Higher education staff and policy makers will meet Monday, July 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Central New Mexico Community College’s Workforce Training Center to discuss using federal and state work-study funds to boost civic engagement and community service among New Mexico college students.
Representatives of the U.S. Department of Education, Lieutenant Governor’s Office, New Mexico Children’s Cabinet and the New Mexico Commission on Community Volunteerism, along with the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College, will host this historic meeting. In 2006, the commission released the New Mexico Blueprint for Civic Engagement. The report outlined recommendations for strategic use of community service, including the application of work-study funds.
One local planner for the event, Michael Morris, chair of UNM’s university-wide Committee for Public Service and Community Engagement, said, “No single source of federal monies is as important to college and university students as federal work study funds. Few realize the law mandates a portion of these monies be allocated by every university and college toward community service and civic engagement.
Lt. Governor Denish and other state leaders have been pressing for more of these monies to go towards long-term community service. This day we will learn about national exemplary projects, best practices, and how to insure that service and work study are better connected to our communities and their needs.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service will provide one of the country’s leading experts to present at the meeting. Guest Speaker Robert Davidson of the U.S. Department of Education will discuss the “Benefits and Impact of Community Service Work-Study for Students, Universities and Communities.”
Davidson leads a new Federal Work-Study Community Service Outreach Partnership and managed the first year of the federal Honor Roll for programs achieving best practice in community service. He also helped develop “America Reads” along with policy incentives for expansion of federal work-study community service. For nearly fifteen years, he directed the Department of Education’s Higher Education Budget oversight unit.
Other presenters include Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, UNM President David Schmidly and CNM President Katharine Winograd.