Compact Nation Podcast

This podcast minisode was created for students by students at St. Olaf College as part of the American Conversations project. For more information about these minisodes, check out season 4 episode 14, “American Conversations.” Agriculture and Environmental Policy: What most Americans don’t know A podcast by Wyatt Andrews, Marlee Baron, Owen Pederson, and Greta Van Loon Environmental policy is a very important issue, but how is it being prioritized in the 2020 presidential election? This podcast examines the less well-known issue of agricultural policy, and the way certain farming practices such as no-till farming could help save the environment. We spoke with Hannah Read, a student involved in a carbon neutralization effort with the St. Olaf Band; David Legvold, a local farmer doing everything he can to minimize environmental damage; and Abby Wesnofske, a student with the experience of living on a potato farm. Additionally, we touch on the environmental and agricultural stances of presidential candidates in the 2020 election.

This podcast minisode was created for students by students at St. Olaf College as part of the American Conversations project. For more information about these minisodes, check out season 4 episode 14, “American Conversations.” Educational Policy: Education policy is one of the largest issues in the upcoming election and many Democrats have similar views, but different approaches to Education reform. Sen. Sanders has been proposing making all public 4-year institutions free since his presidential bid in 2016. Moderates like Sen. Klobuchar and former Vice President Joe Biden favor only making 2-year institutions and vocational schools free. This podcast explores policies in higher education and takes an economic approach to both a trade-school and 4-year free platform while also analyzing some of the current policies being proposed by the current Department of Education run by Trump-appointed Betsy Devos.

Listen in as Emily chats with Antionette Carroll and Hilary Sedovic from the Creative Reaction Lab, an organization founded in support of the uprising in Ferguson, MO that aims to educate, train, and challenge Black and Latinx youth to become leaders designing healthy and racially equitable communities. Plus, we remember Dick Cone and his extensive contributions to the field of higher education civic and community engagement. Related resources: Creative Reaction Lab (creativereactionlab.com) Music credit: Andrew Savage (andrewsavage.net)

On our last episode, we asked all you listeners to call in and share your thoughts and questions about higher education civic and community engagement work and the ongoing pandemic. This time, we'll play a selection of the messages we received. Listen in as Emily, Marisol, and Andrew reflect on these and some of the other ways higher education has quickly pivoted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to everyone who called in! Related resources: Share your Mutual Aid Moments: compact.org/mutual-aid-moments Read Andrew's blog post: compact.org/mobilizing-in-crisis/ Learn more about the Compact20 Virtual Convening: conference.compact.org Music Credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

On this episode of #CompactNationPod, Andrew talks with Eric Mlyn and Amanda Moore McBride, authors of the upcoming publication, Connecting Civic Engagement and Social Innovation: Toward Higher Education's Democratic Promise. Plus, some of our initial thoughts and reactions to the spread of the coronavirus. Get in touch—we're opening up a hotline for you to share your thoughts and questions about higher education civic and community engagement work and the ongoing pandemic. Call us at (617) 237-6381 and leave a message by Friday, 3/27. We'll feature a selection of messages on the next episode of #CompactNationPod. Related resources: Connecting Civic Engagement and Social Innovation: https://styluspub.presswarehouse.com/browse/book/9781945459221/Connecting-Civic-Engagement-and-Social-Innovation Call us to share your thoughts on higher education civic and community engagement and the coronavirus pandemic: (617) 237-6381. Music credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

On this episode of #CompactNationPod, Marisol chats with Tyanna McLauren (Marquette University), Jennifer Rosales (Barnard College), and Michael Humphrey (Colorado State University). All three are participants in the Engaged Scholars Initiative, a program being piloted in three regions across the country that convenes faculty and community engagement professionals from diverse backgrounds to build community and advance the work across the field. First, don’t miss out on some of Emily’s takeaways from the Iowa Caucus. Stay tuned through the end to hear about Marisol’s new tiara. Related resources: Eastern Region Engaged Scholars Initiative: ercc.compact.org/engaged-scholars-initiative Midwest Engaged Scholars Initiative: midwest.compact.org/esi Western Region Engaged Scholars Initiative: western.compact.org/esi Hear some of our Engaged Scholars at the Compact20 National Conference: events.compact.org/conference Music credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

On this episode of #CompactNationPod, Andrew talks with Diya Abdo, the 2019 recipient of Campus Compact's Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award. Diya is an assistant professor of English at Guilford College and founder of Every Campus a Refuge, an organization that uses space on campus to host refugee families. Created in response to Pope Francis' call for every European parish to host a refugee family, Every Campus a Refuge provides refugees with support, aiming to provide a softer landing and a stronger beginning to their resettlement experience. Plus, get some more updates from Iowa about the upcoming caucus, and hear about some of what you can expect at Compact20, our upcoming national conference. Related Resources: Compact20 National Conference: https://events.compact.org/conference Every Campus A Refuge: https://everycampusarefuge.net/ Contact Diya: abdod@guilford.edu Music Credit: Andrew Savage Andrew Savage.net

On this episode of #CompactNationPod, Emily talks with Viji Sathy, a faculty member at The University of North Carolina and national expert on inclusive teaching, a practice of designing classes and facilitating classrooms around ways people will feel most included. Listen in as they explore the link between inclusive teaching and community-engaged teaching and civic learning and talk about how inclusive teaching can have an impact on retention, particularly in STEM fields. Plus, learn more about the impending Iowa caucus (and how Emily will be involved!). Resources: Guide to Inclusive Teaching (https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/20190719_inclusive_teaching) InclusifiED (https://sites.google.com/view/inclusified) Music Credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

Rising to the Challenge: On this episode of #CompactNationPod, Marisol talks to Nadinne Cruz, an innovative leader of community-based experiential learning. Listen in as they discuss the beginning of community engagement as a profession, her critical role paving the way for future community engagement professionals, and the process of "becoming." Plus, hear about Emily's favorite holiday practice (that you may want to borrow), Andrew's latest favorite piece of public policy, and Marisol's continuing love of sci-fi pop culture. Related resources: Campus Compact Impact Awards - compact.org/impact-awards Newman Civic Fellowship - compact.org/newman Compact20 national conference - conference.compact.org Campus Compact job board - compact.org/jobs Music Credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

On this episode of #CompactNationPod, Emily talks with three former Campus Compact National Service members: Wendy Jeschke, Karley Ausiello, and Geovanni Almanza Olague. They discuss their experiences with national service and how their years of service impacted their lives and shaped their careers. Plus, in our sparks joy segment, Marisol and Andrew find common ground around sustainable transportation, Emily talks "Life" the game, and Andrew gives a shoutout to all our #GivingTuesday supporters. Related Resources: Campus Compact Impact Awards (https://compact.org/impact-awards); The Craft of Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning (http://bookstore.compact.org/BookDetail.aspx?productID=489697) Music Credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

Join Andrew at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate as he speaks to two of Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellows, Zaynab Abdi from St. Catherine University and Cameron Conner from Whitman College. Hear more about these two community-committed students and the work they’re doing both locally and globally to tackle wide-ranging issues like girls’ education, disaster relief, voter registration and more. Plus, we discuss how to be thoughtful about celebrating Thanksgiving while acknowledging the complicated history of our country. Then, a Thanksgiving treat: an extra-large conversation about what’s sparking joy for us right now. Related Resources: Thanksgiving Reading from Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact (https://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=e639469bc5121cf79e792b663&id=21c95d8735), Andrew's Lula Wiles recommendation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSAocF1bNPY), The Campus Compact National Webinar Series (https://compact.org/webinar-series), #GivingTuesday (https://compact.org/give) Music credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

On this episode of #CompactNationPod we talk with activist-scholar and professor emeritus at Pitzer College José Calderón. Listen in as he shares his story about his long career in engaged teaching and research and how his experience of coming to the US as an immigrant spurred his work organizing and connecting the classroom to communities. Plus, Emily and Andrew talk about their favorite pieces of funny writing and Marisol reveals her hip hop alter ego. Music credit: Andrew Savage

The students! They vote! On this episode of #CompactNationPod, Nancy Thomas talks with Andrew about the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) Democracy Counts 2018 report, which showed an impressive increase in student voting in the 2018 midterms. Listen in as they discuss how activism on college campuses and institutional work contributed to these outstanding results, and learn more about some of the exciting student voting research she’ll be focusing on in the future. Plus, in our “Sparks Joy” segment, Emily visits France and the hosts discuss the importance of self-care. Related resources: Politics 365 (idhe.tufts.edu/research/politics-365) Election imperatives (idhe.tufts.edu/electionimperatives) College convention 2020 (https://www.necfitn.com/) Iowa Campus Compact’s 2019 Civic Action Academy (iacampuscompact.org/event/2019-civic-action-academy) Music credit: Andrew Savage (andrewsavage.net)

On this episode of #CompactNationPod, we explore the “who?” “what?” “why?” and “how?” of mission-driven leaders with co-author of the book Your Life is Your Message, Mark Gesner. Hear about how the development of the book was influenced by a trip through India in which he and Cardinal Stritch faculty studied the philosophy and principles of Gandhi by making it real--engaging with real people who are living Gandhi’s principles today. Plus, hear from engaged faculty member Cheryl Moore about how this experience contributed to her approach toward community engagement in business classes. Related resources: Western Region ESI (https://western.compact.org/esi/); Campus Compact Engaged Faculty Award Recipients (https://compact.org/2019-ehrlich-lynton-awards/); Your Life is Your Message by Nancy Stanford Blair and Mark L. Gesner (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/your-life-is-your-message/book271730) Music credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net

We’re back with season 4 of #CompactNationPod! Catch up with what’s going on with the Compact. Later in the episode, we focus on Census 2020 as we talk to Susan Brower, the Minnesota State Demographer (don’t worry--you’ll find out what that means!). Learn more about the importance of the census for ensuring good government and good public policy locally and nationally. Plus, learn how campuses can help to ensure a complete count both on their campus and across the country more broadly. We close the episode with a new segment as the hosts discuss what’s currently sparking joy in their lives. Related Resources: MN Census Resources (https://mncampuscompact.org/what-we-do/initiatives/2020-census-resources/); Census 2020 Knowledge Hub (https://compact.org/census-2020/); Response Outreach Area Mapper (https://www.census.gov/roam); Complete Count Committee Map (https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-complete-count-committees.html); Happiness Lab Podcast (https://www.happinesslab.fm/) Music Credit: Andrew Savage andrewsavage.net