Civility on Campus

1
Civility on Campus

• Susan Harrison
• July 14, 2006
• ASLC

2
Gaining a Background

• December, 2005
• Civility discussed AS chairs
• Committee members solicited
• January, 2006
• Civility Conference attended
• Flipping the Switch Encouraging Civility on
  Campus at American University
• PaperClip Communications

3
Forming a Team

• 10 Faculty and 1 Instructional Academic Staff
• 6 College of Arts Sciences
• 1 College of Business
• 2 College of Education Human Sciences
• 2 College of Nursing Health Sciences
• 1 Associate Dean Arts Sciences
• 2 Academic Staff
• Housing
• Orientation/Advising
• 2 Students
• 1 Team Leader
• Interim Associate Dean of Student Development

4
Preparing for Meetings

• Only 6 meetings held
• KEY -
• Prepare and distribute materials in advance
• Use a detailed agenda
• Include questions
• Include timed events

5
Charging the Committee

• Charged by Associate Vice Chancellor
• Develop goals and action plan
• Develop an understanding
• Make recommendations
• Develop a plan for continuation

6
Starting the Process

• February 17th
• Charge given
• Goals reviewed
• Approaches considered
• Questions answered
• Timeline distributed

7
Continuing the Meetings

• February 28th
• Video discussed
• Ideas shared
• Goals Civility concept reviewed
• Method for being inclusive determined
• Students to be surveyed
• In the classroom
• On the web

8
Collecting the Data

• Script developed
• Web Survey designed
• Classes interviewed
• Web data collected

9
Making the Point

• Awareness raised
• Ideas welcomed
• Data gathered

10
Answering the Questions

1. What words or phrases come to mind when you think
   about civility?
2. What characteristics of civil behavior should be
   exhibited by both students and instructors in a
   classroom learning environment?
3. What characteristics of civil behavior should be
   exhibited by participants in other learning
   environments such as casual conversations, group
   deliberations, Desire-2-Learn discussions,
   performance events, email exchanges, and athletic
   events?
4. What characteristics of civil behavior should be
   exhibited in residence halls by students, RAs,
   and hall directors or by neighbors in the
   community?
5. What do you think of the idea of considering
   civility as a part of a liberal education?

11
Organizing the Results

• Respecting students
• Respecting teachers
• Respecting one another
• Respecting roommates
• Tabulated results
• Incivility examples

12
Respecting Students

• Teachers Showing respect for the students
• start on time
• speak clearly and loudly
• establish an atmosphere where
• show interest by actually listening
• react in a positive way
• adapt for varying learning rates/styles

13
Holding March Meetings

• March 14th
• Civility statements reviewed
• Classroom responses discussed
• Input sources determined
• Slogan ideas shared
• Name decided
• Campus Civility Team

14
Holding another One

• March 28th
• Update given
• Survey finalized
• Slogan decided
• Excellence through Civility
• Roll out discussed
• Team divided

15
Dividing the Work

• Educational brochure
• Liberal Arts connections
• Syllabus information
• Orientation skit
• Web site and links

16
Reviewing the Work

• April 18th Group updates
• Group updates given
• Educational brochure ready
• Syllabus information ready
• Web site under construction

17
Presenting the Results

• April 25th
• Survey results discussed
• Reports heard
• Presentation decided
• Assessment methods determined

18
Wrapping up the Semester

• May 9th
• Celebration held
• Web site revealed
• Survey taken
• Future plans discussed
• Speakers
• Brown bags
• Contests
• Civility day or week

19
SHOW ORIENTATION SKIT
20
SEE WEB SITE
21
SURVEY RESULTS
22
THANKS