Our Mission:
Our Mission:
Embedded Files
Town Hall Meeting (THM) is a Public Sphere Pedagogy event that began in 2007. Every year since then, it has allowed students to engage in their civic efficacy and create change. Students choose policy topics and research their topics for weeks to form a policy statement to create change. Consultants and Moderators from the Chico community are invited to discuss policy topics with students to find ways to implement changes. The conversations and interactions at this event encourage students to maintain a growth mindset and find their place at Chico State.
Town Hall Meeting helped students:
Town Hall Meeting helped students:
Connect their classroom learning to the greater community.
Foster a sense of belonging.
Network with local professionals in areas of interest to students.
Get involved with the campus and community beyond the THM event.
How Participation Worked:
How Participation Worked:
Breakout Sessions:
Breakout Sessions:
Assigned breakout rooms were shared with students before the Town Hall Meeting. During the breakout session, moderators first took attendance in their designated room and handed out a Policy Worksheet, which students completed as the night went on and turned in at the end of the night. The moderator then went around the room and askedww students to share their policy statement.
The consultant in the room was experienced, and they were there to help students learn new ideas for their policy and help come up with solutions. Students had conversations with their peers, moderator, and consultant in order to further their policy and create change.
Closing Conversations:
Closing Conversations:
Students went to the BMU Auditorium to participate in the Closing Conversations. In this part of the event, each student was responsible for visiting tables to discuss with their peers and consultants their experience in the breakout session, feedback they got, and anything they found interesting. After discussions, students filled out the Policy Worksheet they received in their breakout room and turned in the worksheet in the boxes with their teacher assistant's name.
Student Participants:
Student Participants:
Students enrolled in specific sections of POLS 155 participate in Town Hall Meeting as a critical component of their coursework. Students have researched a policy issue of their choice and prepared to discuss their research in a public forum. They have identified a specific policy problem and developed a potential policy solution to that problem.
Consultants:
Consultants:
Consultants are experts in an area related to their assigned policy topic, and their role is to provide their professional experience to support students in developing realistic policy solutions. Consultants will often engage in discussions with smaller groups (~3-5 students), and being an active listener to student ideas is equally important to sharing knowledge and expertise.
Moderators:
Moderators:
Moderators are often local teachers, Chico State or Butte College faculty, and POLS 155 TAs, and their role is to get all students involved in discussions and to support students in facilitating discussions. Some elements of the event are in larger groups (~25 students) and some elements are in smaller groups (~3-5 students), so the moderators support students in navigating their role in each element of the event to optimize student participation.
THM at a Glance:
THM at a Glance:
2,496 total student participants from Fall 2022 - Fall 2025
2,496 total student participants from Fall 2022 - Fall 2025
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