History
In his September 18, 2014, State of the University Address, President Larry Dietz called for the establishment of a Center for Civic Engagement to further strengthen Illinois State University’s commitment to the value and importance of civic engagement. A Task Force, comprised of representatives from Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, was formed in January 2015. The executive summary produced by the task force served as the basis for the creation of the Center.
The center officially opened in 2017, building on the University’s core value of civic engagement. The intent of creating a Center for Civic Engagement is to bring coordination and a shared purpose to the numerous civic engagement efforts already occurring throughout the University, as well as to create new opportunities. The center's scope is broad and involves supporting in-class and out-of-class learning experiences that partner with the community.
American Democracy Project History at Illinois State University
In 2003, the national American Democracy Project (ADP) was created as an initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) in partnership with The New York Times. The goal was to offer a nonpartisan initiative among state colleges and universities that focused on higher education’s role in preparing students to ultimately be informed and engaged citizens who participate in democracy.
Illinois State University, under the leadership of Provost John Presley, was an early adopter of the initiative and joined ADP in 2004. A committee was formed with members from both the Student Affairs and Academic Affairs divisions, and both divisions also contributed financial support to fund the committee’s efforts. The committee was co-chaired by a representative from both divisions, and it remained that way until its dissolution in 2020.
The first co-chairs of the ADP at Illinois State were Jan Murphy, then Associate Provost, and Brent Paterson, then Associate Vice President of Student Affairs.
According to Murphy, the University’s participation in ADP and the ADP committee’s initiatives focused on civic engagement were both important factors in the addition of civic engagement as a core value of the University in 2008. This addition was initiated during the development of the 2008–2013 strategic plan.
In addition to Murphy and Paterson, several other individuals served as co-chairs of ADP at Illinois State during the 15+ years the committee was active. Other co-chairs were:
- Jan Paterson
- Steve Hunt
- Art Munin
- Noha Shawki
- John Davenport
- Jackie Lanier
The Work of ADP at Illinois State
Over the years, Illinois State University’s ADP committee developed several initiatives that are foundational to the institution’s civic engagement work today.
The committee was responsible for student voter engagement and election engagement at Illinois State. The University was one of only nine campuses participating in the Political Engagement Project (PEP), an ADP initiative focused on developing students' political efficacy and civic duty.
Illinois State was honored in 2011 with the Political Engagement Program of Excellence Award. After the PEP program concluded, Illinois State continued using the PEP model until electoral engagement shifted to a campus coalition model in 2020.
Other key initiatives included Community Engaged Campus and the Washington, D.C., study tour, now housed in the Politics and Government Department.
The Civic Engagement and Social Change Minor
One of the most notable achievements of the ADP committee was the development of Illinois State University’s Civic Engagement and Responsibility Minor. That took place in 2009 with leadership from Lance Lippert in the School of Communication. In 2025, the minor changed its name to Civic Engagement and Social Change Minor.
The interdisciplinary minor was the first of its kind in Illinois and sought to develop students who were effective problem solvers and change agents. The Civic Engagement Course Redesign Program was born from the creation of the minor, too. Additionally, Lippert was recognized in 2019 with AASCU’s Barbara Burch Award for Faculty Leadership in Civic Engagement.
The ADP committee was also a part of Illinois State University’s first attempt at earning the Carnegie Foundation’s Classification for Community Engagement.
The Center for Civic Engagement
In the fall of 2017, after nearly two years of planning, the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) officially opened. (CCE was originally named the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, but changed its name in 2020.)
The voluntary work of so many faculty, staff, and students over many years to support the ADP committee was fundamental in demonstrating the need for greater infrastructure to support civic engagement at the University and to institutionalize it through the CCE.
Just like the very first ADP committee, CCE also dual reports to both the divisions of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs. The dual-reporting nature of CCE reflects the University’s belief that a student’s development of civic knowledge, skills, attitudes, and motivation occurs cumulatively through all their campus experiences.
Today, most of the core initiatives that originated from the ADP committee are now housed in CCE. CCE staff are responsible for engaging with community-based organizations to facilitate and strengthen campus-community partnerships. CCE partners with the Center for Integrated Professional Development to continue to offer civic engagement course redesign.
The Voter Engagement Coalition, led by CCE staff, is a campus-wide coalition to support student voter engagement. CCE staff work to incorporate political engagement initiatives in curricular and co-curricular spaces. The CCE director also serves as the coordinator of the Civic Engagement and Social Change Minor.