Civic Literacy
Appalachian State University has been recognized nationally for its commitment to increasing student voter registration, education, and rates. With this in mind, Community-Engaged Leadership continues to provide comprehensive voter resources, voter advocacy initiatives, nonpartisan education related to politics and government, and overall civic leadership and engagement opportunities.
App Votes
App Votes in conjunction with the Office of Community-Engaged Leadership created a Voter Coalition to meet the requirement to make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration forms to all students. The vision of App Votes is to implement voter registration and education activities and increase student participation in local, state, and national voting and election initiatives this year and in future elections.
Civic Literacy Initiative
The Civic Literacy Initiative seeks to foster a nonpartisan, civically engaged, and informed campus community. Through Student Affairs and Academic Affairs collaboration, we will help our students examine complex questions and learn to discuss them with confidence and respect for differences in thought, belief, opinion, and background. With a strong commitment to student success, freedom of expression, institutional neutrality, academic freedom, and nondiscrimination, we seek to support all students as they develop into leaders who can skillfully navigate complex conversations, increase democratic engagement, and build strong community ties through experiential learning.
Dialogue Across Differences
Dialogue Across Differences is an important value at Appalachian State University. To support this, we have partnered with the Constructive Dialogue Institute to support Mountaineers in building skills to practice constructive dialogue: a form of conversation where people with different perspectives try to understand each other – without giving up their own beliefs – in order to live, learn, and work together.
Free Speech Officers:
Jeff Cathey
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
studentaffairs@appstate.edu
828-262-2060
Jamie Parson
Acting Senior Vice Provost of Faculty Policies, Development and Training
andersonja2@appstate.edu
828-262-2980
Constructive Dialogue
Summer Wisdom
CEL Assistant Director
wisdomss@appstate.edu
App Votes and Civic Literacy
Heather Jo Mashburn
CEL Director
mashburnhj@appstate.edu