“This program is an ideal fit with the mission of Georgia College,” said GCSU President Dorothy Leland. “Our aim is not only to prepare students for productive careers but also to enable them to be productive citizens that promote the public good. I value this opportunity which will allow our students, professors, and staff to work together as they explore civic responsibility and community engagement.”

Students involved in the program will be taught a wide range of skills, including collaborative problem-solving that stretches across partisan, economic, cultural, and other differences. The program accomplishes this goal by engaging students in hands-on work with community partners, with support from coaches made up of GCSU faculty and staff.

“Georgia College has always worked to build community partnerships, so we’re extremely grateful to have been selected to be part of this new initiative which will allow the university to deepen its existing partnerships and to foster new ones,” said Gregg Kaufman, Georgia College’s director of Civic Engagement.

The Civic Agency Initiative project will begin at GCSU this fall and continue for three years. The program comes to Georgia College through a partnership with the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota.

The initiative was created to assist universities in producing graduates who become agents and architects of positive change in their local and regional communities, according to the center’s director Dr. Harry Boyte