Civility on Campus
Susan Harrison
July 14, 2006
ASLC
Gaining a Background
December, 2005
• Civility discussed – A&S chairs
• Committee members solicited
January, 2006
• Civility Conference attended
– Flipping the Switch: Encouraging Civility on
Campus at American University
– PaperClip Communications
Forming a Team
• 10 Faculty and 1 Instructional Academic Staff
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6
1
2
2
College
College
College
College
of
of
of
of
Arts & Sciences
Business
Education & Human Sciences
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
Preparing for Meetings
Only 6 meetings held
KEY • Prepare and distribute materials in
advance
• Use a detailed agenda
– Include questions
– Include timed events
Charging the Committee
Charged by Associate Vice Chancellor
• Develop goals and action plan
• Develop an understanding
• Make recommendations
• Develop a plan for continuation
Starting the Process
February 17th
• Charge given
• Goals reviewed
• Approaches considered
• Questions answered
• Timeline distributed
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
Collecting the Data
• Script developed
• Web Survey designed
• Classes interviewed
• Web data collected
Making the Point
• Awareness raised
• Ideas welcomed
• Data gathered
Answering the Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What words or phrases come to mind when you think about
civility?
What characteristics of civil behavior should be exhibited by
both students and instructors in a classroom learning
environment?
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?
What characteristics of civil behavior should be exhibited in
residence halls by students, RAs, and hall directors or by
neighbors in the community?
What do you think of the idea of considering civility as a part
of a liberal education?
Organizing the Results
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Respecting students
Respecting teachers
Respecting one another
Respecting roommates
Tabulated results
Incivility examples
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
Holding March Meetings
March 14th
• Civility statements reviewed
• Classroom responses discussed
• Input sources determined
• Slogan ideas shared
• Name decided
– Campus Civility Team
Holding another One
March 28th
• Update given
• Survey finalized
• Slogan decided
– Excellence through Civility
• Roll out discussed
• Team divided
Dividing the Work
• Educational brochure
• Liberal Arts connections
• Syllabus information
• Orientation skit
• Web site and links
Reviewing the Work
April 18th – Group updates
• Group updates given
– Educational brochure ready
– Syllabus information ready
– Web site under construction
Presenting the Results
April 25th
• Survey results discussed
• Reports heard
• Presentation decided
• Assessment methods determined
Wrapping up the
Semester
May 9th
• Celebration held
• Web site revealed
• Survey taken
• Future plans discussed
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Speakers
Brown bags
Contests
Civility day or week
SHOW ORIENTATION SKIT
SEE WEB SITE
SURVEY RESULTS
THANKS