NC Collegiate Citizenship Project

In summer 2020, NC Campus Compact launched the NC Collegiate Citizenship Project (NC-CCP). Through this effort, we seek to improve civic life in North Carolina by promoting election engagement and civil discourse and dialogue on member institutions throughout the state. Funding is provided by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

See the ZSR Press Release.

2020 Funding Opportunities

There are currently three funding opportunities available to support NC Campus Compact member institutions.

Election Engagement

NC Campus Compact is hosting an Election Engagement Sustainability Fellowship and Election Engagement mini-grants. We are also launching the #NCStudentsVote social media campaign. These initiatives will complement NC Campus Compact’s ongoing election work, including hosting the annual NC College Voter Summit (scheduled virtually for September 4 and 5) and facilitating the NC Campus Voting Coalition.

Election Engagement Sustainability Fellowship (EESF)

Unlike most election engagement fellowships that focus primarily on students, the EESF is seeking faculty and staff who are passionate about election engagement and who want to ensure the long-term sustainability of democratic participation on their campus. This fellowship is intended for institutions that do not currently have an election engagement initiative or where election engagement is not as robust or an ongoing effort.

Funds are available to support fellows on eight campuses. Each hosting institution will receive a $400 grant to support activities and the Fellow will receive a $500 stipend upon completion of their term of service.

The NC Campus Compact liaison at the member institution must complete a Hosting Interest Form to participate. The Interest Form submission deadline is June 29, 2020.

Download the full program overview.

Election Engagement Mini-Grants

To encourage student election engagement, NC Campus Compact will award $500 mini-grants to nine member campuses. Activities must be non-partisan and promote voter awareness, education, and voter turnout for the 2020 election. Funds may be used to provide student leader stipends, facility rentals, transportation, food, supplies, materials, printing, technology services, speaker fees, or other programming expenses related to election engagement activities. Funding may not support voter registration activities.

The application deadline is July 8, 2020.

Call for Proposals │ Grant application

Civil Discourse & Dialogue

Civil Discourse & Dialogue Mini-Grants

To encourage member institutions to engage in civil discourse and dialogue, NC Campus Compact will award $700 mini-grants to seven institutions. Grantees must facilitate at least four dialogues during the 2020-21 academic year. Mini-grants are intended to support any expenses related to hosting a dialogue but funds can also support training for facilitators. All grantees must agree to follow proper social distancing protocol related to COVID-19 for any in-person gatherings. Also, due to the uncertainties related to COVID-19, we recognize that any planned in-person dialogues may need to shift to virtual gatherings.

Since 2013, NC Campus Compact has promoted and trained on the National Issues Forum deliberative dialogue model. During the February 2020 Civic Engagement Institute “Engagement 2.0: Civics, Civility, and Civil Discourse” teams of individuals from member campuses explored additional dialogue models and developed plans to implement targeted models on their campus.

Funding preference will be given to institutions that seek to implement plans they generated during NC Campus Compact’s 2020 Civic Engagement Institute and/or to institutions that plan to host at least one dialogue related to racial equity. Institutions who do not fit either category, but who provide a robust strategy to promote dialogue and civil discourse, are still encouraged to apply.

While participating institutions are strongly encouraged to utilize one of the models listed below, we will accept proposals that include alternative models. However, applicants must demonstrate the proposed model(s) is well developed and vetted. Funds will not support the development of new models.

Recommended Models:

Ask Big Questions – https://www.askbigquestions.org/
Braver Angels – https://braverangels.org/
Civil Discourse© – https://humancommunication.asu.edu/research-initiatives/i-4c-collective/civil-dialogue
Dialogue to Change (Everyday Democracy) – https://www.everyday-democracy.org/
Essential Partners – https://whatisessential.org/
Intergroup Dialogue – https://igr.umich.edu/
Living Room Conversations – https://www.livingroomconversations.org/
National Issues Forum (Deliberative Dialogue) – https://www.nifi.org/
Sustained Dialogue – https://sustaineddialogue.org/our-work/campus/

Request for Proposals │ Grant application

The application deadline is July 15, 2020.

Virtual Introductory Dialogue Series

NC Campus Compact will host a series of virtual sessions (one-hour) to introduce member institutions to dialogue methods that were not covered during the 2020 Civic Engagement Institute.

Session One featuring Braver Angels and With Malice Toward None
July 9, 2020 (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.)

Presenter: Dr. William Doherty, co-founder of Braver Angels and Professor and Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program in the Department of Family Social Science, College of Education and Human Development, at the University of Minnesota

Bill will discuss Braver Angels and introduce a new initiative, With Malice Toward None.

Braver Angels, a nonprofit formerly called The Better Angels, is a grassroots group that aims to teach skills for listening and constructive conversation, so liberals and conservatives may work together. The name “Braver Angels“ was inspired by the words of Abraham Lincoln, who not only called on Americans to summon the “better angels” of our nature — but called on us to find the courage to pursue a more perfect union, “with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right.”

Learn more.

The With Malice Toward None project anticipates that polarization will spike after the November 3^rd election as people decide how to regard and treat the 60 million or so people who voted the other way. Folks who sign up to join the initiative will receive resources and tools to host two types of events post-election: 1) Events with people who voted the same way to process their reactions and, 2) Events that bring together folks who voted differently.