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Stubblefield Institute begins statewide expansion, in second year of certificate program

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Sep 27, 2024

Horst

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Last year, the Bonnie & Bill Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications launched the Community Leadership & Civil Advocacy Certificate (CLCA) program at Shepherd University. The program drew 27 participants in its first year alone, and has seen even further growth this year.

According to Stubblefield Institute director Ashley Horst, this year a total of 31 Shepherd University students have signed up to complete the program over the next eight months.

“Our first focus was mostly on civic engagement and helping students reengage in their community,” Horst said, of the Stubblefield Institute’s work at Shepherd University. “Now that we have established that, we can really hone in on civil discourse and advocacy and helping students engage with their legislators.”

According to Horst, there are 18 students at colleges around the state who will be completing the CLCA program as a virtual cohort this year.

“We are expanding!” Horst said. “We launched CLCA last year on campus, and this year we are expanding it across the state. We have six partner schools, including all three West Virginia University campuses. We are really excited about that!”

Horst said the number of students, statewide, would have been even higher this year, if the Stubblefield Institute hadn’t insisted on keeping it at a smaller, more manageable level.

“This is really kind of our test year, so we asked our partner schools for only two-to-five students,” Horst said. “Let’s start with that and see how we do!”

Although Shepherd University’s school year started at the end of August, the CLCA program’s in-person and virtual cohorts began last Monday. Participants will be meeting on a monthly basis, learning from a wide variety of civic leaders and organizations, before earning a CLCA certificate with the completion of an advocacy project.

“They put together their policy proposal and pitch it to a legislator,” Horst said. “That’s the culmination of the project, talking to their legislators.”

The success of the program is also big news for Shepherd University, according to Horst.

“It will be the first microcredential offered by Shepherd, so we are super excited about that!” Horst said. “Shepherd has been working with a consortium of schools across the state to implement microcredentialing. Microcredentialing is the up-and-coming thing for continuing education, especially for business people and people who are trying to bolster their skill sets. It was fortuitous that we met at a crossing point, where Shepherd was developing this programming and we were looking for something to give added value to our program.”

On top of ensuring students get an excellent education, the Stubblefield Institute anticipates that this program will bring positive change to West Virginia.

“Our goal is two-fold,” Horst said. “It’s not only about helping our students learn to communicate civilly with their legislators and be effective — that’s a big part of it, but a secondary goal of this program is to keep our young people in West Virginia. Studies have shown that young people are civically disengaged. They are less likely to vote. They are less likely to believe that civic institutions are beneficial for the community. And they are more likely to leave. Our largest export is of our educated young people.

“Students who are civically engaged are less likely to leave. So we are helping students engage with their community in a way that is meaningful to them, getting them connected to people who are passionate about the same things that they are passionate about and showing them that they have a voice and can effectively advocate for the changes they seek,” Horst said.

Funding for the program has been provided by the Bennedum Foundation, in the form of a two-year grant.

To learn more, visit https://stubblefieldinstitute.org/community-leadership-and-civil-advocacy/.