了解如何授权公民领袖

学生 in social science methods course investigate perceptions of civic engagement at 九州娱乐官网 and make recommendations to improve a culture of involvement. 

Claire Garretson '25 speaks during a presentation of students' findings regarding 对校园公民参与的看法.

 
Civic engagement is at the core of 九州娱乐官网’s mission, which “challenges and inspires emerging citizen leaders to discover lives of purpose and passion.“但 什么是公民参与? 学院是否能让学生参与到他们的 社区有效? 学生参加定性和描述性的方法 在本学期的社会科学课程中，我试图找到答案. 

Co-taught by Meghan Grosse and Sara Clarke-De Reza — chairs of the communication and media studies and education departments, respectively — the course taught students research methods they used to answer this central question: How do 九州娱乐官网 学生理解并体验公民参与? 

Following a semester-long research project — which included website content analysis, campus-wide surveys, and student interviews — students presented their findings, as well as recommendations for 大学 and 社区 improvements, Thursday, May 2. 这 was the second cohort of students engaged in answering that central question, and the new data and analysis they collected this year will the added to student findings 从去年的课程. 

During the presentation, Clarke-De Reza defined civic engagement as “working to make a difference in the civic life of a 社区 and developing the combination of knowledge, 技能，价值观和动机来改变.” 

Throughout the semester, students analyzed 133 stories published on the Washington 大学 website in the news and stories section from January 2022 through December 2023 to see how the institution itself talks about civic engagement practices. 

The average number of stories containing one of the civic engagement measures in 2023 是4.每月55美元，高于每月3美元.到2022年每月16个. 最常见的公民参与 这些故事中的行为是公民意识, 而最不受关注的是慈善/筹款 政治参与. 而学院在代表方面有所进步 civic engagement in stories, the group recommended integrating the language of civic engagement into news stories when relevant and adding a civic engagement filter to 搜索栏. 

The campus-wide survey was sent out over a three-week period and elicited 293 responses 约占学生总数的三分之一. 这些数据被用来衡量人们的普遍态度 关于公民参与和学生社团参与. 

While 71% of respondents were aware civic engagement is part of the 大学’s mission, about 15% said they did not know if they agreed it should be, and about half did not 知道学院是否完成了使命. 当被问及他们认为是什么 社区, more students thought first of their hometown, then Chestertown, then the 大学. The group recommended making civic engagement opportunities and other 社区-building events visible by promoting them on social media and continue to strengthen the relationship 在学院和城镇之间. 

The survey also observed a link between involvement in clubs and organizations and civic participation, with 88% of respondents indicating they are involved in at least 一个俱乐部或组织. 在这些受访者中，绝大多数人表示 their participation in those groups has prepared them to civically engage, has provided opportunities to do so, and that the groups they participate in make a difference. Recommendations included the continued support of the formation in and activities of clubs and organizations on campus and increased facilitation of civic participation 学生组织和切斯特镇社区之间的关系. 

Over the same three-week period the survey was conducted, students also completed 87种不同的半结构化面试. 这些数据被用来衡量学生的看法 of civic engagement as it relates to various majors, volunteerism, and the Chestertown 社区. 

Interviewees indicated the most engaged majors were political science, education studies, communication and media studies, environmental science and studies, psychology, sociology, 以及企业管理. 被认为参与度最低的专业是数学， business management, those in the natural sciences division, those in the department of world languages and cultures, English, computer science, theatre, and art. 学生 in those majors indicated there were little to no 公民参与的机会 在专业范围内，不包括在课程作业中. 那些是公民专业 engaged have opportunities through internships, 社区 involvement, extra credit, 以及客座演讲嘉宾. The group recommended creating and communicating opportunities for engagement across disciplines and having majors come together to create interdisciplinary 公民参与的机会.

The vast majority of interviewees said they volunteered in high school, while just 超过一半的人表示他们在华盛顿期间做过志愿者. 该组织指出， students do more volunteer work when provided with an incentive. 他们建议 providing service hours or other incentives so students are more inclined to participate 在志愿活动中. They suggested involving professors in those engagement events and having consistent subject lines for event emails or creating an Instagram page 致力于活动机会将增加志愿服务.  
 
The final category focused on student perceptions of and comfort within Chestertown. Interview responses indicated that students feel welcome in some parts of Chestertown, but do not feel engaged because of time constraints, feeling unwanted, and a lack 关于机会的信息. 该组织建议寻找更好的途径 students to hear about those opportunities and establishing an area equally accessible 欢迎学生和周围的社区.  
 
While this section of the course has finished, the project is ongoing.  

——麦肯齐·布雷迪，21岁