The Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement portray six ways we can use our time and resources to help the common good. The Pathways, developed at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, describe a range of possibilities by which we can make a contribution to the common good and illustrate the big picture for the programs the Morgridge Center 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.
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Community-Engaged Learning and Research
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.
Pathway opportunities on campus:
Community Organizing and Activism
Community Organizing and Activism includes involving, educating, and mobilizing individual or collective action to influence or persuade others.
Pathway opportunities on campus:
Direct Service
Direct Service includes working to address the immediate needs of individuals or a community, often involving contact with the people or places being served.
Pathway opportunities on campus:
Philanthropy
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.
Pathway opportunities on campus:
Policy and Governance
Policy and Governance connects the participation in the political processes, policymaking, and public governance.
Pathway opportunities on campus:
Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility
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.
Pathway opportunities on campus:
- Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic
- Morgridge Entrepreneurial Bootcamp (Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship)
- Forward BIO Institute: Innovators in Training Program
- Institute for Studies in Transitional Entrepreneurship (INSITE)
- Isthmus Project
- The Madison Entrepreneur Resource, Learning and Innovation Network (MERLIN) Mentors
- StartUP Entrepreneurial Learning Community
- Transcend Madison Innovation Competition
- Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Entrepreneurons
- WISolve Consulting Group
- Wisconsin Small Business Development Center UW-Madison
Graduate-Student Specific Options
Find out about more pathways opportunities here.
Pathways in Action
Civic Engagement
Democracy Never Sleeps: See how students stay involved in civic activities year-round, regardless of whether or not its an election season.
Direct Service
Adapted Fitness: In the School of Education’s Department of Kinesiology, the program received a shout out in Madison Magazine for its "fit-inspiration."
Community-Based Research
Centro-Hispano & SoHE: Check out a tool kit for how community organizations can evaluate when and how to work with researchers on projects.
Policy and Governance
Statewide Student Council: The Associated Students of Madison is working with other schools across Wisconsin to launch a governing body that would advocate for all UW System students.
Activism
Artivism: A new program provides immediate financial support for UW–Madison student projects intersecting art and activism.
Social Entrepreneurship
Encouraging Student Entrepreneurs: A new UW-Madison lab is mobilizing the entrepreneurial ecosystem by working to identify the conditions that foster student entrepreneurship.