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El Sistema and º£½ÇÉçÇøâ€™s Partnership

2024 º£½ÇÉçÇø Civic and Community-Engaged Excellence award applications

Supporting and Growing Community Engaged Learning at º£½ÇÉçÇø: A White Paper

Community Engagement at º£½ÇÉçÇø is

Photo with various colors with the words "Community Engagement at Metropolitan State University of Denver"

  • Collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global), in accordance with the Carnegie Institution guidelines for community engagement.
  • A mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.
  • Designed so that students learn beyond the classroom and/or see classroom learning and activities in theory and practice in the context of community and service.
  • Volunteering, voting, fostering internships, organizing community events, as well as faculty working in partnership with community organizations and campus offices to develop mutually beneficial projects such as pursuing quantitative and qualitative research, the development of resource guides and best practices, along with many other endeavors.
  • Centering the university as a resource for the community and our partners in it.
  • Working with diverse community partners to further the mission of the University through collaborative work that benefits all partners.

Resources for students, faculty and staff, and community members

Vote

Register to vote, learn about upcoming election dates and more.

Voting Resources

Roadrunner Engagement Highlights

2020 NSLVE Campus Report for º£½ÇÉçÇø

The tailored National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) report contains º£½ÇÉçÇø students’ 2020 voting rates, along with disaggregate data from 2016 and 2018.

2020 NSLVE Report – º£½ÇÉçÇø Students’ Voting Rates

Thanks to the broad and inclusive efforts to engage student voters, total student-voter participation at º£½ÇÉçÇø rose from 65.9% in 2016, compared with a 50.4% voting rate among all higher-education institutions, to 75.4% in 2020, compared with 66% across all institutions.

A Gold Seal stating

º£½ÇÉçÇø earns Another Gold Seal from the All In Campus Democracy Challenge

The (ALL IN) recognized º£½ÇÉçÇø for its nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that fostered high levels of student voter engagement in the 2022 midterm elections. º£½ÇÉçÇø received the Gold Seal, reflecting its commitment to ensuring that nonpartisan democratic engagement is a defining feature of campus life.

This earned the University another recognition in All In’s gold category, which honors institutions that achieve a student-voter participation rate of 40% – 49%. The award was announced during the organization’s biennial awards ceremony Monday September 9, 2024.

Students and high schoolers make their own violins at º£½ÇÉçÇø.

El Sistema and º£½ÇÉçÇøâ€™s Partnership

Fall 2023 MSU partnered with El Sistema, a community music program, encourages early childhood students to engage meaningfully with music. The program teaches preschool aged children leadership skills, teamwork, and instrument readiness. Ingrid Larragoity, Executive Director of El Sistema, partnered with Dr. Elizabeth Parmlee, AVP of Undergraduate Studies, and John Wanberg, Prof of Industrial Design, to create 3d models of violins. John spent time designing and printing 100 violins and then Undergraduate Studies organized a time for MSU students to assemble the pieces of the violins. 20 MSU students and 8 El Sistema employees participated in assembling the violins this fall. The Violins were sponsored by CLAS, via John Masserini.

Side-by-side logos for the Hart Center for Public Service & for º£½ÇÉçÇø

Inaugural Federal Internship Program

Summer 2022, º£½ÇÉçÇø in partnership with the Hart Center for Public Service is providing the to six º£½ÇÉçÇø students, who will spend 10 weeks in Washington, D.C., this summer with a member of Congress or at another federal agency. Students participating in the program will learn about public-service roles through mentorship and by assisting in day-to-day operations. The internship program is funded by the Hart Center and funds secured by º£½ÇÉçÇø President Janine Davidson, Ph.D. It comes with a hearty endorsement from Davidson, who since becoming president in 2017 has championed the role that the University plays in developing the next generation of public servants. The six 2022 º£½ÇÉçÇø public service interns are:  Li Chen Chen, an English major; Jackie Alderete, a senior majoring in Political Science; James Vargas, a sophomore majoring in Political Science; Evan Pierpont, a junior majoring in Sustainable Systems Engineering; Kiah Jenkins, a sophomore Political Science major; and Dailynn Quintela, a senior majoring in Political Science.

All In Campus Democracy Challenge Gold Seal Campus ribbon for the 2020 Presidential Election

º£½ÇÉçÇø earns Gold Seal from the All In Campus Democracy Challenge

Thanks to broad and inclusive efforts to engage student voters, Metropolitan State University of Denver earned a Gold Seal from the All In Campus Democracy Challenge for nonpartisan student-voter participation in the 2020 Presidential Election. Total student-voter participation at º£½ÇÉçÇø rose from 65.9% in 2016 (compared with a 50.4% voting rate among all higher-education institutions) to 75.4% in 2020 (compared with 66% across all institutions).

This earned the University recognition in All In’s gold category, which honors institutions that achieve a student-voter participation rate of 70% to 80%. The award was announced during the organization’s third biennial awards ceremony Monday November 9, 2021.

º£½ÇÉçÇø cheer squad.

º£½ÇÉçÇø Athletes Named Finalists for the NCAA 2021 Division II Award of Excellence

Student-athletes from º£½ÇÉçÇø were named finalists for the NCAA 2021 Division II Award of Excellence. Chosen from schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, º£½ÇÉçÇø athletes were recognized for their Food for Thought work. Student-athletes from all º£½ÇÉçÇø teams have participated in Food for Thought activities, an organization dedicated to eliminating weekend hunger for children in the area. Student-athletes packed PowerSacks, which include enough to feed a family of four two meals. Food for Thought served 53 elementary schools and more than 10,000 children.

Twenty-eight schools were named finalists for the accolade which recognizes initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership. Division II honors its members each year for conducting events that promote student-athletes giving back and serving as leaders within their communities or on their campuses.

Awards

º£½ÇÉçÇø made the honor roll of Washington Monthly’s 2021 . With the rise of youth voters, Washington Monthly sought to recognize universities whose administrations actively support student-voting organizers. To land a spot on this year’s Washington Monthly honor roll, institutions had to show repeated commitment to increasing student voting. Among several qualification requirements, º£½ÇÉçÇø made the University’s 2016 and 2018 National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement data publicly available. Thank you, Roadrunners, for your commitment to community and civic duty.

In 2020, Campus Compact recognized º£½ÇÉçÇø with the for its demonstrated “efforts to address issues of public concern by aligning teaching, research, practice, and values in service of the common good.”  More specifically, the university was granted the award “for its comprehensive, institution-wide approach to planning for institutional change, which has included a Civic Action Plan, emerging assessment, connected efforts across departments, and clarity around institutional goals. As an urban land-grant institution, º£½ÇÉçÇø has committed to being an institution of the city, an integral, visible part of the communities within which it exists. º£½ÇÉçÇø demonstrates a clear and active commitment to strengthening its understanding of urban issues and to partnering with and serving its neighbor organizations in order to better meet the needs of the metropolitan area.”

In 2017, º£½ÇÉçÇø received the award for the Highest Undergraduate Voting Rate from with a total of 65.3% of undergraduate students who voted.