It has been almost two years since Closing the Gap: The Florida College System Civics Literacy Initiative was officially launched at a workshop conducted by the St. Petersburg College Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions. Many of the FCS representatives who attended, went home inspired to advance civics literacy across their college’s curricula as well as into the community they serve. Many excellent ideas on how to do that emerged from the conference.
So, how have we done since October 2013? Have we had success at closing the gap? And how can we continue to expand civics literacy across the Florida College System? We will attempt to answer those questions at a follow-up Civics Literacy Initiative conference this fall at St. Petersburg College. The meeting has been approved by the Council of Presidents, and a COP advisory committee is working with the Institute as we plan for this event. Partners will include the Education Commission of the States, the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, the Lou Frey Institute for Politics and Government, Campus Compact and the Florida Department of Education.
The best dates for this conference appear to be Oct. 29-30th, a Thursday and Friday. Those dates are just over halfway into the fall semester, and they avoid conflicting with two related conferences scheduled in November: Campus Compact and Association of Florida Colleges. Ending the conference on a Friday afternoon allows any who wish to enjoy Pinellas County’s great beaches to extend their stay into the weekend.
While the agenda for the conference is still being developed, I hope you will save the dates on your fall calendar now in order to join your FCS colleagues at this important conference. I encourage you to consider attending as a team with your counterpart in Student Affairs/Academic Affairs if possible. We expect to provide a session in team-building to maximize civics literacy reach into both of these key strategic components of FCS operations. As in 2013, registration will be free, and some meals will be included.
If you have thoughts on topics you would like to be taken up at the conference, please feel free to reply to this post to share your ideas or you can email policysolutionsinstitute@spcollege.edu. Also, click HERE to view resources from the 2013 conference .