REFLECTIONS ON THE 2016 MONTANA COLLEGE ACCESS NETWORK CONFERENCE

MTCC AmeriCorps member Noah Davis, center.

I've served with the Montana College Access Network's steering committee for just about five years. I remember hearing about this diverse coalition of folks involved with college access and success from K-12, Higher Ed., Financial Aid, the TRiO and Montana Aspire Community, GEAR Up folks, etc. and wondering about how it all worked. What struck me at the time was that because Campus Compact is a network of campuses advancing the higher ed's public purposes, college access and success offered some great potential for alignment, and strong big picture support from the Compact movement. The MCAN Conference just celebrated it's fifth birthday last week, and well over 100 attendees from all corners on Montana made the trek out, and made me want to reflect a little.

MCAN Past Chair Michelle Christianson

Completing post secondary education is the one tried and true way for folks to improve their earning potential, and finding careers that sustain them and their families. I've learned a lot from working with MCAN, mostly about the importance of vigorously opening the doors of higher education to first generation and low-income students, and about the Lumina Foundation's Goal 2025, which talks about the importance of degree attainment in an evolving labor market, and highlights the need of states to respond comprehensively in order to position more citizens for careers. I've been steadily inspired by folks like Student Assistance Foundation's Kelly Cresswell and Rhonda Safford and Montana Tech's Michelle Christianson who tirelessly have kept MCAN a priority for so many of us. They helped pull together a conference that convenes all kinds of access and success stakeholders, and that uses collective impact model to align the work in the college access space. Michelle was just recognized for her years of service with MCAN, as steering committee chair, conference chair, and now past chair.

Since Campus Compact began working with MCAN, we at Campus Compact have done a number of things to directly support this work:

1) We've provided AmeriCorps VISTAs to support MCAN's statewide work. Both Molly Wilkins and Amber Rhodes served from Helena, with MCAN helping to build capacity for MCAN, which as of today is official 501C3.

2) We've supported the Local College Access work that Montana Tech and Bitterroot College have undertaken with VISTAs like Cody LaBean and Kate Johnson.

3) We've placed VISTA Summer Associates with TRiO Upward Bound programs, like that at the University of Montana.

And finally, last fall we launched an AmeriCorps state program with the support of the Montana office of Community Service. This program currently has leaders serving with Dawson Community College, MSU Northern, Montana Tech and Bitterroot College. And we currently are recruiting for positions in Great Falls, Billings and in Crow Agency. We're proud of the work Campus Compact has done in the college access and success space, and are happy to answer questions and lend a hand if you're interested in partnering. Email or call me (406-243-5175), don't hesitate.

HAPPY 3OTH, CAMPUS COMPACT!

30 Years of Campus Compact!

This is an important week for those of us that work in higher education: just thirty years ago, three campuses came together to for the first higher ed. consortium dedicated to educating students for civic and social responsibility, and advancing the public purposes of colleges and universities. Thirty years on here in 2016 this movement is strong. Over 1100 campuses nationally are part of Campus Compact, including seventeen great Montana campuses. From Flathead Valley Community College, to Fort Peck Community College, and MSU Billings, Carroll College, Rocky, Little Big Horn College and a dozen more.

Each of these institutions, at the CEO level, have made a formal commitment to the importance of community engagement, service learning, and public service from higher education. From the most episodic of volunteer experience, to the most embedded of service learning, our campuses walk that walk! Students don't go to school with the expectation of being leaders at some later point in time, they come in with the expectation that their education will be immediately relevant, that they will be challenged to apply what they learn, and that while in college, they will be called upon to make their communities, and broader world a better place.

In addition to the robust national support for the work of Campus Compact, here in Montana we're proud to have a strong network office whose charge is to support the campus-level work with everything at our disposal. This summer, we'll convene our advisory committee for its first in-person Network Meeting June 8 and 9. Currently, we're seeking proposals to place Montana college students in summer service positions with MTCC's AmeriCorps and VISTA programs.

If you're staff or faculty member, or campus administrator, or a student at a Compact institution, please take a minute this week to consider what you're part of! It's an amazing thing, and we are humbled to work with you.

Sincerely,

The MTCC Network Office Staff

GARDEN CITY TRIATHLON: JUNE 4TH

For the past ten years, Campus Compact has gathered triathletes in western Montana for its annual Garden City Triathlon. This event helps Campus Compact fund its Civic Engagement Scholarships. These scholarships, awarded to exemplary Montana college students and community volunteers leverage campus funds, and help spotlight the great work of college students.

We are excited to bring on an excellent intern and current University of Montana Physical Therapy student, Kathryn Triplett to help organize this year's race. We also work with Missoula's awesome triathlon club, Team Stampede to hold the race.

As always, MTCC is seeking racers, sponsors and volunteers for the event. Please contact Kathryn for details.

This year's race happens on Saturday, June 4th at Frenchtown Pond State Park, just outside of Missoula. Here's the registration page for the race, we hope to see you there.

COMMUNITY BUILDING INSTITUTE TRAINING

The Community Building Institute (CBI) is offered twice a year and hosted by the Montana Campus Compact.  The CBI provides the foundation for service projects to transition into sustained, community-supported programs. This training includes six (6) web-based sessions facilitated by experts in community organizing. The sessions are designed for projects in different stages of development: from the beginning assessment stages to the long-standing project seeking to evaluate its impact.  The CBI Training Series is a crucial resource for the sustainable development of community-based initiatives.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our sessions and presenters are:

Community Assessment  Colleen Kane, University of Montana Associate Director of Community Engagement and Student Programs

Creating Community Awareness and Stakeholder Involvement-  Andrea Vernon, Montana Campus Compact and UM Office for Civic Engagement Executive Director

Building Community Advisory Groups-  Shannon Stober, Owner Verve Exchange

Strategic Planning-  Roch Turner, Bitterroot College Director of Workforce Development and Programs

Strategic Planning Implementation- Roch Turner, Bitterroot College UM Director of Workforce Development and Programs 

Evaluation for Everyday Use-  Kate Chapin, UM Director of Field Education 

This Spring, CBI will begin on February 23rd and end on March 29th.  It will be every Tuesday from 10AM-11AM.  Below is the community building life cycle. 

For more information and how to register please contact Program Specialist Lacy Fiore at 406-243-5671 or fiore@mtcompact.org.  

MTCC SUMMER PROGRAMMING

MTCC VISTA Summer Associates in June, 2015.

Across Montana college students offer communities a myriad of talents. From working and volunteering in schools, with nonprofits and with cities and towns, you can count on a college student to bring fresh perspectives, ideas and energy, whether they're nineteen or forty seven. To support the great needs communities experience over the summer and the great wells of energy, skill and enthusiasm that college students bring, MTCC is continuing and adding resources to our summer AmeriCorps and VISTA programming.

In past years, we've placed as many as thirty VISTA Summer Associates with youth-serving nonprofits, city parks departments and other programs. This year, we will add the new MTCC AmeriCorps program to the equation, bringing additional resources, and a focus on postsecondary readiness, and near-peer college coaching to the work.

MTCC affiliate campuses and their partners are invited to apply to host MTCC Summer AmeriCorps and VISTA members, to add value and impact to their summer programming. Additionally, the MTCC network office is seeking existing partnerships where summer work study awards are utilized to link college students with important community work. These positions may be eligible to link with Education Award vouchers and national service training and affiliation to students. Please reach out and let us know if you need more information, or a phone call!

This page on our website has more information.

MTCC AMERICORPS AND VISTA MEMBERS SERVE ON MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Between Friday, January 15 and Monday, January 18 (and beyond) all across Montana MTCC VISTAs and AmeriCorps Members coordinated or took part in projects that honored the memory of one of our nation's greatest leaders, Martin Luther King Jr . MTCC's national service members conducted MLK Read for Peace events, toiletry drives, art projects and volunteered with local events from Glendive in the east to Hamilton and Kalispell in the west. Here are some of their stories:

Bozeman:

VISTA Jill McIntyre reads to students at Irving Elementary

Our VISTA members in Bozeman (Alex Opie, Lauren Hall, Dalya Kefi, and Jill McIntyre) coordinated and executed an amazing MLK Read for Peace event. They decided to have their program take place during after school programs in Bozeman at the following schools: Morningstar Elementary, Irving Elementary, Whittier Elementary. After reading to each group of children the volunteers discussed the importance of MLK's message and then helped students create drawings of their "dream for the world." This MLK Read for Peace Event was able to engage 12 volunteers (including 3 RSVP members) who contributed 12 hours of their time. They were able to read to 90 students and had their drawings hung up at the Bozeman Public Library.

Butte:

MTCC AmeriCorps Member Noah Davis Pictured top left

MTCCAmeriCorps Member serving with Montana Tech, Noah Davis, working with his team of college student AmeriCorps members led another exceedingly rewarding MLK Read for Peace Event in Butte, Montana. Noah recruited and placed a total of 31 volunteers, who contributed 61 hours over the span of two separate days of reading. A total of 422 students were read to and participated in an art project depicting their interpretation of MLK's famous "dream" from the I Have a Dream speech.

Missoula:

MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA Olivia Carney reads to students and Hellgate Elementary

MTCC AmeriCorps VISTAs (Alanna Reid, Michele Schahczenski, Olivia Carney, Erik Swanson and Jon Van Dyke), and VISTA Leaders (Austin Terreri and Lacy Fiore) organized Missoula's largest MLK Day Read For Peace Event to date. VISTA Leader Lacy Fiore raised a total of $866 from the Missoula Barnes & Noble, which provided MLK books to libraries, schools and communities across Montana. In the Missoula area 8 elementary schools participated, including; Paxson, Hellgate, Rattlesnake, Lowell, Lewis & Clark, DeSmet, Russell and Bonner. A whopping 901 students were read to by 24 volunteers who contributed 38 hours. The volunteers who participated included: MTCC AmeriCorps VISTAs, MTCC Staff, community volunteers and two Missoula City Council members -Gwen Jones & Michelle Cares. After the reading, students participated in art projects that included drawing pictures to writing poems, all centered around the idea of peace and understanding the message of Dr. King. These wonderful pieces of art are currently displayed at the Missoula Barnes & Noble and Missoula Public Library. 

National service members serving with the Montana Campus Compact made an impact in many communities throughout Montana this past Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These volunteers are passionate about sharing the important messages of peace, understanding and nonviolence  and helping to make our world a better place. Congratulations to all of our MTCC AmeriCorps and VISTA members, and for our partners in the National Service, nonprofit and education sectors for contributing to our democracy and for striving to complete MLK's dream in your own way. Thank you for your service. 

MTCC HOSTS MLK JR. READ FOR PEACE EVENTS ACROSS MONTANA.

Lacy Fiore Gets Things Done!

We caught up with Lacy Fiore, AmeriCorps VISTA alum and our current VISTA leader, to discuss the Compact's Martin Luther King Jr. Read For Peace events. Lacy has led the organizing process for events across the state this year and spearheaded two very successful fundraising events that are ensuring that schools and libraries have access to current, age-appropriate books about Martin Luther King Jr.

Tell me about MTCC's Martin Luther King Jr. Read For Peace event. (How it started, history, collaboration across AmeriCorps, VISTA and Senior Corps programs, who's involved, how MTCC campuses get involved)
MLK Read For Peace was started by one of our VISTA alumni, Bess Pallares, in 2010.  Montana Campus Compact VISTAs collaborate with service members across the state to make this a successful event.  Service members include all of the AmeriCorps VISTA programs, and AmeriCorps prograsms like Food Corps and Energy Corps, and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, as well as Senior Corps members. MTCC campuses get involved by connecting college student volunteers with reading project, providing books, outreach for the event and some may even host the event.

Which Montana communities are hosting Read For Peace events this week?
We have VISTA members and AmeriCorps members hosting MLK Read For Peace projects in Missoula, Hamilton, Butte, Billings, Livingston, Bozeman, Glendive and Havre.  You can go to our website to contact a local coordinator to see how you can be part of Read For Peace.

If people want to volunteer as readers, how do they?
If anyone is interested in reading on MLK Read For Peace, they can contact me directly at 406-243-5671 or email me at fiore@mtcompact.org.

Tell us about Barnes And Noble supporting this event?
This year we partnered with our local Barnes and Noble and held two book fairs. At the book fairs, if anyone mentioned Montana Camps Compact or Read For Peace when checking out, a portion of their purchase would go to our initiative.  After both book fairs were finished, we raised over $850 towards MLK books.  With the book s we purchased, we sent them to smaller communities across Montana to support their Read For Peace events.  When the members are finished with the books they will be donated to their local schools and libraries.

Any words of encouragement or advice for volunteers?
Just get out and do it!  The kids love it and have a lot of fun learning about Dr. King.  It’s also fun for volunteers, too!
_______________________________________

Thanks Lacy!