University Partnerships for Education and Citizenship — UPEC

At its annual conference in November 2004 the Alliance of Universities for Democracy (AUDEM) launched a project titled University Partnerships for Education and Citizenship (UPEC). The project is being organized by European and American AUDEM member universities, in collaboration with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and the Council of Europe's project "2005 — The European Year of Citizenship Through Education."

AUDEM's University Partnerships for Education and Citizenship project grows out of a similar project begun by AASCU and The New York Times in 2002, called the American Democracy Project (ADP). The ADP itself grew out of a perception that in general American university students do not have a clear sense of the importance of civic engagement and democratic citizenship, and that American universities need to do more to help students develop the habits necessary for an informed and active citizenry, on which a healthy democracy depends. In an effort to address this problem at American universities AASCU and The Times joined forces to create the American Democracy Project. At present there are 180 American universities participating in the project. The goals of the ADP are to:

1. Create a national conversation among many universities about the theory and practice of civic engagement;
2. Develop institutional commitment by involving senior administrators, faculty, and students; addressing core institutional mission and purpose; and focusing on civic engagement as a learning outcome for undergraduates;
3. Assist and support AASCU campuses as they develop new projects, curricula, teaching strategies, and approaches to civic engagement, and;
4. Disseminate the models that result to a wide audience of higher education institutions and individuals. (See the ADP website: http://www.aascu.org/programs/adp/default.htm)

Current developments in Europe, both inside and outside the European Union, suggest that there are similar issues among European university students. Like American students, they tend to see democracy as a set of opportunities without its attendant responsibilities, and they also tend to regard their university education primarily or even solely as a vocational exercise which should lead to nothing more than a job or career after graduation.

With this perception in mind, AUDEM approached AASCU and The New York Times to propose a collaborative project to address citizenship and civic engagement issues in European universities. AASCU readily agreed to participate, as did The Times, and The Times also proposed to involve The International Herald Tribune. At the same time, the Council of Europe has organized independently its project titled "2005 — The European Year of Citizenship through Education." With such a close overlap in project goals, the Council of Europe and AUDEM have agreed to collaborate on the creation of the University Partnerships in Education and Citizenship (UPEC).

The UPEC project was inaugurated at the 2004 Annual Conference of AUDEM, which was held 7 – 10 November in Pécs, Hungary. Representatives from AASCU, The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and the Council of Europe joined AUDEM member universities and their representatives to develop the UPEC project. In addition, several presidents and academic vice presidents from American universities that participate in the ADP were present at the AUDEM conference. Together we created the UPEC project to address civic engagement and democratic citizenship issues and activities in participating European universities.

AUDEM now extends an invitation to the leadership of all interested European and American universities to join us in the UPEC project. There were several important results of the meeting in Pécs that begin to define the project:

1. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities has agreed to arrange for partnerships between American and European universities that participate in UPEC. For example, each European university that participates will be partnered with an appropriate American participating university, and the two will work together to develop projects and activities that address the goal of developing more thoughtful awareness of the nature and responsibilities of democratic citizenship among their students. Partners will have several expectations and responsibilities:
   1. Designate an individual with the necessary expertise and institutional authority to develop a relationship with the partner university;
   2. Make use of the American Corners that exist in CEE countries for no-cost digital video-conferencing;
   3. Host delegations from each other's university;
   4. Maintain regular communication between the partner universities to share experiences, provide advice, evaluate the progress of the project, etc.;
   5. Share appropriate materials when possible that will assist the partner in developing the project;
   6. Develop to the extent possible joint activities that integrate the teaching staff and students from each university with their counterparts at the partner institution.
2. The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune have agreed to make available to participating universities subscriptions to the newspapers and access to their websites. Both organizations have activities and projects that deal with the question of the nature of civic engagement and democratic citizenship, and both are important partners in our pursuit of the goals of UPEC.

AUDEM is pleased and proud to be a participant in the creation of this important project. We believe that the experiences of each of us can assist the others and that together American and European educators can advance the cause of democracy and civic citizenship in all our countries. Universities in Europe and the US can and should play an important role in the development of democratic societies, and we are convinced that what we all do together will be better and stronger than what any of us tries to do separately.

AUDEM looks forward to working with rectors, presidents and other university leaders in the creation and development of the University Partnerships for Education and Citizenship.