Abstract
This chapter chronicles our efforts to establish a certificate (i.e., an interdisciplinary minor) in public service and civic engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The proposal, which we submitted in 2009, initially met with considerable resistance from some members of our Faculty Senate. After more than a year of negotiations, modifications, and compromises, we arrived at a much stronger proposal, which was endorsed by the Faculty Senate and implemented in fall 2011. We describe the certificate and its academic rationale, recount the objections of our colleagues, and offer an anthropological analysis of their resistance. From this experience we are able to offer some advice to colleagues hoping to undertake a similar endeavor, including a mapping tool that can help them organize to get their own programs approved.
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© 2012 Dan W. Butin and Scott Seider
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Keene, A.S., Reiff, J. (2012). Contending with Political and Cultural Campus Challenges. In: Butin, D.W., Seider, S. (eds) The Engaged Campus. Community Engagement in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137113283_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137113283_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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