How to Host a Regional Roundtable

          Our  NYCC member institutions represent a wealth of experience  in service-learning, campus/community partnerships and civic engagement.  We also have many new institutional members and many newcomers to the field, both faculty and staff.  As a service to NYCC members, and to advance the good practices of service-learning and campus-community partnerships in New York, we have developed a mechanism for sharing our collective knowledge and for improving regional networking opportunities. Variously known as roundtables, learning circles or clinics, the key features are low cost, time-efficiency, high interaction, and easy access.

          This endeavor is a  response to our members’ desires to simply “get together for a couple of hours with my counterparts from nearby campuses to explore topics from the nuts and bolts to the grandiose, to connect a face with a name, and perhaps raise issues I can’t at home...Something less formal than NYCC’s one-day workshops or the familiar 2-3 day professional conferences.”

          A roundtable can be hosted by any member campus, at any time of year, on any topic.  A host institution will provide meeting space, parking, directions, and any food service they choose to host - from a simple coffee break to a deli lunch.    NYCC will provide a checklist of procedures, on-line registration and templates and mailing lists for publicity.  We will also provide sample Campus Compact publications for a resource table.  Registration fees  should be modest, in the range of $25 to $45, depending on food service.  A host campus may set a maximum limit on participants, or permit open-ended numbers.  All registrations will be online and prepaid to NYCC. 

 The ideal roundtable is a 2-3 hour get-together on a selected topic (or topics) for colleagues within a reasonable commuting distance.  A “featured speaker” or expert presenter is not a requirement.  A discussion leader will get the ball rolling, and the conversations will take their own course. Envision a gathering that is  more focused than a water-cooler confab and less formal than a  conference session.  We have identified a number of key topics of interest, but a host institution may choose a specific topic.  

To be an effective stimulant for subsequent networking, roundtables will need both newcomers and veterans.  Some topics may be more appropriate for faculty—design and operation of service-learning courses, for example.  Others may be best for CSD/SLD’s and staff—e.g., student recruitment or community relationships.  Others will be useful to all who are involved in civic engagement, volunteerism, student leadership, institutional change, or program sustainability

Regional  Roundtable Topics

The NYCC Advisory Committee developed the following potential topics for regional roundtables based on areas of need/interest most frequently expressed by members. (If you wish to host a roundtable in your region, you may also survey nearby institutions by means of a survey form developed by NYCC.)

Service-Learning 101: For faculty who want to introduce a service-learning component into their courses.  Discussion of pedagogy, evaluation and credit, supervision, relationships with community sites/projects/partners, department chairs and colleagues.  An overview for newcomers.

Service-Learning 501: For faculty experienced with service-learning in their courses and majors.  Advanced discussions of course planning, assessment, curriculum and institutional change, scholarship of engagement, promotion and tenure criteria, community-based research.  A roundtable for faculty veterans, academic administators.

Evaluation and Assessment in Community Service, Service-Learning: For CSD’s and staff, faculty and others interested in “telling the story” of the impacts and the value of service-based learning and civic engagement—to students, campus and community.  Ideas and examples of tools and techniques, and approaches to deans, presidents, funders and agencies will be shared.

The Reflection Dynamic: Key to successful service-based learning, for credit or not, is the process of reflection and deeper analysis of experience.  A focus on the tools, techniques and outcomes of a self-aware learning process  will be featured.

Campus-Wide Planning for Civic Engagement: Strategies, goals and pitfalls encountered in the adoption of a public service ethic across the institution.

Campus-Wide Planning for Service-Learning: Strategies, goals and pitfalls encountered in the broad adoption of service-learning across the curriculum.

Planning a Service Project: Step by step: identifying a need, planning and implementing the project(s), recruiting/supervising students, working with community partners, reflection and celebration.

Establishing a Public Service Center: Strategies for organizing, funding, staffing and managing an organizational unit for community service, civic engagement, student leadership, social justice, related themes.

New York Campus Compact Roundtable Checklist

The roundtable approach offers a wonderful opportunity for colleagues to meet and discuss the issues that are important to them in a collegial and interactive setting. The overhead is low and the administrative requirements are very manageable.  Here is a checklist to simplify the process of hosting a roundtable.

Planning and Preparation

1. Topic

In consultation with the NYCC, select a topic and write a program description.  In your description, emphasize the fact that this is an opportunity to meet with colleagues and discuss issues of shared concern.  It is not a seminar or a workshop.  We each bring our own expertise and challenges to share with each other.  Submit the text to the NYCC for approval.

2. Publicity

Once the text is approved, order postcards for a mailing.  NYCC will provide a postcard template as a pdf that you can have printed locally. NYCC will also provide you with a mailing list of approximately 300 names.  You are asked to cover the expense of the mailing.  In addition to the postcard mailing, NYCC will also generate an e-mail announcement to the membership. Your name, phone number and e-mail address will be included so that participants have an institutional contact.

3. Registration

On-line registration is handled by the NYCC office via the website.  On-line registration will close one week before the event.  NYCC will send you weekly emails to update you on the number of participants registered. If you wish to limit the number of participants, please indicate number before online registration opens.

4. Meeting Space and Food

You will need to reserve space and order catering for the group. Host campus is responsible for food service and can range from a simple coffee break to a deli lunch depending on your budget and the time of the meeting.

5. Confirming E-Mail

Once you have your registrants confirmed, send an e-mail which includes the following:

• Program Description (as described in the original announcement)
• Directions to your institution
• Parking information
• Local accommodations if applicable
• Invitation to bring handouts from participant’s institutions for a resource table

6. Name Tags Provide name tags identifying participants by name, title and institution; this information will be forwarded to you by the NYCC.

7. Logistics: Parking, Security, Accommodations

• Post signs directing visitors to the location
• Remind people to bring photo i.d. to clear security
• Provide a guest list to your campus security office
• Secure parking permits if applicable.  If you do not have parking on campus, provide a list of area garages

8. Agenda

Generate an agenda that includes a brief welcome from your institution, and a framework for the day’s discussion. 

Day of Event

9. Check-In Procedures

Your check-in table should include a list of participants to be checked off upon their arrival.  All participants will have prepaid to attend the meeting (their registration form serves as a receipt); payments should not be accepted the day of  the event. If the participant has not paid, NYCC will bill them directly. After the event, mail the attendee list to:

New York Campus Compact
95 Brown Road, Box 1006
Ithaca, New York 14850

10. Welcome and Agenda Review

Your role as emcee is brief but necessary and should include the following points:

• Welcome participants and provide a brief overview of your institution’s commitment to service/civic engagement
• Outline goals for the event, review the agenda
• Ask participants to introduce themselves 
• Serve as timekeeper for roundtable sessions

11. Evaluations

Make sure to leave enough time for participants to fill out evaluation forms. Collect and return evaluations to the NYCC.

      12.  Contact list
Circulate a contact sheet for attendees who wish to share their name and e-mail address with the other participants.  Forward the list to the NYCC for distribution to participants. 

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