Medical College of Wisconsin Civic Action Plan
MCW is dedicated to leadership and excellence through Community Engagement and the partnering with public and private organizations to enhance learning, research, patient care and the health of the community. Building on our accomplishments in integrating community engagement across the institution, and in furthering our community engagement mission, we have developed a plan aligned with the Campus Compact model, to:
1) Empower our students, faculty, staff and community partners to co-create mutually beneficial partnerships in pursuit of a just, equitable, and sustainable future for communities beyond campus – nearby and around the world;
2) Prepare our students for lives of engaged citizenship, with the motivation and capacity to deliberate, act and lead in pursuit of the public good;
3) Embrace our responsibilities as place-based institutions, contributing to the health and strength of our communities – economically, socially, environmentally, educationally, and politically;
4) Harness the capacity of our institutions – through research, teaching, partnerships, and institutional practice – to challenge the prevailing social and economic inequalities that threaten our democratic future; and
5) Foster an environment that consistently affirms the centrality of the public purposes of higher education by setting high expectations for members of the campus community to contribute to their achievement.
An overview of the goals identified to accomplish this is summarized in the following table:
Outcomes / Goals / Action Items | Which Commitment? | Strategies to Achieve Outcomes | |
1 | Engage departments, centers and institutes across MCW in Community Engagement Mission | Harness the capacity | Work directly with leadership, representatives, staff and faculty from a broad coalition of centers, institutes and departments thru the Seed Grant Program, Health Science Square, Community Engagement Liaison Program and other SAD Office programs |
2 | Set plan for increasing absorption/integration of mission across entities. Not necessarily having everyone, but just more of everyone. | Foster an environment | Use Community Engagement Survey to start discussion of our current baseline and how we could orient a plan to encourage integration of CE Mission. Leverage the Community Engagement Liaison Program being developed |
3 | Community Partner Assessment – who we are using in our committees and projects
Create database people keep feeding into. This is our cachement database/ Partners working with us |
We empower | Leverage departmental liaison program and CE Core to develop plan for community partner tracking |
4 | Establish Network across region for Community Engagement Support and Collaboration | Foster an Environment | Leverage Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and Dr. Ahmed’s leadership to establish network |
5 | Leverage social media to further the mission, share information and engage community and constituents | Foster an environment | Continue promoting Twitter, Facebook, CELR, Website and other online and social media platform communications; look for new opportunities to connect with people online |
6 | Grant Partnerships | Harness Capacity | Partner with other MCW centers, institutes, departments and community partners to apply for new grant funding for community-engaged projects |
7 | Provide students with access to and develop new community engagement training and education opportunities | Prepare Students | Partner with MCW Pathways for medical students to incorporate community engagement in pathways curriculum via Community Engagement Lunch & Learn Events |
8 | Give exposure to pipeline programs and Pathways students about community engagement thru access to CE events and activities | Prepare Students | Foster partnerships with Pathways and pipeline programs in MCW Community Engagement Week |