Volcker Alliance Launches Initiative to Expand Constructive Dialogue Campus-Wide
Today, the Volcker Alliance is excited to announce the launch of the Constructive Dialogue Scaling Initiative. At a moment when nearly half of students fear sharing their views on campus and 40% of educators worry about reputational damage from misunderstandings, schools of public service must lead the charge in combatting extreme polarization on their campuses.
Developed in partnership with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Ithaca Initiative at the University of Delaware, the Constructive Dialogue Scaling Initiative helps campus leaders embed constructive dialogue programming more deeply and expansively across campus. Building on an earlier phase in which 14 schools of public service piloted constructive dialogue curricula with support from the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI), this phase aims to create wide-ranging culture change on campuses around the country.
This initiative will foster a vibrant community of practice, facilitate peer-to-peer exchange, and host structured convenings, beginning with a national convening co-hosted by the University of Delaware and the Volcker Alliance this June.
“This current moment is an alarm bell and universities need to step up in the constructive dialogue space,” said Sara Mogulescu, president of the Volcker Alliance. “Now is the time for universities and their schools of public service to think big together about how to implement large-scale culture change grounded in constructive dialogue. Constructive dialogue is a defining competency for leadership in a diverse and democratic society.”
Participating schools are members of the Deans Summit, a collaborative network of institutions that confer degrees in public policy, public administration, and public affairs:
- Rutgers University – New Brunswick
- Rutgers University – Newark
- University of California, Riverside
- University of Colorado Denver
- University of Delaware
- University of Houston
- University of Kentucky
- University of Minnesota
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Virginia
“The convening is about bringing schools together to understand the constructive dialogue landscape and set goals for really moving the field forward,” said Joe Trainor, interim dean of the Biden School. “Too often we work in isolation in our campuses, and when we come together, we discover we are doing similar work and can benefit from exchanging ideas and expertise. Now more than ever, we need to have conversations with leaders and faculty from different schools, so our students are collectively prepared to be constructive collaborators when they graduate.”
Collective lessons will be captured in a white paper for other campuses looking to do this work. Learn more about the Constructive Dialogue Scaling Initiative here.
