More than any other event in our nation, the presidential election captures the attention and energies of our students. Preparing for an election on a college campus is never simple and this year’s election brings more angst and uncertainty than any in recent memory. With that in mind, Seed Coalition is focusing our attention this fall on supporting member campuses through this election season through virtual convenings and curated resources.
Seed Talks: Election 2024
The Seed Coalition board and staff have committed to holding conversations and working groups this fall focused on the 2024 election. Our scheduled conversations are an opportunity for everyone on our member campuses to come together, share best practices, prepare, and react.
For Senior Leaders
The Seed Coalition board will lead a series of three discussions intended for presidents, chancellors, and other senior leaders on our member campuses. All sessions will take place on Zoom.
- August 8 at 10:00 AM: This session will highlight the stories of a diverse set of Seed Coalition campuses and how they are preparing to engage their campuses for the 2024 elections. There will also be significant time for discussion.
- September 12 at 4:00 PM: This session is an opportunity to share and discuss what leaders are observing within their campus community early in semester.
- November 19 at 3:00 PM: Attendees will reflect with their peers on what happened on their campuses, what we learned, and how we prepare for the 2026 election.
For Staff and Faculty
Seed Coalition staff will facilitate discussions intended to support faculty and staff who are engaging with students during this election season. The sessions, designed to offer concrete strategies and takeaways, will build on one another but each are also relevant on their own.
All sessions will take place on Zoom.
- August 9 at 10:00 AM: This session will provide time to reflect more deeply on how we want to show up as leaders and educators during this challenging season.
- August 13 at 10:00 AM: This session will be focused on a planning exercise for turning ideas and goals into a clear path forward for the semester.
- September 19 at 3:00 PM: This session will provide a space to discuss concrete strategies and tools for helping students think critically about where they get their information and how they form opinions.
We anticipate adding additional sessions in the future. If you have ideas for topics, please
reach out to Kara Trebil-Smith.
Resources
There is an abundance of resources related to electoral engagement in higher education. In partnership with our colleagues at All In for Campus Democracy and Students Learn Students Vote, we are working to compile a useful and thoughtful selection of resources to help our members prepare for both the election and its aftermath.
Student Engagement and Messaging
SLSV 2024 #StudentVote Messaging Toolkit
This toolkit includes a wide range of resources, including messaging tactics to help reach students where they are at. We particularly want to highlight the section on Combatting Disillusionment which is new, and particularly important, this year.
Civic Agency Workshops
Seed Coalition’s series of workshops are designed to help participants develop their civic agency, a framework that emphasizes the capacity to be an effective problem solver and leverage power to address the issues individuals care about. The Self in Conflict, Where Do You Stand, and the Bridging Divides workshops might be particularly relevant.
James Madison Center for Civic Engagement – Navigating Difficult Conversations
There is no shortage of information around dialogue in higher education. This resource is ideal as it’s both thorough and relatively easy to digest, and includes a section titled “News information, Media Literacy, and Election Perceptions.” If you need something quickly, there are some great reflection questions for students.
News Literacy Project
This website has a section specifically geared toward educators that includes activities, an online learning platform, and professional development around media and news literacy.
Practicing Democracy: A Toolkit for Educating Civic Professionals
If you are looking for practical ways to engage students in democratic processes, this toolkit offers a framework and lessons designed to educate publicly engaged leaders, or civic professionals.
Post-Election Campus Resource and Response Guide (2024)
Election preparation does not end in November. This framework for this guide was created by stakeholders in the student voting space in October 2020, who considered the question “How might we prepare to support campus stakeholders in processing and responding to a tumultuous post-election season?” This is a synthesis of their ideas, now updated to meet the context of the 2024 election.
Government Resources and Grants
Student Voting and College Political Campaign Related Activities in 2024
This issue brief from the American Council on Education is a thorough explanation of institutional obligations to encourage and enable electoral engagement. If you have questions about what is and is not allowable for your institution and the people who work there, this is a good place to start.
Minnesota Secretary of State – Postsecondary Elections Resources
This page provides information, answers, resources, and examples to help colleges in Minnesota fulfill the obligations under the laws passed in 2023.
Community College Vote Early Day Funding Application
Funding will be provided to select community colleges to support Vote Early Day efforts on Tuesday, October 29.
Iowa Secretary of State: College Student Voters
A quick glance at options for college student voters in Iowa. Students should also be aware of the Voter ID law.
National Voter Registration Day Event Grants
Apply for funding to support your GOTV efforts.
Our allies at Students Learn Students Vote and All In for Campus Democracy are hard at work on an updated post-election resource guide. We will share it with the coalition when it is released in the coming months.
