As an active promoter of Civic Engagement, the School of Communication has won the FOCUS Initiative for two years in a row. FOCUS (Faculty Opportunities for Creating Civic & Community Understanding Among Students) is a faculty development program designed to emphasize the value of civic and community engagement at Illinois State University.
FOCUS, funded through an enhancement funds request, compliments the First Year Experience and General Education. It also supplements efforts to incorporate civic and community engagement in individual degree programs.
To learn more about Civic Engagement at the School of Communication, visit the ISU American Democracy Project and view the Examples of Civic Engagement in Practice.
ISU is one eight institutions in the country participating in this joint Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and New York Times initiative. This site provides faculty and staff in the School of Communication with the resources necessary to integrate pedagogy for political engagement into the curriculum and co-curriculum.
The primary mission of the Political Engagement Project is to enhance Illinois State University students' awareness and understanding of political engagement and impact their level of political involvement and leadership. The project is designed to help students think about democratic participation in broader terms than voting in national elections.
For additional information about PEP related activities in the School of Communication, download this document: SOC PEP (pdf)
