Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement
The Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement portray six ways we can use our time and resources to help the common good. Campus Compact is proud to partner with the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University to expand the reach of the Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement and support its associated Working Group.
These pathways illustrate the big picture for the programs the Morgridge Center for Public Service delivers and supports. They intersect and overlap, demonstrating there is no one single path to participate in public service.
Find the Pathway for You
These pathways identify means for cultivating and supporting a culture of engagement on our campus. They provide ways to contribute in a positive fashion to significant public problems and will best prepare our campus community for a future of productive contributions to the public good.
Community-Engaged Learning and Research connects coursework and academic research to community-identified concerns to enrich knowledge and inform sustainable action on social issues for students and community partners.
Philanthropy includes donating or using private funds or charitable contributions from individuals or institutions to contribute to the public good. Many student organizations have philanthropic connections.
Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility connects ethical business or private sector approaches to create or expand market-oriented responses to social or environmental problems.
Direct Service includes working to address the immediate needs of individuals or a community, often involving contact with the people or places being served.
Community Organizing and Activism includes involving, educating, and mobilizing individual or collective action to influence or persuade others.
Policy and Governance connects the participation in the political processes, policymaking, and public governance.
Pathways in Action
Civic Engagement
More Than a Ballot
Students in a new University of Wisconsin–Madison civic design course are helping reimagine the experience of first-time voters, from start to finish, to feel more like a celebration.
Community-based Learning
Bridging Intergenerational Divides in Plymouth
Educational Policy Studies 580 partnered with Rocky Knoll, a Sheboygan County-run facility serving people in short-term rehabilitation and long-term care, community plays a central role in daily life.
Activism
Finding a Voice Through Voting
Genevieve Lambert didn’t come to UW–Madison expecting civic engagement to be the defining factor of her college experience. But she fell into it accidentally.
Direct Service
Discovering Meaning with Badger Volunteers
For Karissa Garcia, a fourth-year student studying chemical engineering, Badger Volunteers has been the most impactful way for her to engage with the Madison community beyond classes and campus.
Life-Long Learning
Finding Community in the Digital Space
During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicole Ramer found herself navigating graduate school, isolation and a cancer diagnosis all at once.
Social Entrepreneurship
Fostering Student Entrepreneurs
A new lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is mobilizing the entrepreneurial ecosystem by working to identify the conditions that foster student entrepreneurship.