American Democracy Project

ADP is Central to My Mission

Since 2003 I have had the good fortune to be involved in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' American Democracy Project (ADP).  Founded in the early 2000's by Provosts at twelve AASCU universities, ADP seeks to build social capital and civic engagement among college students.  Influenced by Putnam's findings in Bowling Alone, the Provosts met at the Wingspread Conference to develop a nationwide commitment to universities being a core locus for civic skills building and acts of leadership.  

Over time I have held a number of roles, both on participating campuses and with the ADP national leadership.

Campus Leadership

• Radford University

  • Member, Radford Coalition for Civic Engagement.  Advises the Citizen Leader program and ADP campus coordinator.

  • Voter Registration, Education, and Mobilization campus leader, 2022-present

    • Named an ALL IN Challenge Most Engaged Campus for 2022

• University of West Georgia

  • ADP Campus Director, (2017-2021)

  • Voter Registration, Education, and Mobilization campus leader, 2020-2021

  • Chair, Georgia (statewide) caucus of ADP institutions, 2018-2021

• Fort Hays State University

  • Creator and Supervisor, Times Talk.  (2003-2017) As part of our ADP commitment while at FHSU, I founded the Times Talk program in conjunction with our partner the New York Times.  Weekly talks on topics in the NYT were conducted by faculty, students, and community members.  

  • ADP Campus Coordinator, (2004-2008).  Chaired the ADP Vision Team, supervised all campus activities, and served as liaison with the AASCU leadership.  

  • Five-time presenter at ADP annual meeting

National Leadership

• ADP National Steering Committee Member, 2024-2025

• ADP National Civic Fellow, 2022-2024

  • Renewed for a second term to conduct an in-depth study of ADP institutionalization at participating campuses

• ADP National Civic Fellow, 2019-2021.

  • Liaised with national steering committee on behalf of Georgia Caucus

• Chair of Georgia Caucus of ADP Institutions, 2018-2021

  • Produced an ADP Coordinator's Guide for new and reviving ADP institutions