership of CU Engage. I can think of no better team to do this work and look forward to seeing how they envision the work of the Center in the future.” said Dean Kathy Schultz. 

As Co-Faculty Director of Community Based Learning, Enrique Lopez will focus on leading CU Engage’s community-based teaching and learning. He will be integrating this leadership position with his work as an assistant professor of STEM education in the School of Education and faculty advisor of the Aquetza: Youth Leadership, Education, and Community Empowerment Program. This summer residential program provides Chicano/Latino youth an interactive, academic enrichment experience examining the historical, social, and political issues surrounding their cultural communities. Lopez’s scholarship focuses on how learning and relational pedagogies mediate youths’ participation in community-engaged programming, particularly those drawing on scientific knowledge and practices. Thus, he brings expertise in integrating student learning with community-based programming to improve people’s sense of civic agency and cultivate deep and meaningful partnerships. 

“I’m honored to join the CU Engage team and work towards advancing its already stellar programming,” he said. “I look forward to working with CU instructors to incorporate community-based learning into their teaching efforts.” 

Co-Faculty Director of Community Based Research Siomara Valladares will lead CU Engage’s community-based research programming. Valladares brings extensive experience in research and evaluation, higher education, and organizational change. She joined CU Boulder in 2016, and over the past four years, Valladares has provided leadership, management, guidance, and support to the Research Hub for Youth Organizing. She will continue in her role as Co-Principal Investigator and Senior Research Associate for the Research Hub alongside this new leadership position. 

“I am delighted to join this leadership team in guiding CU Engage through this next phase of transition, while we continue to enhance student growth, develop meaningful relationships with our community partners, achieve real and collaborative solutions, and strengthen our communities within and outside of CU Boulder,” Valladares said.

Hildreth joined CU Engage in 2014 as Associate Director. In the role of Executive Director, he has transitioned to focus more on strategic planning, budget, fundraising, and increasing impact across programs. Hildreth has been working in the community engagement field for the past 24 years, including stints at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Democracy and Citizenship and Southern Illinois University’s Center for Service-Learning and Volunteerism. He is a scholar of the political and educational philosophy of John Dewey and has an active research agenda that explores the conceptual and practical dimensions of civic participation, and he is excited about this new chapter for CU Engage. 

“We have built a thriving center, and this transition represents an opportunity to start the next chapter,” Hildreth said. “I am really excited to enhance our focus on equity and public impact with communities.” 

Kirshner will still be involved with CU Engage as a faculty member and Co-Principal Investigator of the Research Hub for Youth Organizing, which develops partnerships with organizations that build young people’s capacity to lead social change. As a professor of learning sciences in the School of Education, the transition allows him to focus more on his research. He will continue to work collaboratively with educators to design and study learning environments that support youth voice and activism and also his new campus role on the executive committee of the Renee Crown Wellness Institute. 

“CU Engage is in such capable and visionary hands.” Kirshner said. “I am grateful for the new leadership from Roudy, Sio, and Enrique as the center continues to develop effective ways to partner with communities and make progress addressing our complex public challenges.”

Off

UPDATE (4/19/20): CU Engage has made the difficult decision to suspend our call for proposals for the Graduate Fellowship in Community-Based Research. The current May 15 deadline is postponed. This decision is due to the COVID-19-related budget uncertainty on campus and our need to be cautious about funding commitments for next year. We apologize to those who have already started conversations with community partners or are writing proposals. Please know we hope to issue the RFP in Fall for funding and fellowship programming in Spring 2021; this will depend on the budget situation in August 2020. Don’t hesitate to email cuengage@colorado.edu with questions. WE will post updates in August about whether there will be a Fall request for proposals. Thank you for your interest in community-based research, and please know we intend to resume the CBR fellowship program in the future.

For future reference, information about the fellowship is listed below. 

Are you a PhD or MFA student interested in learning and carrying out Community-Based Research (CBR)?

CU Engage’s Graduate Fellowship in Community-Based Research models a strategy for universities to prepare doctoral students for public scholarship. Whereas emerging scholars are often forced to make a choice – “either engage in the community or do peer-reviewed research” – this fellowship is designed to enable scholars to build strong academic careers while working on public issues in partnership with community groups. The CBR Fellowship includes a cohort of 3-5 PhD students each academic year (depending on budget resources). Doctoral students from all academic departments at CU Boulder are eligible to participate. The purpose is for emerging scholars to practice and develop expertise in Community-Based Research through their participation in a supportive cohort.

What is Community-Based Research (CBR)?

The goal of CBR is to broaden who participates in the production of knowledge and to use new knowledge to raise awareness about or develop solutions to pressing public problems. Eligible projects are those where CU doctoral students collaborate with people outside of the university to formulate a research or creative project that examines an issue of public concern and leads to new ideas for policy or practice. Guided by values of equity, social justice, and broadening participation, CBR projects should build capacity for the partner organization and contribute to social change.

Read about CBR Fellowship projects from 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2018-19, which included graduate students from disciplines such as Mechanical Engineering, Ethnic Studies, Education, Computer Science, and Geography.

We give priority to partnerships with people or organizations working with historically marginalized communities or projects that work to promote equity. Because we want to encourage graduate students to align CBR with their academic training and traditions, we are open to a range of types of projects, ranging from natural sciences to the arts and humanities.

Funding Structure for Fellowship

In response to feedback from past fellows, we offer two options.

Option A: Cohort Organizer

• Equivalent of .25 Graduate Research Appointment (GRA) for two semesters (or .50 GRA for one semester): Cohort Organizers are expected to complete administrative duties necessary for the program, such as coordinate the bi-weekly seminar (schedule, readings, guest lecturers), plan special events, and help promote the visibility of the program on campus. (Cohort Leaders may opt to take their funding as .50 GRA for one semester, but will still be required to participate in activities throughout the year).

Option B: Cohort Participant

• Equivalent of $8,000 paid out during the year, this funding would be a supplement to your .50 GRA or GPTI. There are no tuition credits or health benefits connected to this award. Participants are expected to carry out CBR projects and participate in all of the activities of the Fellowship (described below). This pay is contingent on your own department policies for allowing this pre doc trainee fellowship. Those selecting this option are not eligible for overload GRA appointments (.625).

Benefits to CBR Graduate Fellows

• Funding (see above for the two options)

• Professional development and training to become skilled practitioners of CBR

• Membership in ongoing scholarly cohort community and introduction to national network of engaged scholars

• Eligibility to apply for additional funds for materials or community partner stipends depending on project needs (up to $250 per project)​

Requirements of CBR Fellows

• Participate in the CBR Summer Institute that introduces the Fellows to critical social theory and roots of community-based participatory research (two 4-hour sessions, with required reading, exact dates TBD). Disbursement of funds is contingent on satisfactory completion of Institute.

• Participate in in-person, bi-weekly research seminars focused on building the capacity of each Fellow to carry out high quality, ethical CBR. There will be readings for most seminars. (This means Fellows need to commit to being in Colorado during the academic year).

• Satisfactory progress on the CBR project during the academic year, including evidence of reciprocity with the community partner(s). Satisfactory progress will depend on the stage of the project when it begins - expecations about satisfactory progress will be clarified with each Fellow at the beginning of the year.

• Complete a scholarly paper of 3000-5000 words to be published on the CU Engage website by May 31, 2021. Your paper should be an interim or draft version of a paper that you plan to submit to a journal or conference. It can focus on any aspect of your project. You will receive guidance and feedback along the way.

CBR Project FAQs

• Can a project be proposed in which the partner is outside of Colorado or outside of the United States?

  • Answer: We discourage projects that face logistical barriers to communication and interaction with partners. However, you are still eligible to apply, particularly if you can explain how your work will be consistent with principles of collaboration and reciprocity despite geographic distance. Also note that if you are doing fieldwork that will take you out of state for considerable amounts of time, then you will not be able to participate in the bi-weekly seminar meetings, which are required.

• Can an applicant receive the Fellowship if data has already been collected?

  • Answer: Most quality proposals will still have data to collect or fieldwork to complete. However, if data were collected in the context of a participatory or collaborative project and applicant can describe how analysis and communication of findings will have a collaborative element, then you are encouraged to apply.

CBR Interdisciplinary Scholarly �ƹ���Ƶ 

Aaron, KF, & O’Toole TP (2003). Community-based participatory research (Special issue). J Gen 
Intern Med 18(7):592-594. 


Ansley F., & Gaventa, J.: Researching for democracy and democratizing research. Change, January- February, 1997, pp. 46-53. 


Hall, B.L.: From margins to center: The development and purpose of participatory action research. Am Sociologist 23:15-28, 1992. 


Israel, B. A. et al. (1998). Review of community-based research: Assessing 
partnership approaches to improve public health. Annu Rev Public Health 19:173-202.
�Ĩ

Nyden, PW, Wiewel, W: Collaborative research: Harnessing the tensions between researcher and practitioner. Am Sociolist 24:43-55, 1992.


Strand, K., Marullo, S., Cutforth, N., Stoecker, R., & Donohue, P. (2003). Community-based research and higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Tisdahl, et al. (2014). Guidelines for peer reviewing community based research. URBAN Publications Committee. Retrieved from

Torre, M. E., & Fine, M. (2008). Engaging youth in participatory inquiry for social justice. In M. Pollack (ed.), Everyday anti-racism: Getting real about race in school. New York: New Press.

Listen, below, to our CBR Fellows edition of CU Engage's AMPLIFY podcast, where CU Boulder doctoral student Brian Lightfoot talks about his research and partnership work with the organization Pathways2Teaching.

[soundcloud width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/406566492&color=%23221c1a&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=false"][/soundcloud]

Read here about 2016-17 CBR Fellow, Engineering doctoral student David Pfotenhauer, and his work with the organization Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart to improve air quality in Denver communities.

Off

CU Engage constantly evaluates its programs.  An important area of focus is the degree that programs promote student sucess and create welcoming, inclusive and equitable learning experiences for first generation and under-represented students.  We gather this information in a number of ways.  First, we work with CU Boulder Institutional Research to calculate our retention and graduation rates.  In addition, we regularly survey students in our programs.

Undergraduate Six Year Graduation Rates (calculated December 2018)

Students in our programs graduate at rates higher than the general population. The difference is magnified for students of color in our programs. This data is through the 2017-2018 Academic year.  In Table 1, we compare conditional 6-year graduation rates of INVST, PA students, Puksta, and LSM students to the approximate 6-year graduation rate for the general population of CU students. We also compare graduation rates of students of color in our programs in comparison to this population of CU students. The table shows how CU Engage students at each point of entry are matched with the appropriate counterparts, e.g., graduation rates for students who joined a program in their third year are compared with graduation rates for all CU students enrolled in their third year. Click for the full analysis.

Table 1: Conditional Six Year Graduation Rates

The obvious question is whether CU Engage programs have a positive impact on graduation rates or this is a result of selection effects, i.e. students who chose CU Engage programs are already driven to graduate.  CU Engage’s internal evaluation took an alternative approach to this question. The research literature has shown that a student’s sense of belonging is a crucial contributor to success, especially for first generation and students of color (Strayhorn, 2018; Hurtado et al, 1998).

CU Engage Students Report High Levels of Inclusivity, Belonging, and Acceptance of Diverse Political Opinions (calculated December 2019)

Every year we measure students’ sense of inclusivity and belonging in CU Engage programs in comparison to their experiences in other classes and on campus. For AY18-19 we saw continued high ratings by CU Engage students about their experiences in CU Engage classes and we saw an even greater difference between how they rate their experiences in CU Engage classes relative to their experiences in other classes and on campus outside of classes. These differences are even more dramatic for Students of Color; a greater percentage of whom agree that CU Engage classes are inclusive relative to their experiences in other classes and on campus outside of classes. Though this does not answer the question of selection effects, it suggests that CU Engage programs are providing a sense of belonging that is empirically linked to higher graduation rates, especially for students of color.

We adopted questions from the 2014 CU Boulder climate survey in which students rated their experiences on a 6 point scale that measured the degree of inclusiveness in classes and on campus (e.g. Uncivil =1...Civil =6), with a score of 6 representing the most positive score). In Table 2, we report the percentages of respondents who answered 5 or 6 on 6 point scale. 

Table 2: Comparison of Inclusivity across Three Domains of Campus Life (AY2018-2019)

*The exact wording of questions is: Please rate your experiences in CU Engage / All classes / CU Campus on the following scale.

• My experiences inside the classroom, have been… 

• My experiences other than the classroom have been ...

• My experiences, solely in _____ (CU Engage Program), have been ...

Off

UPDATE on CBR Fellowship Applications and Funding (4/19/20): CU Engage has made the difficult decision to suspend our call for proposals for the Graduate Fellowship in Community-Based Research. The current May 15 deadline is postponed. This decision is due to the COVID-19-related budget uncertainty on campus and our need to be cautious about funding commitments for next year. We apologize to those who have already started conversations with community partners or are writing proposals. Please know we hope to issue the request for proposals (RFP) in the Fall for funding and fellowship programming in Spring 2021; this will depend on the budget situation in August 2020. Don’t hesitate to email cuengage@colorado.edu with questions. This information is also posted on the CU Engage webpage: , and we will post updates in August about whether there will be a Fall RFP. Thank you for your interest in community-based research, and please know we intend to resume the CBR fellowship program in the future.

For future reference, more information on the fellowship and the application is detailed below.

CU Engage is pleased to announce our Request for Proposals that will provide grants of $4,000 for Faculty Fellows in Community-Based Learning.

The Faculty Fellows program provides resources and support for faculty to design a new course or modify an existing course to include a community-based learning component.  Fellows can use grant funds for summer salary and teaching/research materials. Fellows participate in a cohort-based professional development institute during the 2020 Maymester.

Proposals to join the 2020-21 Faculty Fellows cohort are due by February 17, 2020. View the RFP here.

CU Engage is offering a workshop for faculty interested in applying on Wednesday, January 15th, 12-1PM, in EDUC 230.
Click to RSVP.

The aim of the Faculty Fellows Program is to expand, deepen, and institutionalize community-based learning at CU Boulder. According to current faculty fellow Dr. Nicole Civita from the Masters of the Environment Graduate Program, ENVS, "Pedagogical and financial support — plus the rare gift of designated time to build curriculum and workshop it in a supportive environment with Dr. Hildreth and the other fellows — combined to propel our clinic from concept to successful execution." 

Civita and her colleagues set out create an experimental learning environment in which Masters of the Environment candidates could have a positive and lasting impact on communities with critical and unmet needs for sustainability planning, research, and consulting guidance. "Community-based learning is, without a doubt, a labor-intensive undertaking for faculty," explains Civita. "But, when done well, it has the potential to be far more impactful for students than courses that exist within the four walls of a traditional classroom. And it can make meaningful, measurable advancements for the communities with which we collaborate."  

Other examples include Enrique Lopez’s course in Education which provides on-going support for high school students in the Aquetza program, Joanne Belknap’s Ethnic Studies course where undergraduates take courses alongside inmates at Camp George West and Sarah Massey-Warren’s  course where undergrads are paired with senior citizens to develop inter-generational understanding through writing.

CU Engage defines community-based learning as an intentional pedagogical strategy to integrate student learning in academic courses with community engagement. This work is characterized by reciprocal and mutually beneficial partnerships between instructors, students, and community partners. The goal is to address community-identified needs and ultimately create positive social change. Critical reflection is also an essential component to enhance students’ learning of course content, understanding of the community, and sense of civic agency.

What to learn about current and past fellows?

2019-20 Faculty Fellows

2018-19 Faculty Fellows

2017-18 Faculty Fellows

2016-17 Faculty Fellows

2015-16 Faculty Fellows

CU Engage is an interdisciplinary center based in the School of Education and serving the Boulder campus. We support programs and initiatives that work collaboratively with community groups to address complex public challenges through academic courses, research projects, and creative work. We do this by developing and sustaining equity-oriented partnerships, organizing opportunities for students to learn alongside community members, and supporting faculty and students to implement ethical and rigorous participatory research.

For more information about CU Engage and the Faculty Fellows in Community-Based Research, please visit .

Off

CU Boulder’s Public Achievement program is creating innovative pathways for students of color and first generation college students to become leaders on campus and in their communities. Public Achievement’s (PA) undergraduate students at CU Boulder serve as “coaches” (experiential educators) with local middle and high school-aged youth in Boulder and Lafayette. Together, they work to create and implement “community action projects” to address pressing social justice issues.

PA offers a unique model of collaboration and leadership development. Rather than seeing K-12 students as "less experienced" or "needing help," CU undergrads build on the strengths of K-12 students to practice democracy together and make real changes in schools and communities.

According to Public Achievement Director Charla Agnoletti, "Our CU Boulder staff, student coaches and teaching assistants talk about power dynamics all the time. We discuss power, privilege, our identities, and how we might be unaware and could unintentionally perpetuate dynamics we don’t want to replicate.” PA takes great care to avoid “saviorism” - that is, perpetuating inequality and oppression by placing people with privilege - based on race, education, class and other indicators - as the ones who have the knowledge and are guiding the learning process.

Under Agnoletti’s leadership and vision, PA has developed structures and systems within the program to make it more accessible, equitable, and inviting to non-traditional leaders (specifically, students of color, first generation students and lower income students) into the program. One specific strategy PA offers is a concurrent enrollment option for their semester-long “Renewing Democracy in Communities and Schools” course, which allows Centaurus high school and Front Range community college students the opportunity to take this CU class alongside traditional CU undergraduates for credit.

Mariam Guadalupe Lara is a concurrent enrollment student from Front Range Community College. She plans to major in Sociology and minoring in ethnic studies. “The more I get involved in PA the more I find myself and my voice which is helping me become the strong Latina leader I’ve always wanted to be,” Lara explains. 

“Being Latina, I grew up having few people of color as leaders. As I go through my leadership programs, I have noticed that as a society we need those Leaders who come from different backgrounds. We need those leaders that we can relate to and who are like us,” Lara says.

CU Boulder undergraduate student Jason Rivera, reflects on the ways his five years of involvement with PA are shaping his own leadership trajectory. Rivera graduated from Centaurus High School in Lafayette last year, and coaches other students at his former high school now as a first year Integrative Physiology major. “I think PA is flipping the script with how older students mentor younger students… I also believe that PA helps create pathways for students of color, especially in leadership roles… Students of color don't have much of an opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions on issues that are happening in their society because they don't have an outlet for it, but I believe that PA is starting to become that outlet,” Rivera explains.

Soraya Latiff, PA’s Program Coordinator who also came up through the program as a first generation student of color at CU Boulder, says there aren’t enough spaces that center students of color for their deep cultural wealth and knowledge. “Programs like PA exist because the system we are in does not do the work. Much like society at large, in many critical spaces within educational institutions, not all stories are equally acknowledged, affirmed or valued. Helping cultivate spaces where our K-12 students collaborate with undergraduates and staff of color who share similar identities, experiences, and values to them, and who are learning the tools of mobilizing those experiences as information and power, is change-making.”

Agnoletti underscores that aligning university students of color to coach younger students of color is no accident, and that it requires constant conversations and intentional action: “We’ve worked to center voices of young leaders of color and of women. That’s how we’ve attracted more students of color and women to doing the work that we do.” 

She continues, “We also just listen to the youth. We listen to young people. I kept hearing over and over again from our middle and high school students - ‘give us better coaches!’ I started to see who they considered great coaches and I saw they wanted other first generation students, students who understand their cultural, linguistic and class backgrounds. These are often the strongest leaders in our program.”

One of PA’s strong leaders is Erika Orona, a current Americorps member and PA program lead at CU Boulder. Orona is a recent graduate of CU Boulder. Initially, she joined Public Achievement as a 3rd year college student after transferring to CU Boulder from Front Range Community College. 

Growing up in Longmont, Orona says she “didn’t identify as a leader.” However, PA “helped me to see all the different qualities that a leader can have, not just the ‘typical’ leader.”

Orona describes her pathway to discovering her own leadership skills. “First I worked with PA as a coach, then I became a teaching assistant and now that I’ve graduated I’m working as part of the PA staff through my Americorps position. These opportunities have helped me develop a lot of different skills working with students, especially first generation students and students of color like me. I’ve learned that listening is a very important skill for a leader to have. I’m a more quiet person than a lot of typical leaders you might see, and I’ve learned that listening and incorporating feedback into the program has been helpful, as well as my being able to engage quiet students who aren’t always as engaged.”

For Agnoletti, seeing students like Lara, Rivera, and Orona develop as leaders makes all the hard work, ongoing conversations about the best ways to make the program more equitable and inclusive, and thoughtful program design and implementation worth it. 

“At each level of PA we are opening up new opportunities for new kinds of leadership, new potential,” Agnoletti says. “It’s an important way to make lasting change.”

Off

CU Engage is excited to be working with our 2019-2020 group of Community-Based Research Graduate Fellows in pursuit of mutually-beneficial academic research developed with our community partners.

“I’m excited to be part of a group of committed graduate students that are placing community needs at the center of their research,” Luz Aìda Ruìz Martìnez, CBR Fellow and doctoral student in CMCI, said.

"I deeply value the opportunity to work with colleagues focused on responsible community engagement. As a team, we can support, challenge, and help each other design projects with communities rather than to or for them," said CBR Fellow and doctoral student in Environmental Studies, Patrick Chandler.

The six CBR Fellows will work together to develop new research methods with those directly impacted by an issue of public concern with the intention of creating social change.

The 2019-20 group of selected CBR Graduate Fellows is below:

Ana Contreras, doctoral student in Education
Research Project: Parent/Community Engagement in Montbello-Trust and Agency through Participatory Research

Ana hopes to collaboratively address parents’ concerns about education for their children and work towards a community vision for education in Montbello. She aims to create more transformative opportunities for parent and community engagement.

Molly Hamm-Rodrìguez, doctoral student in Education
Research Project: Yo leo mi comunidad: Bridging Family, Community, and School Literacies in the Dominican Republic

Molly is doing research in partnership with a nonprofit organization in the Dominican Republic. Working alongside teachers, Molly hopes the project can disrupt the deficit narrative around students’ reading and writing skills in the country by highlighting family and community literacy, storytelling, and language practices at local book fairs.

Jasmine Baetz, Master of Fine Arts student in Ceramics
Research Project: Interrogating and Imagining Public Space

Jasmine's research is activated by the community-made sculpture installed on campus in Summer 2019 to commemorate Los Seis de Boulder, the Chicano student activists who were killed here in Boulder in 1974. She engages community participants to consider who is represented in public space, how that representation impacts particular people, and what happens when that representation changes.

Ashley D. Scroggins, doctoral student in Education
Research Project: Toward Elevating Learning and Performance Experiences of Divers Improvisational Actors

Ashley’s research partnership is working with an improvisational theater community as they respond to local and national issues such as sexism, racism, and homophobia within the community.  

Luz Aìda Ruìz Martìnez, doctoral student in CMCI
Research Project: Participatory Media Needs Assessment of Boulder County Youth

In partnership with KGNU Community Radio, Luz is carrying out a participatory youth media needs assessment. They will gather relevant information and put together informed recommendations that will strengthen Boulder county youth voices and engagement.

Patrick Chandler, Doctoral in Environmental Studies
Research Project: A Co-produced Creative Climate Change Curriculum

Through bringing art and science together in a co-created climate change curriculum that focuses on empowering youth to find solutions, this project hopes to help students overcome climate grief and create a replicable model for climate action. 

Off

Plus two upcoming opportunities to engage with the editors and authors behind this powerful new book

Friends and colleagues, Johanna Maes and Elena Sandoval-Lucero, found they were often looking for a tool to use in their classes that could aid in grappling with the provocative and often painful situations that affect marginalized people in higher education. When they did not find the resource they were looking for, they decide to create one, resulting in their co-edited and newly published book, “.”

Read the full story with more details and information on the School of Education website here...

Off

The CU Dialogues Faculty Fellowship aims to encourage CU Boulder faculty (tenure track or instructors) to incorporate dialogue principles and practices into existing courses by providing resources and support. The fellowship runs from January 2020 through December 2021. A “notes from the field” style report is due by May 2022. Fellowship applications are due Nov 27, 2020 (see below for application details).
To learn about the 2018-19 fellows, click here.

Benefits for Dialogues Faculty Fellow

• �ƹ���Ƶ: the Faculty Fellow receives $2000 total as summer pay or professional development funds.

• Professional Development: the Faculty Fellow will…

  • deepen their understanding of the theory and practice of dialogue

  • create plans to incorporate dialogue practices in their course(s)

  • improve ability to teach complex topics in non-polarizing ways 

• Membership in a professional learning community: the Faculty Fellow exchanges ideas and shares teaching experiences with other faculty members who have held dialogues in their courses.

Timeline and Deliverables from Faculty Fellow

Spring Semester 2021

• Fellow meets for 1-2 sessions with CU Dialogues Program staff to learn about theory and practice of classroom dialogue

• Dialogues Program staff facilitate dialogues in Fellow’s class(es) during the semester

Summer 2021

• Fellow commits to

  • reading about dialogic practices, including resources suggested/provided by Dialogues Program staff

  • revising syllabus, including developing new modules in which dialogues will be used during Fall 2020

Fall Semester 2021

• Implement dialogues, dialogic practices in course(s)

• Participate in community of Practice (AY 21-22)

By May 31, 2022

In lieu of a formal report, the Fellow agrees to write a 1500-2500 word “notes from the field” brief for publication on the CU Engage website. The goal of this document is to share with CU Engage faculty the experience of integrating dialogue and dialogic practices into your teaching.

About the CU Dialogues Program

The CU Dialogues Program facilitates classroom dialogues that generate open discussion of difficult or controversial topics, promote engaged learning and enable participants to gain a deeper understanding of their own and others’ perspectives on an issue. A classroom dialogue is a facilitated conversation on a specific issue or topic that encourages students to share their experiences and speak from their own perspectives while also challenging them to understand why they hold a particular perspective. Through dialogue, participants gain a deeper understanding of their own and others’ perspectives and learn to consider differing viewpoints side-by-side. A dialogue is not a debate; while disagreement is an important component of dialogue, the facilitator asks participants to disagree with curiosity, in order to understand rather than attack a different perspective. A dialogue sparks engaged learning and supports inclusive practices in the classroom. 

How to Apply

Please send an electronic file containing the following items to CU Dialogues Program Director, Dr. Karen Ramirez at karen.e.ramirez@colorado.edu.  

1. CV

2. Statement of interest with explanation of 

   1. how/why you hope to use dialogue and dialogic practices in your teaching 

   2. how you will integrate dialogue practice into your class(es)

   3. learning objectives you hope to meet through dialogue practice in your class(es)

3. Syllabus/syllabi for course/courses in which you intend to incorporate dialogues, with relevant sample assignments, e.g. critical thinking, discussion assignments

4. Letter of support from Department Chair

Questions about the fellowship can be addressed to:

Dr. Karen Ramirez
CU Dialogues Program Director
karen.e.ramirez@colorado.edu

CU Dialogues in the news: Read about the contributions CU Dialogues "thought leaders" are making in the Boulder County community and beyond

Off

, the Frank Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications and the Director of the at the University of Florida, will be at CU Boulder October 23 and 24 to connect and speak with members of the campus community about the emerging field of Public Interest Communications. Ann is an expert in the art and science of using the proven tools of strategic communications, design, advertising and marketing to promote social change and advance solutions to major public challenges. 

Members of campus and public communities are invited to attend her interactive presentation on Wednesday, October 23 at 1:30 pm in Old Main Chapel. During her talk entitled “The Science of Making People Care,” Christiano will discuss six core principles from behavioral, cognitive and social science that attendees can apply to help people care more about their work. In this lively and hands-on session, people will learn to apply these rules to their own work and will leave with a science-based framework for approaching new communications challenges. There will be a reception upstairs immediately after Christiano's presentation (light fare and refreshments provided), which will end at 4 pm.

Christiano’s visit to campus is being organized by CU Engage, and is co-sponsored by the School of Education and CMCI.

For more information about Ann's visit or to learn about other ways to connect with Ann while she's here, email Jennifer Ciplet at jennifer.ciplet@colorado.edu.

Click here to view the event poster PDF.

Off