1. Demetri L. Morgan Tuesday March 6, 2018 Salon H - Marriott Downtown
"What we’re doing is not working”: Booting Up Political Engagement 2.0 Using the Model of College Student Political Identity Development
Demetri L. Morgan
Tuesday March 6, Salon H - Marriott Downtown #

2. Session Outline Session Opening and Quick Introductions
Text/Twitter Poll
Overview and Highlights of the Model of College Student Political Identity Development
Small Group Discussion Time
Large Group Check-in / Debrief
WIG (What I Got) Reflection Time / Q&A / Wrap Up

3. Session Outline #SAPolEngage Introductions
Poll - Perceptions about Student Affairs and Student Political Engagement
Overview and Highlights of SSAO and Student Political Engagement Study
Small Group Discussion Time
Large Group Check-in / Debrief
W.I.G. (What I Got) Reflection Time / Q&A / Wrap Up
#SAPolEngage

4. Guiding question
How do we align campus culture and practices to support democratic engagement?
(Saltmarsh, Hartley, & Clayton, 2009)

5. Are Students on my campus politically aware and engaged?
#SAPolEngage

6. Do My Political beliefs inform my work?
#SAPolEngage

7. Do I feel comfortable discussing political issues with students?
#SAPolEngage

8. Is student political engagement a priority in my department?
#SAPolEngage

9. Our study Guiding Question:
How do we align campus culture and practices to support democratic engagement? (Saltmarsh, Hartley, & Clayton, 2009)
Student Political Engagement in the Co-Curriculum: Understanding the Role of Senior Student Affairs Officers
#SAPolEngage

10. Research questions 1. How do SSAO define and enact their roles campus?
Do SSAO see student civic and political development as part of their work?
2. What formal and informal influences do SSAO point to as informing their views about their work?

11. Study rationale
Need for examination of the role of SSAO in supporting student political engagement
We know about service-learning, volunteerism, and philanthropy (Astin & Sax, 1998; Jacoby, 1996; Jacoby, 2003; Kezar & Rhoads, 2001; Kuh, 2009)
What about political engagement? (Saltmarsh & Hartley, 2011)
#SAPolEngage

12. Study Purpose
Understand the processes that influence student affairs professionals seeking to foster a culture of student political engagement.
Student Political Engagement defined: “activities intended to influence social and political institutions, beliefs, or practices and to affect processes and policies related to community welfare (adapted from Colby, Ehrlich, Beaumont, and Stephens 2003).
#SAPolEngage

13. Study design #SAPolEngage Procedures Sampling: Purposeful
21 SSAOs
Community college, regional comprehensive, liberal arts, land-grants, MSIs
Geographically diverse
Data sources: 60-minute interviews with participants, promotional materials about the programs and services analyzed
Data analysis: thematic coding
Trustworthiness
Techniques included: cross-checking of codes, reviewing case materials in relation to codes for triangulating data, member-checking, using a peer debriefer, reviewing a summary of findings with participants (Creswell, 2007; 2009; Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Jones et al., 2006, 2014)
#SAPolEngage

14. Initial findings Different definitions of political engagement
Importance of Political Neutrality
Tension between Being an Administrator and a Political Agent
“Rules for Engagement” for SSAO
Difficulties Assessing Student Political Development and Involvement
#SAPolEngage

15. Small group questions
Do you think that cultivating a campus culture that supports student political engagement is important?
On your campus, where do you receive messages about how you should interact with students on political issues?
How do your identities inform how you approach to fostering student political engagement?
#SAPolEngage

16. implications
Need to foster conversations about politics and model healthy democratic practices
Yet most campuses do not do this and students are left on their own
Leadership is crucial for fostering student political engagement, but it doesn’t have to come from the top
Political self-reflexivity is critical
More training and research on student political engagement is needed to better understand the processes and environments that affect SSAOs and students
#SAPolEngage

17. Prompt questions
What are three steps you could take to assess the climate for political engagement at your institution?
Who are two colleagues that might be interested in supporting efforts to foster student political engagement?
What’s one obstacle that you foresee in creating a climate of student political engagement?
#SAPolEngage

18. Check - in
#SAPolEngage

19. W.i.G. OUT – What I got What are you feeling right now? Why?
What do you plan to bring back to your campus?
What remaining questions do you have?
What did we miss?
#SAPolEngage

20. Resources #SAPolEngage
American Democracy Project’s Political Engagement Project: The Washington Center Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship The Kettering Foundation Imagining America Mobilize.org
#SAPolEngage

21. Contact information
Demetri L. Morgan
Cecilia M. Orphan