2024 Election Engagement

 

Events and Activities

Here you’ll find election-related events and other activities CU Boulder faculty, staff and graduate students are undertaking to engage and educate the public. Examples include public panels and dialogues, lectures, workshops, education for newly eligible voters, etc.  

Below you can view events or other activities your CU colleagues have shared. To submit an event or program for inclusion, please complete this form.

Calendar Events

Other Activities

Listen to the episode here.

In the September episode of NEPC Talks Education, Christopher Saldaña interviews George Mason University professor David Houston about partisanship and polarization in education policy. Houston is the director of EdPolicyForward and the survey director of the Education Next poll at Harvard University.

Professor Houston delves into the complex landscape of partisanship and polarization in education policy, offering a nuanced perspective on how these forces shape public opinion and policy decisions. He explains that while many education issues have become increasingly divided along party lines over the past two decades, some issues still maintain bipartisan support. For instance, he notes that while there are “gargantuan partisan divides on things like classroom instruction about structural racism or gender identity,” there are also areas of common ground, such as support for increased teacher salaries.

Nonetheless, he points out an emerging divergence between "red" and "blue" states in terms of education policies and practices. He provides concrete examples, such as Florida's decision to no longer offer AP African American Studies, contrasted with California's requirement for students to take an ethnic studies class to graduate from high school. This trend, he warns, could lead to “a notably, tangibly different public education system in red and blue states.”

Houston explains that while research findings don't always directly influence policy decisions, they can "create a community of knowledge" that becomes valuable when political conditions are right for change. He cites the implementation of tutoring programs to address pandemic-related learning loss as an example of research intersecting fruitfully with policy needs.

General principles:

  • Employees have the right as private citizens to freedom of expression and participation in the political process.
  • When expressing personal political views, university employees should be clear that they are not representing a university position and endeavor to maintain the principle of university impartiality in political campaigns.
  • Private political activities must be conducted on personal time and without using university resources (computers, copiers, email addresses, promotional materials).

Employees should refrain from the following activities while at work:

  • Sending or forwarding emails from university-hosted email accounts in support of or in opposition to candidates or ballot initiatives.
  • Using university office supplies (including computers, copiers and fax machines) to create or disseminate campaign materials.
  • Making calls on university phones in support of or opposition to a political candidate or ballot initiatives.
  • Using university computers to make monetary contributions to political campaigns.
  • Placing campaign materials in locations not designated for general signage.

In general, employees may engage in the following activities while at work:

  • Discussing political issues and political campaigns with one another while on break.
  • Wearing buttons or clothing promoting a particular candidate or issue, provided that the employee does not regularly interact with the public as part of their job duties.
  • Placing a bumper sticker on a personal vehicle.
  • Participating in campaign-related activities on personal time.

For more information on guidelines on campaign-related activity by members of the university community, including specific rules for faculty, please refer to this document. 

Special Request for Proposals

The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship solicits proposals for grants of up to $2,000 to support community engagement activities and/or the public dissemination of scholarship related to the 2024 election. The purpose of these grants is to support CU Boulder faculty, staff and students in engaging and educating communities external to the university on topics that are salient to the 2024 election, including but not limited to mis/disinformation, voting rights, constitutional law, and election law. 

Review the request for proposals here

   APPLY HERE 

 

Applicant must be a CU Boulder faculty member, staff member or currently enrolled graduate student (with a faculty or staff advisor). 

The most competitive grant proposals provide clear evidence of how the proposed activities and events address issues related to American politics, election law, constitutional law, voting rights or mis-and disinformation meet the following criteria: 

  • Align with the campus definition of outreach and engagement and our office’s mission 
  • Support communities with less access to university resources
  • Connect to CU Boulder scholarship (research, teaching or creative work) 
  • Provide mutual benefit to CU Boulder and external community participants  
  • Travel costs (e.g., mileage, lodging)  
  • Program materials or supplies, including food  
  • Participant stipends and expenses  
  • Pay for currently enrolled students up to $1,000 

The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship will accept proposals on a rolling basis during the fall 2024 semester. Once the funding pool has been expended, no additional proposals will be accepted. 

  • Write your proposal so that it is clear to all.  
  • Be sure to spell out acronyms and provide definitions for technical terms.  
  • Prepare a draft of your proposal to cut and paste into the online submission form so that you have a copy for your records. 
  • Check your word count. The online form will cut off any information that exceeds the maximum word count. 

Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship staff review Tier 1 grant proposals on a rolling basis. Successful applicants will be notified within one week of submitting their proposal. 

An academic unit or department must sponsor and maintain fiscal oversight of the project. 

Funding Requirements 

  • Submit the funded activity for inclusion on the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship’s 2024 Election Engagement webpage.  
  • Sign the funding agreement and provide a Fund 29 speedtype within 30 days after receiving funding notification. Information for creating a new speedtype can be found on the University Controller website.  

Communications requirements  

  • Inform your department communicator and Gretchen Minekime, Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship communications program manager, about any events or story ideas related to your project.  
  • Acknowledge that the project received Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship) grant funding on communications about your project including webpages, stories or press releases, and presentation materials.  
  • Tag @CUBoulderPACES on any social media posts related to your project.  
  • Respond in a timely manner to office staff about project deadlines or publicity related to the project, which may be featured on the Community Outreach and Engagement Programs website.   

Reporting Requirements  

  • Complete a brief status report within 30 days of the grant period’s end. Note that the status report must be completed prior to submitting additional funding requests to the office. 

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The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship provides four tiers of funding. See other Engaged Scholarship Grant opportunities.  

Questions: engagedscholarship@colorado.edu