Kansas Campus Compact is a presidential membership organization. Our member presidents join hundreds of college and university presidential peers from across the country that are united in their commitment to developing personal and social responsibility in the educational mission of their campuses. Our members engage in the following activities:
- Advocate participation of students, faculty, staff and institutions of higher education in public and community service.
- Share a resolute commitment to speak out on issues of public concern and to articulate ideas that contribute to the common good of American and global society.
- Strive to influence the quality of civic discourse and to ensure that key issues of civic concern are fairly discussed in impartial forums.
- Support initiatives that promote productive collaborations between colleges and communities.
- Provide for the development of opportunities that increase student, faculty, staff and alumni involvement in citizenship-building service activities.
KsCC member engagement profile
Benefits of KSCC Membership:
Training and Technical Assistance
KsCC Members receive immediate access to research into cutting-edge knowledge related to service-learning, community-based learning, and student participation in civic engagement activities. Members are able to tap state and regional networks as well as a national network of over 1,100 institutions for effective models of integrating community service with academic study as a method for colleges and universities to address their communities and build their students' civic awareness and participation.
KsCC staff is there to help bridge these connections, develop mentoring opportunities, and suggest new ways of thinking and creative solutions. We also are on call to provide individual assistance with developing strategies for the design, development, implementation and management of campus-specific civic engagement programs.
Moreover, KsCC membership provides access to workshops, training, webinars, and conferences that promote civic engagement, citizenship, service, learning, and volunteerism. These opportunities present members with the opportunity for collaboration, information sharing, discourses on current issues, and discussions of best practices.
Regional Collaborations
KsCC provides opportunities for networking, partnership building and cross-stream training through partnerships with community-based organizations and public agencies. KsCC collaborates with other state compacts in the Midwest region to leverage resources, expertise and opportunities, and with state Campus Compacts in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. And national Campus Compact’s conferences and workshops reach more than 270,000 faculty, administrators, students, and community partners a year.
We look to build partnerships also with K-12 institutions throughout Kansas, community service organizations, and national service programs such as AmeriCorps, AmeriCorps*VISTA, and SeniorCorps, and the HandsOn Network.
Financial Support
KsCC and national Campus Compact maintain extensive lists of grant and award programs to support and promote institution-specific and collaborative civic engagement initiatives. KsCC also offers access to mini-grants through Kansas Campus Compact projects.
National Campus Compact has raised more than $22 million to support campus-based service efforts. More than three-quarters of this total was awarded in the past five years, reflecting growing awareness of our reputation for delivering innovative initiatives. Member campuses can tap into these funds through a range of grants and awards.
Resources and Publications
Publications on new and existing community service and service learning initiatives, current research, syllabi, curricula, and examples of best practices are maintained in our office for use by member institutions. KsCC also publishes a quarterly newsletter, the Sunflower Service Quarterly, and maintains a web page where members can find information on upcoming events, ongoing KsCC programs, grant opportunities, a member directory, and links to other organizations in the service network. KsCC members are also invited to subscribe to the KsCC Opportunity Digest listserv to receive information on upcoming events, funding opportunities, and other resources. Click here to subscribe.
Members also receive the Compact Current, a newsletter highlighting national and state activity and the Campus Compact Reader, with the best writing on civic engagement and service-learning from around the country; online listings of events, program models, syllabi, funding opportunities, and more. Members also receive a generous discounts on books, toolkits, and other indispensable resources from the national Campus Compact.
Public Education and Legislative Outreach
Both Kansas Campus Compact and the national Campus Compact monitor state and national policy issues relevant to campus service and encourage legislation that supports and funds community service, service-learning, and civic engagement programs. Elected officials are regularly invited to interact with KsCC members to enhance the understanding of how civic engagement and service are critical to the college education experience.
Recognition and Leadership in Higher Education
Campus Compact’s awards bring national exposure to faculty who develop outstanding initiatives. These include awards like the Thomas Ehrlich Engaged Faculty Award. Student achievement at member institutions is also recognized through national programs like the Howard Swearer Student Humanitarian Award and Frank Newman Leadership Award. Kansas Campus Compact also recognizes high achievement among its member faculty, students, and programs.
Presidental Leadership Colloquia on the national and state level to explore higher education's civic responsibility, support the civic development of college students, and national publicity that highlights presidential leadership in support of public and community service.
Students at member campuses gain a forum for expanding and reflecting on their service efforts through awards, fellowships, conference participation, and nationwide programs such as Campus Compact’s hugely successful Raise Your Voice campaign.
Membership Benefits Specific to Presidents:
Campus Compact was founded by presidents, and as an organization we continue to advocate for commitment to campus-based civic engagement at the highest levels. In addition to our work with faculty, administrators, and students, we work directly with presidents and chancellors to increase their impact by providing resources, information, advocacy, and forums for promoting their work.
Core benefits to Presidents:
- A mechanism for connecting to communities, enriching students’ experiences, and enhancing faculty and student retention.
- Opportunities to raise national awareness of the civic mission of colleges and universities through influential documents such as the Presidents’ Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education.
- Access to hundreds of service and service-learning program models and syllabi, as well as the chance to share successful initiatives nationally.
- National and local publicity that highlights presidential leadership in support of public and community service.
- Grants to support service-learning efforts at member schools, totaling more than $6 million over the past decade from the national office alone.
- Bimonthly presidential updates with action items for influencing national policy, participating in events and activities, and promoting service-learning.
- Legislative updates with information on government initiatives that affect service-related programs in higher education.
- Training, resources, awards, grants, and other support for faculty, administrators, and students engaged in service and service-learning.
- Advocacy of national and state legislation and funding to support campus-based service.
- Formal links with organizations such as the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the American Association of Higher Education (AAHE), and discipline associations to bring combined resources and efficiencies to new initiatives.
- National Presidential Leadership Colloquia and other professional development and networking opportunities designed to enhance presidents’ ability to foster civic engagement.
Kansas Presidents:
Founding Presidents of Kansas Campus Compact received special recognition at a ceremony at the Kansas Statehouse on October 15, 2003. Governor Kathleen Sebelius commended the investment KsCC presidents are making in Kansas communities and in our future leaders.
Reginald Robinson, then-President and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, praised our presidents:
"For so many young people, the college experience -- whether public or private, four-year or two-year -- provides that window of opportunity during which the habits of heart and mind are formed. Through Campus Compact university presidents commit to seize that opportunity to help produce the kind of public-spirited, civically engaged citizens we need as we move more deeply into the 21st Century."
