Cultivating Civic Character for the Common Good (C4G) | Center for Economic & Civic Learning (CECL)
Stipend & Support: $1,500 professional stipend and and Full or Partial course release available Spring 2026 (subject to chair/dean approval)
Term: January–August 2026
About C4G: This project is a three-year, campus-wide effort to infuse character formation into curricular and co-curricular learning, anchored in virtues such as justice, civic courage, responsibility, respect, gratitude, and hope, and to scale the new Civic Studies Minor through faculty development, student leadership, and community partnerships.
This initiative is funded through Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative (ECI) with support from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The ECI is a national program designed to help institutions integrate moral, civic, and intellectual character across undergraduate education. In 2025, the ECI awarded three-year Institutional Impact Grants to 33 institutions nationwide.
Position Title: Faculty Fellow for Civic Character & Engagement (2 openings)
Responsibilities (January–August 2026)
- Advance the new Civic Studies Minor
- Integrate C4G’s character-education framework into one or more courses.
- Develop or refine modules that cultivate core virtues and civic competencies.
- Co-design a capstone, practicum, or reflective assignment aligned with the Civic Studies Minor.
Faculty & Campus Engagement
- Help plan or co-lead 2–3 faculty workshops on character-infused pedagogy, reflective dialogue, and assessment.
- Contribute to CECL’s Community of Practice
- Curate a C4G Resource Hub packet (syllabi, case studies, rubrics, assessment tools).
- Mentor student employees and Democracy Fellows and plan the Civic Speaker Series and campus dialogues.
- Support a Spring mini-series that connects virtues to contemporary civic issues.
- Produce short briefs documenting student-led programming.
Partnerships & Outreach
- Collaborate with statewide and national partners such as Community-Engaged Alliance and Third Way Civics.
- Help promote the Civic Studies Minor across departments and student organizations.
Why This Matters: Nationally, higher education is renewing its focus on character formation as essential for trustworthy leadership, civic responsibility, and democratic life. The C4G project positions Ball State as a leader in this movement while expanding Ball State’s new Civic Studies Minor to integrate theory, dialogue, and civic action.
Eligibility
- Ball State full-time faculty (tenure-line or non-tenure-line).
- Department chair or dean approval for the course release.
- Interest in one or more of the following: character education, civic learning, dialogue across differences, community-engaged teaching, and assessment.
Compensation & Time Commitment
- $1,500 professional stipend.
- Full or partial support for course release in Spring 2026
- Approx. 4-8 hours per week in Spring and 20–30 hours over Summer 2026.
Deliverables (by August 15, 2026): Faculty Fellows will contribute approximately 5–10 hours per week to C4G activities. Specific responsibilities will be finalized in consultation with CECL, but may include:
- Recruiting students for the Civic Studies Minor and helping to integrate character education into courses across campus.
- Planning and facilitating workshops or campus events that highlight civic character and democratic engagement.
- Developing a character-infused teaching into courses (syllabus unit, activity, or rubric) to be shared with colleagues.
- Mentoring student employees and supporting their civic leadership activities.
- Participating actively in the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) and the C4G Community of Practice (CoP).
- Providing light documentation of activities (short reflections, event materials, or logs), contributing to CECL’s evaluation and reporting process, and bi-weekly meetings.
How to Apply
- Statement of Interest (approx. 1 page or equivalent in length): Describe your interest in the project, course(s), how you might integrate civic/character outcomes, and how you envision mentoring students or supporting C4G programming.
- Curriculum Vitae
- Chair/Dean Approval: Applicants should notify their chair/dean at the time of application. Formal confirmation of course release can be provided after selection (to avoid creating unnecessary barriers at the application stage).
- Selection Criteria: Review will be based primarily on the quality and feasibility of the statement of interest, the potential impact on the Civic Studies Minor, demonstrated interest in character/civic learning, and alignment with the goals of C4G and the Educating Character Initiative.
Apply Here
Questions may be directed to:
Acknowledgment: This project is made possible through the support of a grant from Wake Forest University and Lilly Endowment Inc. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wake Forest University or Lilly Endowment Inc.