El Sistema and MSU Denver’s Partnership
2024 MSU Denver Civic and Community-Engaged Excellence award applications
Supporting and Growing Community Engaged Learning at MSU Denver: A White Paper
Community Engagement at MSU Denver is
- Collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global), in accordance with the Carnegie Institution guidelines for community engagement.
- A mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.
- Designed so that students learn beyond the classroom and/or see classroom learning and activities in theory and practice in the context of community and service.
- Volunteering, voting, fostering internships, organizing community events, as well as faculty working in partnership with community organizations and campus offices to develop mutually beneficial projects such as pursuing quantitative and qualitative research, the development of resource guides and best practices, along with many other endeavors.
- Centering the university as a resource for the community and our partners in it.
- Working with diverse community partners to further the mission of the University through collaborative work that benefits all partners.
Resources for students, faculty and staff, and community members
Roadrunner Engagement Highlights
2020 NSLVE Campus Report for MSU Denver
The tailored National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) report contains MSU Denver students’ 2020 voting rates, along with disaggregate data from 2016 and 2018.
2020 NSLVE Report – MSU Denver Students’ Voting Rates
Thanks to the broad and inclusive efforts to engage student voters, total student-voter participation at MSU Denver rose from 65.9% in 2016, compared with a 50.4% voting rate among all higher-education institutions, to 75.4% in 2020, compared with 66% across all institutions.
MSU Denver earns Another Gold Seal from the All In Campus Democracy Challenge
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) recognized MSU Denver for its nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that fostered high levels of student voter engagement in the 2022 midterm elections. MSU Denver received the Gold Seal, reflecting its commitment to ensuring that nonpartisan democratic engagement is a defining feature of campus life.
This earned the University another recognition in All In’s gold category, which honors institutions that achieve a student-voter participation rate of 40% – 49%. The award was announced during the organization’s biennial awards ceremony Monday September 9, 2024.
El Sistema and MSU Denver’s Partnership
Fall 2023 MSU partnered with El Sistema, a community music program, encourages early childhood students to engage meaningfully with music. The program teaches preschool aged children leadership skills, teamwork, and instrument readiness. Ingrid Larragoity, Executive Director of El Sistema, partnered with Dr. Elizabeth Parmlee, AVP of Undergraduate Studies, and John Wanberg, Prof of Industrial Design, to create 3d models of violins. John spent time designing and printing 100 violins and then Undergraduate Studies organized a time for MSU students to assemble the pieces of the violins. 20 MSU students and 8 El Sistema employees participated in assembling the violins this fall. The Violins were sponsored by CLAS, via John Masserini.
Inaugural Federal Internship Program
Summer 2022, MSU Denver in partnership with the Hart Center for Public Service is providing the MSU Denver Presidential Federal Internship to six MSU Denver students, who will spend 10 weeks in Washington, D.C., this summer with a member of Congress or at another federal agency. Students participating in the program will learn about public-service roles through mentorship and by assisting in day-to-day operations. The internship program is funded by the Hart Center and funds secured by MSU Denver President Janine Davidson, Ph.D. It comes with a hearty endorsement from Davidson, who since becoming president in 2017 has championed the role that the University plays in developing the next generation of public servants. The six 2022 MSU Denver public service interns are: Li Chen Chen, an English major; Jackie Alderete, a senior majoring in Political Science; James Vargas, a sophomore majoring in Political Science; Evan Pierpont, a junior majoring in Sustainable Systems Engineering; Kiah Jenkins, a sophomore Political Science major; and Dailynn Quintela, a senior majoring in Political Science.
MSU Denver earns Gold Seal from the All In Campus Democracy Challenge
Thanks to broad and inclusive efforts to engage student voters, Metropolitan State University of Denver earned a Gold Seal from the All In Campus Democracy Challenge for nonpartisan student-voter participation in the 2020 Presidential Election. Total student-voter participation at MSU Denver rose from 65.9% in 2016 (compared with a 50.4% voting rate among all higher-education institutions) to 75.4% in 2020 (compared with 66% across all institutions).
This earned the University recognition in All In’s gold category, which honors institutions that achieve a student-voter participation rate of 70% to 80%. The award was announced during the organization’s third biennial awards ceremony Monday November 9, 2021.
MSU Denver Athletes Named Finalists for the NCAA 2021 Division II Award of Excellence
Student-athletes from MSU Denver were named finalists for the NCAA 2021 Division II Award of Excellence. Chosen from schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, MSU Denver athletes were recognized for their Food for Thought work. Student-athletes from all MSU Denver teams have participated in Food for Thought activities, an organization dedicated to eliminating weekend hunger for children in the area. Student-athletes packed PowerSacks, which include enough to feed a family of four two meals. Food for Thought served 53 elementary schools and more than 10,000 children.
Twenty-eight schools were named finalists for the accolade which recognizes initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership. Division II honors its members each year for conducting events that promote student-athletes giving back and serving as leaders within their communities or on their campuses.
Awards
MSU Denver made the honor roll of Washington Monthly’s 2021 America’s Best Colleges for Student Voting. With the rise of youth voters, Washington Monthly sought to recognize universities whose administrations actively support student-voting organizers. To land a spot on this year’s Washington Monthly honor roll, institutions had to show repeated commitment to increasing student voting. Among several qualification requirements, MSU Denver made the University’s 2016 and 2018 National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement data publicly available. Thank you, Roadrunners, for your commitment to community and civic duty.
In 2020, Campus Compact recognized MSU Denver with the Richard Guarasci Award for Institutional Transformation for its demonstrated “efforts to address issues of public concern by aligning teaching, research, practice, and values in service of the common good.” More specifically, the university was granted the award “for its comprehensive, institution-wide approach to planning for institutional change, which has included a Civic Action Plan, emerging assessment, connected efforts across departments, and clarity around institutional goals. As an urban land-grant institution, MSU Denver has committed to being an institution of the city, an integral, visible part of the communities within which it exists. MSU Denver demonstrates a clear and active commitment to strengthening its understanding of urban issues and to partnering with and serving its neighbor organizations in order to better meet the needs of the metropolitan area.”
In 2017, MSU Denver received the award for the Highest Undergraduate Voting Rate from All In Campus Democracy Challenge with a total of 65.3% of undergraduate students who voted.