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PS355 – Winter 2019

Civic Engagement Project

Assignment

The core of this assignment is for you to practice "engaging yourself and engaging your civic community." Your goal should be multi-layered - to bring change in one social issue that is of concern to you in your community, to develop your knowledge and skills related to civics, and to challenge yourself to reach outside of the classroom to learn and then bring your knowledge back to the classroom to share with your classmates.

You will need to (1) choose and research one substantial social issue at Western Oregon University or in your surrounding community, (2) define a problem found within the issue, and (3) devise and implement a local solution to that problem. If the type of project you choose does not allow for implementation during this quarter, you must submit a detailed proposal of how your project would be implemented with additional time.

You will present your project to the class (a) briefly in Week 4 to gain feedback (January 28th), and (b) the complete project at the end of the quarter (classes during Week 9 and 10 of the quarter, plus on final exam day if needed). In addition, you will need to turn in progress reports and hold brief meetings with me to discuss your efforts. You may work alone or in a group (if you work in a group, you will receive a group score). You will have a great deal of latitude in the project you choose. However, you will work closely with me in planning your actions, and determining what is sufficient progress based on the project and problem you choose.

As you begin work on the project keep the following questions in mind:

· What may prevent progress or help you succeed, and how can you plan for these challenges?

· Who will you need to work with (who are the stakeholders and what are their interests)?

· What will be most effective to change behavior?

Grading

Grades will be determined by the amount and quality of work you complete, not necessarily completing the project, as there is a time limitation of just one quarter. However, the average amount of time that should be spent on the project should be at least 40 hours (4 hours a week) as the assignment is 50% of the class grade. The 40 hours includes the time needed to write the Design, Project Reports, and Project Summary. In addition, you will be assessed on how well your project changes behavior. Therefore, you need to establish criteria for assessing the effectiveness of your project in consultation with me. You should focus on a realistic and pragmatic project design, and reasonable steps to implement your ideas. In addition, you must demonstrate increasing knowledge about the issue and effective measures. Discuss this with me if you have any questions – and we will discuss it in depth when I give approval for your project.

Assignments submitted should be of high quality (typed, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, spell checked and proof read, citations included, etc.)

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Assignment Components

The Civic Engagement assignment is worth up to 50% (500 points) of your total class score. The 500 points are divided according to the following steps. In addition, you will present your project to the class (and the community if it fits) worth up to 100 points.

1. Project “Problem” (10 points) – a short (one paragraph, no more than 50 words) definition of the issue area you have picked and the problem you have identified that needs to be addressed.

Due: Monday, January 14th

2. Initial Design / Data Collection and Analysis – (50 points) – a 4-5 page document that

(a) defines the social issue you have chosen,

(b) provides background research on the issue to identify the “problem” (2-3 pages). The background research should include citations in the text and at least 4-5 annotated sources you have researched that discuss the history, stakeholders, policy responses taken, needs, etc., provide statistics and relevant facts as a background to defining the problem.

(c) identifies 3-4 goals you want to achieve, and

(d) discusses an initial policy response you plan implement.

In addition, you need to provide, and

(e) defines data that you plan to gather, an explanation of why you want to gather this data, method(s) for gathering your data, and a preliminary discussion of the techniques you will use to analyze and interpret your data.

Initial Design DUE: at your Project Meeting during Week 3

3. Timeline and Assessment Measures – (15 points) – You need to provide a

(a) project timeline that documents the steps you plan to take and when they will/must be completed (how you plan to spend the 40 required hours),

(b) a list of “effectiveness assessment measures” that define how will you gauge the “success” of your project, and

(c) a list of stakeholder (experts and/or contacts in the community) you will meet with to obtain background information and/or to give recommendations to, as well as a very brief explanation of why you picked these individuals.

The easiest process to follow would be a standard policymaking design (define the problem, set an agenda, design your plan, implement and then monitor compliance/ performance). Timeline / Assessment Measures / Contacts DUE: January 28th

4. Project Feedback Reports – (50 points each - 2 X 50 = 100 total)

During Week 5 and 7 of the quarter (= 2 times, each worth 50 points), you must prepare a 2-page summary of your progress with additional documentation attached. You will meet with me to present your reports and discuss your progress. The summary should include the

(a) actions you have taken,

(b) the time you have spent,

(c) documentation (proof) of your actions, and

(d) a brief discussion of the obstacles you have and need to overcome, and your plans for the next two weeks.

DUE: Project Feedback Report #1 due: during Week 5 Project Meeting #2

Project Feedback Report #2 due: during Week 7 Project Meeting #3

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5. Project Summary Report – (300 points) and Time Log – (25 points)

You must write a 10-12 page paper that

(a) provides background information on the issue you chose (researched sources with facts, statistics, etc., 1-2 pages – possible areas to cover are: cause of problem, issues of concern/context, history, stakeholders, policies already implemented),

(b) describes the project you chose and why (1-2 pages),

(c) presents the data you collected and discusses how it informed your actions,

(d) presents your project design and implementation with an explanation of the choices you made and why (3-4 pages), **If you were unable to implement your project, you must include a project proposal that outlines how your project would be implemented if you had additional time and identifies the stakeholder you would provide the proposal to,

(e) assesses the results of your project and the lessons you learned (2-3 pages),

(f) presents future steps that should be taken for your project to be maintained / perpetuated (1-2 pages) and

(g) ***Includes an additional page that summarizes with specific details how you spent 40 hours working on the project (time log).

DUE: Monday, March 4th at the beginning of class

Project Presentation – (100 points)

During Week 9 and 10 you will give a 12-15-minute presentation to the class that summarizes your issue, design, implementation and assessment process, and lessons learned to the class.

DUE: March 4th, 8th, 11th and 15th and possibly during the final exam time - designated times will be determined by Week 8.

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