Civic Engagement Plan

Public Service Pathway and My Civic Action Plan
Civic Engagement Plan Assignment
Description
OverviewGrading CriteriaAssignment Templates
Overview
This assignment is an application of the knowledge you have learned in the course to date. You will have the opportunity to determine your own public service pathway and set goals to pursue it based on the pathways you have explored in the course.
There are 4 parts to this assignment. Follow the instructions accompanying each step carefully and thoroughly. Incorporate creativity and technology in your post (videos, pictures, graphics) where appropriate, including all the required information. Review the grading rubric below before submitting your work to be sure you’ve met all the requirements.
Note the tabs on the top of this page. The 2nd tab explains the grading criteria. The 3rd tab includes an assignment template in two formats.
Tab 1 of 3
Instructions

STEP 1: Complete Part 1, Community Interest Statement
Before you develop a plan for civic action, craft your community interest statement. In 2-3 sentences, describe the issue you’ve identified and how this passion relates to your identity. What is your goal?

STEP 2: Complete Part 2, Choose a Pathway

In this module, we provided 6 pathways for exploration: higher education, public service employment, military service, national service, political engagement, and private sector employment/social entrepreneurship.
Select a public service pathway to channel your civic action. In 250 words, explain why you have selected this pathway, how it relates to your identity, passion, and an organization or institution in which you will be working.
Reminder: Construct your essay in a document and save it on your computer so you have it in case of a technological error.

STEP 3: Complete Part 3, Select an Organization

Select an organization that addresses the issue you have identified as important to you. Review the following before reporting on the organization.
• Conduct research about the organization. Review the materials on its website and read stories about the work of the organization.
• Select sources from the course (or outside research) that explain course concepts that you will apply to this organization such as diversity, civic engagement, social capital, mobilization strategies and types of civic engagement pursued by the organization.
In your post, provide a brief overview of the organization and explain how your interest and their goals interweave.
Using bullet points, an outline, or a brief paragraph, address the following themes for the organization:
• Identity. Discuss the identity (or identities) relevant to the work of the organization. Specific consideration should be given to how membership in this group influences relationships with other identity groups. How does the nature of the identity you have chosen to focus on, and these inter-group dynamics, affect the work of the organization you are studying? Is there evidence of shared identity and “identity divide”?
• Social Capital. Describe the social capital network of this organization. What’s the membership of this group? Are there economic or political dimensions? Does membership in this group influence relationships with other identity groups?
• Civic, Political, and/or Social Engagement. What does engagement look like for this organization?
• Mobilization. How does this organization/group mobilize members? What kinds of messages does it use? Are there many members or a few? Why do they come together? Do they attempt to solve public problems? Describe how “service” plays out in this group and/or the varieties of ways. How does the mobilization of this organization and its members compare to that of organizations and movements that we studied in this course? Similarities? Differences?
Now that you know what you care about, it’s time to channel your energy and action into a specific pathway.

STEP 4: Complete Part 3, Create a Plan

Create a plan to pursue addressing your community goal through your public service pathway upon completion of this course.
To conclude this assignment and your civic action plan, finish the 4 mini-goal statements below by creating SMART goals:

1. At 1 week after completing this class, I will…
2. At 4 weeks after completing this class, I will…
3. At 8 weeks after completing this class, I will…
4. At 12 weeks after completing this class, I will …

Remember that SMART goals are:
• Specific: What exactly needs to be accomplished?
• Measurable: What is the evidence that will show I’ve been successful with completing this task?
• Attainable: What are the resources needed to achieve the goal?
• Relevant: How is this task the right step in achieving my overall goal?