Strategic Plan | Center for Civic Justice

In alignment with its Mission and Vision, the Center for Civic Justice has established a series of strategic priorities that it will seek to accomplish:

Cultivate (C)

... individuals who have the potential to be active and engaged in the issues affecting their communities.

Create, facilitate and moderate spaces for large-scale Community Dialogues about issues affecting the community
Support student-led Knowledge Communities that foster new and ongoing dialogue and action development
Coordinate efforts to reduce barriers to civic participation through the fundamental right to vote

Develop (D)

... them to possess the tools and skills necessary to appropriately engage others in these issues.

Create and facilitate a Civic Justice curriculum, which includes a capstone project and community service
Coordinate personal and professional development opportunities led by prominent civic justice leaders
Produce more well-informed voters through increased and enhanced educational experiences

Empower (E)

... them to take appropriate individual and collective actions to create a more civically just society.

Enable access to resources and opportunities to develop and foster innovative and actionable efforts
Create and support internships and cooperative education that focus on affecting change in the community
Establish service-learning and community engagement as a cornerstone of the student experience

To seek to accomplish its strategic priorities, the Center for Civic Justice will undertake a series of action items that contribute to progress made toward each strategic priority. The Center for Civic Justice will consider an initial three-year strategic plan (2018-2020) that evolves with the needs of both Stony Brook University and the global community:

Year One

Cultivate

Host two large-scale Community Dialogues in each Fall and Spring semester to increase awareness and knowledge of current issues affecting the community, discuss potential options and approaches to address these issues, and enhance the understanding of different perspectives related to these issues (C1)
Introduce at least two small-scale Knowledge Communities that originate from issues discussed during the preceding semester's large-scale Community Dialogues, which allow for ongoing dialogue and opportunities to develop actionable items related to addressing these issues (C2)

Develop

Introduce at least one professional development opportunity led by a prominent civic justice leader that focuses on the Freedom Summer of 1964 and the resurged need for young people to be engaged and involved in advocacy work related to the nationwide right to vote (D2)
Provide regular passive and active opportunities to engage the community in the upcoming November 2018 General Election, which will include materials with information about candidates' stances on current issues and activities to identify the candidates that an individual more closely align with (D3)

Empower

Launch the Center for Civic Justice website, which will serve as an accessible and virtual home for information about Stony Brook University's civic and democratic engagement efforts, ways to get involved with the center's and other affiliated efforts, and how to become a more civically engaged member of the community (E1)
Introduce new undergraduate internship and cooperative education offerings to include at least one position dedicated to the long-term implementation of personal and professional development opportunities related to civic and democratic engagement for the community (E2)
Share effective strategic practices related to civic and democratic engagement with like-minded individuals through workshops at regional and national conferences with opportunities for students to lead these conversations (E1) (E2)

Year Two

Cultivate

Further institutionalize voter registration to ensure that all new students have an opportunity to successfully register to vote either at New Student Orientation or before their first day of classes, and with opportunities for other community members to do so as well (C3)
Strengthen partnership between Stony Brook University and the Suffolk County Board of Elections to ensure and preserve the right to vote among all students and other community members, and to develop collaborative efforts in the months preceding the November 2018 General Election and future elections (C3)
Introduce a small-scale Knowledge Community referred to as "What's Up!", which will provide a weekly opportunity for individuals to share and discuss current issues affecting the community, and to potentially foster related events, initiatives and ongoing dialogue (C2)

Action items that continue from Year One include:

Hosting two large-scale new Community Dialogues in each Fall and Spring semester (C1)
- From Year Two and onward, the issues that are discussed during the Community Dialogues will be based on participant recommendations from the preceding semester's Community Dialogues
Introducing at least two new small-scale Knowledge Communities in each Fall and Spring semester (C2)
- From Year Two and onward, there will be opportunities for students to identify the need for new Knowledge Communities, and then create and lead these Knowledge Communities

Develop

Launch basic Civic Justice curriculum, which will provide a rudimentary academic pathway for students to develop tools and skills that will allow them to foster awareness and advocacy in the community for issues they are passionate about through several community service opportunities and weekly seminars (D1)
Introduce a four-part professional development workshop series, with each of the first three parts focused on a different core element of civic justice (i.e. awareness, advocacy and action), and with the fourth part focused on how to collectively use all three elements to create positive change in the community (D2)
Conduct research and advance knowledge in the area of college student civic and democratic engagement development through understanding the effects of low and high-impact engagement interventions over the course of time on an individual's likelihood to vote in local elections (D3)
Initiate search for office space that will allow student staff, interns and other community members to dedicate themselves to the daily operations of the center, and for an effective means to fulfill the center's vision (D3)

Action items that continue from Year One include:

Introducing professional development opportunities led by prominent civic justice leaders (D2)
- From Year Two and onward, there will be at least one of these professional development opportunities led by prominent civic justice leaders in each Fall and Spring semester
Providing opportunities to engage the community in the upcoming November 2018 General Election (D3)
- From Year Two and onward, there will be opportunities for community members to engage with candidates in dialogue about current issues affecting the community and how they intend to address these issues

Empower

Establish annual mini grants for civic and democratic engagement that provide students with an opportunity to envision positive change in the community, and then have the means to effect such change in collaboration with faculty, staff and other community members (E1) (E3)
Introduce graduate internship and practicum offerings to include at least three positions, each of which is dedicated to the development and implementation of a cornerstone of the center: democratic engagement, deliberative dialogue and community development (E2)
Launch the center's student advisory board, which will be representative of undergraduate, graduate and professional students who will actively contribute to the vision for civic justice at Stony Brook University (E3)

Action items that continue from Year One include:

Introducing new undergraduate internship and cooperative education offerings (E2)
- From Year Two and onward, there will be opportunities for undergraduate students to create their own on-campus internship experiences that allow them to focus on issues in the community they are passionate about
Sharing effective strategic practices related to civic and democratic engagement with like-minded individuals (E1) (E2)
- From Year Two and onward, host at least one webinar each academic year with a national organization about college student democratic engagement and how institutions can tailor effective practices to meet their needs

Year Three

Cultivate

Introduce online social platform for civic justice, which will serve as a digital space for Knowledge Communities to advance ongoing dialogue about relevant issues, share information about upcoming actionable items, and communicate between Knowledge Communities to see how they can support one another (C2) (E1)
Based on preceding year's research findings, implement legislative agenda that focuses on reducing barriers to civic participation through advocacy with New York State elected officials, in addition to enhanced voter registration efforts for undergraduate, graduate and professional students (C3)
Host a multi-part "Smart Voter" workshop series that will be an opportunity to understand community members' perceived and actual knowledge of their right to vote (C3) (D3)

Action items that continue from Year One and Year Two include:

Strengthening partnership between Stony Brook University and the Suffolk County Board of Elections (C3)
- From Year Three and onward, there will be at least one opportunity each Fall and Spring semester for this partnership to engage community members in the importance of civic participation and being educated voters

Develop

Launch advanced Civic Justice curriculum, which will provide a comprehensive academic pathway for students to develop tools and skills that will allow them to foster action in the community for issues they are passionate about through a capstone project, several community service opportunities and weekly seminars (D1)
Conduct comprehensive, multi-institution research study to understand the college student civic participation landscape on Long Island, which will inform effective strategic practices that institutions can implement in advance of the 2020 General Election (D3) (E1)
Based on preceding year's research findings, implement effective low and high-impact civic and democratic engagement efforts that meet the needs of an exceptionally diverse college student population (D3)

Action items that continue from Year One and Year Two include:

Introducing professional development workshop series focused on the core elements of civic justice (D2)
- From Year Three and onward, these professional development workshops will be incorporated into the advanced Civic Justice curriculum in the form of weekly seminars, which culminates with the capstone project

Empower

Host a civic justice conference at Stony Brook University that will allow civic and democratic engagement leaders nationwide to come together to share their knowledge, collaborate on innovative ideas, and commit to a historic change in college student civic participation (D2) (E3)
Collaborate with the Undergraduate Colleges at Stony Brook University to incorporate civic and democratic engagement into the Stony Brook Curriculum (SBC) and First-Year Seminar (101) course through a refined curriculum and the first-year reading (E3)

Action items that continue from Year One and Year Two include:

Establishing annual mini grants for civic and democratic engagement that provide students with an opportunity to effect change in the community (E1) (E3)
- From Year Three and onward, mini grant awardees will present at the civic justice conference about the specific impact of the mini grant on their ability to both envision and effect positive change in the community
Introducing new graduate internship and practicum offerings (E2)
- From Year Three and onward, there will be opportunities for graduate students to create their own on-campus internship experiences that allow them to focus on issues in the community they are passionate about
Launching the center's student advisory board, which will actively contribute to the vision for civic justice (E3)
- From Year Three and onward, members of the center's student advisory board will actively contribute to the advancement of efforts related to annual mini grants and contribute to their effective implementation

Our Commitment to Democracy is a comprehensive action plan about efforts throughout the
Stony Brook University community to cultivate, develop, and empower our students to make
educated and informed decisions in upcoming elections and to successfully cast their ballots. Our 2020-2022
strategic plan is developed by the University’s 2020 Presidential Election Planning and
Coordination Committee that includes representation from throughout the campus community:
students, faculty, staff, senior administrators, community partners, and members of our
surrounding communities as necessary and appropriate.

Our action plan addresses four areas of voter engagement to support our students and their right
to vote: registration, education, mobilization, and institutionalization.

To view our comprehensive action plan you can click here.

The Center for Civic Justice has evaluated the success of our 2018-2020 and 2020-2022 strategic plans and priorities in order to define our path forward for the next two years. Using information gathered through discussions with faculty, staff, and students within the Department of Student Community Development as well as community partners and campus partners from outside of our department, we have compounded our shared goals for the Center for Civic Justice into an Action Plan through 2024.

To view our comprehensive action plan you can click here.