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Education for Civic Engagement
HECUA, a consortium of 15 Midwest colleges and universities, is an independent, non-profit organization. The board of directors is comprised of one representative from each member school. The board and committees ensure program quality, fiscal stability, and on-going focus on the needs of members. Nearly 30 years ago faculty and administrators in Minnesota came together to decide how academia could respond to the turmoil in our cities. Their vision gave birth to HECUA. Today HECUA still meets the vital challenge of preparing students to understand the forces shaping our society and to succeed in a changing world. Programs
for Students HECUA is not a traditional off-campus study experience. Programs are recognized nationally as representing the best in international and domestic study. HECUA's off-campus study programs provide interdisciplinary, experiential study in a full-time, integrated format led by master teachers. This is a formula for extraordinary intellectual and personal growth that cannot be achieved in the same way on campus. HECUA invites students into a process that involves:
Programs emphasize intellectual, civic and cultural competencies. Students develop critical self-awareness and are empowered toward greater academic and civic engagement. All programs include internships or structured field projects as a way to connect theoretical studies with current realities. Scholarships are available. Program
Quality and Innovation HECUA provides:
Faculty
development Faculty and staff of institutions affiliated with HECUA link with program sites, directors and each other through a variety of professional development activities. Consortium-wide faculty development
Custom-designed workshops HECUA works with individual campuses to design workshops for faculty and staff that draw on HECUA's areas of expertise. Examples include:
Areas of expertise
Collaborative
support HECUA works with its members in a variety of other ways:
Community
Network Central to HECUA's approach
is partnering with exceptional community resource persons who engage students
and faculty in learning about current social realities and strategies
for change. Emerging
Directions HECUA is creating a vision for the future that imagines an even greater contribution to the learning and development of our students, our members and the community. The vision is based on a solid and successful foundation of programs, clarity of mission and soundness of pedagogy. We are attentive to the experiences of students, faculty and practitioners and recognize the need for quality and intentionality in preparing future citizen leaders. Building upon HECUA's current strengths, we imagine the HECUA of the future to be far more visible, perhaps most evident in the notion of an "institute" that carries out the HECUA mission in more and broader ways. An institute would connect the academy and the community in new, creative, integrated ways, including conferences, roundtables, leadership circles, research, consulting, outreach and new realms of collaboration. Activity would extend to both domestic and international sites and would involve faculty, students and practitioners. The vision is for HECUA's impact to extend much more deliberately to enrich higher education and the community, and to support continued development of individuals and institutions shaping our collective future. Augsburg College, Minneapolis,
Minnesota * Non-member institutions regularly participate in HECUA programs. HECUA Board of Directors (1999-2000) Garry Hesser, Sociology
Dept., Augsburg College Reynold Nesiba,
Economics Dept., Augustana College Margit Johnson,
Off-Campus Studies, Carleton College Stephen Burmeister-May,
International Education, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University
Mary Wagner, Information
Management Dept., College of St. Catherine Thomas Saylor,
History Dept., Concordia University-St. Paul Lisa Heldke, Philosophy
Dept., Gustavus Adolphus College Karen Vogel, Political
Science Dept., Hamline University James Stewart,
History Dept., Macalester College Drue Fergison,
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, St. Mary's University Frank Odd, Modern
Languages Dept., St. Olaf College Carl Brandt, Office
for Special Learning Opportunities, University of Minnesota Al Balkcum, Global
Campus, University of Minnesota Cris Toffolo, Political
Science Dept., University of St. Thomas Nancy Krug, Social
Work Dept., Viterbo College
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