(!) Kudos, and final tasks by Jeff Kupperman on Friday, April 03, 2009 at 12:55 PM

Thanks to all the presenters and everyone who attended the hearing yesterday -- well done!

AUTHORS of PLATFORM PROPOSALS: Please make any changes or edits to your proposals that you think appropriate, given the questions and feedback from the hearing. Do this no later than April 10. Later this month we the entire platform will be compiled and sent to other key members of the legislature, so take care with the details.

EVERYONE: Online activity is essentially over for the semester, but you may still make final edits to your proposals (whether or not they are part of the platform), and add documentation of your service activity. Keep in mind that all proposals are archived on the site where anyone may access them, so just as with the platform proposals, be sure they represent your thinking as completely and eloquently as possible.

UM STUDENTS: Portfolios are due, UPLOADED TO THE SITE VIA THE LINK ABOVE, no later than APRIL 24. The format is outlined in the syllabus. Please be especially sure to include any relevant information or documentation about your work that wouldn't be readily apparent from the site.

(!) Reminder for authors of proposals in the platform by Jeff Kupperman on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 4:30 PM

Just a reminder for AUTHORS OF RESOLUTIONS IN THE PLATFORM and ENACTED SERVICE PROPOSALS:

If you haven't done so already, please send a copy of your presentation and the text of your speech to your TOPIC COORDINATORS *and* to Gary, David, and Jeff no later than tomorrow night -- SUNDAY, March 29.

(!) Just a reminder ... by Gary Weisserman on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 8:06 AM

... that the final platform decisions must be determined by no later than Friday afternoon! Platform coordinators, please take note, and holler if you have questions ...

Also, if you have any questions about the upcoming hearings and your role in it, please let us know ASAP!

(!) As we move into the final weeks of the semester... by Jeff Kupperman on Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 4:58 PM

... you should be focusing on the following tasks:

1. Authors of resolutions in the platform should be revising their proposals with advice from other MSC members (see below), and preparing their presentations in collaboration with the topic coordinators.

2. Everyone should take a careful look at all the platform resolutions and suggest improvements to the authors, including wording and additional background information.

3. All the service activities should be in full swing, and you should be documenting your participation with posts in the relevant proposal area.

4. You should be discussing the final Justice and Security proposals and voting, through March 25.

After April 2, you will have the opportunity to make final revisions to your proposals (whether or not they made it into the platform, since they will be part of the permanent MSC archive), and to finish enacting and documenting your service activities; otherwise, though, your online activity will be mostly over for the semester. UM students will have final portfolios due as outlined in the syllabus.

(!) Notes about April 2 by Jeff Kupperman on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 10:04 PM

As previously noted, you will be presenting the MSC platform before the Michigan House of Representatives Special Commission on Civic Engagement, and the hearing will take place 9:00 - 11:30am on Thursday, April 2, in room Rooms 402/403 of the Michigan State Capitol. The hearing rooms are located on the 4th floor of the Capitol Building. Please plan to arrive no later than 8:30am. Lansing is about an hour from Ann Arbor or Flint by car, and you will need to arrange your own transportation there and back.

This is the culminating event for the MSC semester, and your best chance for your ideas to have a direct impact on lawmakers. Attendance is MANDATORY for all UM caucus members, whether or not you are a topic coordinator, and whether or not you end up speaking to the Commission.

The hearing will take place roughly as follows:

At 9:00, the chairpersons of the Michigan House of Representatives Special Commission on Civic Engagement will introduce the commission members and representatives from the various state agencies. We (Gary, David, and Jeff) will then give a brief history of the MSC, and introduce the agenda for the hearings.

Topic coordinators will then be introduced. (Each coordinator will speak, with one of you taking the lead role.) The coordinators will give a 1-2 minute summary of the most prominent ideas and issues that were discussed in that topic. They also may mention any noteworthy proposals that did NOT make it into the platform.

Then, the topic coordinators will introduce the author(s) of each resolution that has PASSED into the platform. ("And now, Mark Goldfaden and Raashid Gupta will talk about a resolution to improve tourism in the Thumb area ...") The authors will then spend NO MORE THAN 3 MINUTES explaining the underlying problem, the specifics of their resolution, and a summary of what was learned in discussion. Be sure to include specific facts and statistics in here, and above all be prepared to thoughtfully answer questions in a reasonable, highly informed way. The author(s) of each resolution in the platform should prep a BRIEF (no more than 4 slides) powerpoint presentation for these, as well as a written copy of the resolution for the committee.

AUTHORS OF SERVICE PROPOSALS currently being enacted should similarly be prepared to give a very brief (1-2 minutes) overview of the need for the action, the action itself, and progress to date.

AUTHORS OF RESOLUTIONS IN THE PLATFORM and ENACTED SERVICE PROPOSALS: Please send a copy of your presentation and the text of your speech to your TOPIC COORDINATORS *and* to Gary, David, and Jeff no later than SUNDAY, March 29.

Remember that this is FORMAL TESTIMONY before the House of Representatives. Your name and testimony will be entered into the public record. This is not a demonstration or a show; these are elected officials genuinely interested in reaping the benefits of hard work by thoughtful, intelligent, informed people. They are taking a considerable chunk of time out of their day in a busy part of the year to hear what we have to say. You will need to be well prepared, which is why the topic coordinators will need copies of everything several days in advance. Dress, needless to say, is business attire.

ALSO:

It is possible to make final revisions to proposals in topics where the vote has ended. (We purposely restricted editing on published proposals as they went into voting, for fairness and to avoid confusion.) In most cases changes should be relatively minor, but authors of proposals in the platform should take special care to make sure that the proposals are complete and free of grammatical and spelling errors. You may also add or change wording for clarity. Authors of other proposals may want to revise as well, since all published proposals will become part of the MSC archive. To revise, authors and co-authors should follow the "edit" link next to the listing of their proposal.

One revision some of you will need to make is in the "consultations" section. The aim of the consultations section is to help check the feasibility and desirability of *your specific proposal* with people outside the MSC who are knowledgeable or interested in the issue. As we've said many times, you must, therefore, consult with *real, live people*, in person, via phone, or email and get their reactions to your proposal. The consultant might be someone with particular knowledge -- for example, a public official, professor, or other professional -- or it might be someone who would be especially affected by your proposal, including business owners, parents, students in another part of the state, or other ordinary citizens. In any case, the point is to broaden the kind of feedback you get on your proposal. UM students, please re-read the relevant section of the syllabus for more details.

AND FURTHERMORE:

As you enact your service activities, please remember that you need to be documenting what you do (in narratives, photos, videos, etc.) and uploading that documentation to the proposal.

(!) Environment and Science Platform by Jeff Kupperman on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 11:31 AM

Three proposals have entered the MSC Platform in Environment & Science. Please see the Env/Sci area for details. Thanks to all who contributed proposals and ideas in that topic area!

(!) Recommit to service proposals; final expert testimony by Jeff Kupperman on Monday, March 16, 2009 at 2:03 PM

Six service activities have been chosen for enactment -- please see the "service" section for details. Importantly, if you are not already committed to one of those six proposals (or an author of one of them), YOU MUST RECOMMIT to one of them now. Please do this as soon as possible but no later than NOON THURSDAY.

Please note: Two of the actions will be broadening their focus beyond what was originally proposed:
1. The "Donate Blood" action will include a public awareness and education element; and
2. We are talking with the author of the "Winter Clothes" action to expand the scope to all kinds of clothes.

Be aware that each action must take place within the next few weeks, so be ready to move quickly and respond to the authors as they organize the details.


Also, we have one final expert, Lieutenant Michael Logghe of the Ann Arbor Police Department, who has agreed to take your questions on Justice and Security. Because proposal construction ends March 21, we have a very short window to ask questions -- only until 11:55pm Wednesday.

(!) Commit to Service proposals this week by Jeff Kupperman on Monday, March 09, 2009 at 10:30 AM

Service proposal construction has ended, and between today and Friday, everyone should commit to at least one service proposal (not counting ones you have authored yourself). Starting Saturday, the service proposals with the most commitments will be chosen for actual enactment, and at that point those people who are not already committed to a chosen proposal will be asked to recommit.

To commit, pull up the text of the proposal and follow the "commit/view commitments" link near the top. When you commit, please say a few words about why you have selected that particular proposal.

ALSO: Two resolutions have been entered into the MSC Platform in the Poverty topic. One of the resolutions, "Preventing Homeless Youth," will be combining with a second proposal of the same name, which also had led in the voting.

(!) Poverty voting ends Friday; proposal construction in Service and Env/Sci ending soon by Jeff Kupperman on Thursday, March 05, 2009 at 10:54 AM

Voting in the Poverty topic ends tomorrow, March 6. Please keep in mind that discussion is an essential part of the voting process -- you're not just expressing your preferences, but helping to choose a platform that represents students across Michigan. Also keep in mind that you may adjust your vote at any time until the voting phase ends.

The last day to submit SERVICE proposals is this Sunday, March 8. Starting Monday, you will need to commit to at least one service action (other than ones you have authored) that you would like to see enacted. At the end of next week, the proposals with the most commitments will be selected for actual enactment, and people who are not already committed to a selected proposal will be asked to re-commit.

Also, the last day for proposal construction in Environment and Science is Monday, March 9.

(!) Health platform by Jeff Kupperman on Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 3:03 PM

Two proposals have been chosen to enter the MSC Platform in the topic of Health; please see the Heath area for details. There were a number of other proposals on similar topics that also generated substantial support, and the Topic Coordinators will be working with authors of these proposals to explore how parts might be incorporated into the platform as well.

Meanwhile, thank you to all who contributed!

Also: Please note that March 8 is the last day to submit Service proposals.

(!) Platform for Education and the Arts by Jeff Kupperman on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 11:27 AM

Based on the results of the voting, the coordinators for Education & the Arts have designated three resolutions for inclusion in the platform. As for all proposals that enter the platform, the authors of the various resolutions will present their proposals at the Apr. 2 hearing in Lansing. Please see the Ed & Arts area for the details of the resolutions, and congratulations to the authors.

The Health platform will also be announced soon....

(!) A cautionary tale by Jeff Kupperman on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 4:15 PM

Last fall the MSC platform included a "Resolution to Reduce the Cost of College Textbooks." It was a fine proposal, with a reasonable goal -- to help students find ways to reduce the cost of their college education. As it happens, UM-Ann Arbor had already taken one of the steps suggested, which was to allow professors to list textbooks in an easily accessible format online, so that students could shop around for the best price.

Again, not a bad proposal. But even this one action by UM has had a dramatic unintended consequence: Shaman Drum bookstore, until now a survivor among a rapidly dwindling number of independent community-based booksellers in the country, will probably go out of business. Why? Because it had depended on textbook sales for a substantial portion of its revenues, and since the fall, those sales have plummeted.

See:
http://annarborchronicle.com/2009/02/17/column-open-letter-from-a-distressed-bookseller/

I tell you this not to criticize the authors of the textbook resolution, but to remind you of the importance of the consultations, which, as we have stressed, need to be with REAL people who have either have special knowledge about the topic OR would be directly affected by your proposal. Not only will your resolution be better because you will have explored more of the possible consequences, but you may find allies that can help you turn your idea into a reality.

P.S. There have been three other updates posted today -- please be sure you read all of them.

(!) House Appropriation Higher Education Committee hearings by David Lossing on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 4:07 PM

The House Appropriation Subcommittee on Higher Education has posted their hearing schedule this morning. The members of the subcommittee will be receiving testimony from the university presidents over the next several weeks in response to the Governor's proposed budget for higher education. State Rep. Joan Bauer (D-Lansing) is charing this committee for the next two years.

While most of the hearings will be held on either college campuses or at the State Capitol, one of the hearings is being held on the campus of Eastern Michigan University, on Friday, Feb 27, 2009 starting at 10am. The hearing will take place in the EMU Student Center, Room 310, 900 Oakland Street in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It's open to the public. Giving testimony will be the presidents of Eastern Michigan University, Central Michigan University and Oakland University.

The other hearing dates are: Feb 23rd at Western Michigan University; March 3rd at the State Capitol; March 9th at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids; March 10th at the State Capitol.

If you would like further info, don't hesitate to send me an email at: dalossin@umflint.edu

Thanks.

(!) For UM students: Posting during break by Jeff Kupperman on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 12:27 PM

Note for UM students only: You are not required to post during the university's break next week (Feb. 21 - Mar. 1), but you are certainly welcome to do so if you wish. No phases in any of the topic areas will end during that week. If you do "take the week off" next week, please be sure you are participating fully this week and that you resume participation right away upon your return.

(!) Voting by Jeff Kupperman on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 8:44 AM

A quick reminder that voting ends today in Health. Also, the platform for Education & the Arts will be announced as soon as the topic coordinators have reviewed the voting results.

(!) Expert Response posted by Jeff Kupperman on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 9:34 AM

Responses from Dwight Lang to your questions related to the Poverty topic have been posted in the "experts" area. (Follow the same link as when you posted questions.) On behalf of the Poverty coordinators, thanks to all who submitted questions; as always, please keep in mind that the experts have limited time, and so not all submitted questions can be answered directly.

(!) Reminders by Jeff Kupperman on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 11:28 AM

- Tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day for voting in Education & the Arts
- Voting in Health is under way
- Proposal construction is under way in Poverty and in Service
- Brainstorming has begun in Environment and Science

(!) Service proposals by Jeff Kupperman on Sunday, February 08, 2009 at 9:32 AM

Service proposal construction is now underway. Please keep in mind the following requirements for service proposals:

- They should allow for broad participation by students of a broad range of ages in a broad range of locations in Michigan.
- Participation should be possible with no (or very minimal) financial commitment from participants.
- The activity should not focus on a particular political party.
- The activity should not involve simply volunteering for or contributing to an existing organization in a standard way.
- All parts of the activity must be legal and must not put participants at increased physical or mental risk.
- Proposals chosen for enactment must be carried out between March 15 and April 10.

As you work on your proposals, don't hesitate to contact the Service Coordinators (Michael Eichberg, Lewis Miller, Jeff Brunswick) for advice or assistance.

(!) Two important reminders about voting by Jeff Kupperman on Thursday, February 05, 2009 at 10:18 AM

As voting starts in the Education topic, please take note of two important points:

1. SET YOUR WEIGHTS

Before you vote, be sure to set your "weights" (follow the tab in the left-side column). You should set them to reflect the relative importance of the various topics to you. Keep in mind that these are *weights*, not rankings -- so the most important topic to you should get a weight of 6, the next important a 5, and so on. Your votes will be *multiplied* by the weight you assign. (Needless to say, you won't need the weight of 1 for anything except maybe the sandbox.)

Weights can be changed at any time, with the following exception: once the voting phase for a topic has ended, your weight for that topic can no longer be changed.

Also: The drag-and-drop function for setting weights will not work on IE. Please use Firefox.

2. DISCUSSION IS PART OF VOTING

It is important to understand that the voting phase is more than simply indicating your preferences with the weights and sliders -- there is a discussion link on the voting page, and it is important to use that discussion to argue the relative merits of the proposals up for consideration. Remember that the voting will determine the proposals that will represent the entire MSC membership as part of its platform. The goal isn't just to get your favorites in the platform, but to end up with a set of proposals that has, as much as possible, the backing of the whole MSC. That's where the discussion comes in. When judging the proposals, be sure to consider a range of factors, including the need for the proposal, as well as potential impact, feasibility, clarity, completeness, and creativity.

(!) Two announcements by Jeff Kupperman on Monday, February 02, 2009 at 1:45 PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Proposal construction for Education ends Wednesday
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The proposal construction phase in the Education topic ends Wednesday, and voting will begin immediately on Thursday. The top two or three proposals will become part of the Spring MSC platform, subject to final approval from the Topic Coordinators.

Once the voting starts, you will NOT be able to add or change proposals in that topic. Therefore, if you are part of a proposal you are putting forward for consideration in Education, please be sure that it is published, and you have made all necessary revisions, by Wednesday evening.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Request for mentoring in "Youth Voice in Government" forum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doug Hart, the "founding father" of the MSC (and one of our experts in the Education topic -- his responses will be posted soon), has asked us to pass along the following request:

"To Members of Michigan Student Caucus: You are invited to an online discussion with Louisville, Kentucky students about your work within MSC. We're interested in what kinds of issues you're involved in, who in government you're interacting with, what your legislative goals are, what you're learning through this process, and when you're going to testify in a capitol hearing in Lansing. My students are like you and are interested in advocating new ideas for new laws here in Kentucky. We would like to learn from you.

This discussion starts today and lasts for two weeks. My students would for you to join us and post two or three times in the "Youth Voice" group. To participate, do the following: Join Teen Connections at teencim.ning.com. After that, go to the "Youth Voice in Government" group and join. Now review the discussion-thread options in the discussion forum. In order to see everything, push "View All." To go to a particular discussion thread, click it. Look for white box and write your comments in it. When done, push "Add Reply." For any specific comment that you want to respond to, look for the "Reply to This" right under it. That's where you want to add your comments."

It's also worth noting that the discussion will involve professional youth advocates, educators, and politicians from across the country.

For UM students: Thoughtful, substantive postings on the Youth Voice group will cout positively toward your final grade, under the following conditions:
- You must document your participation in your final portfolio; and
- Participation in Youth Voice is not a substitute for any part of your regular participation in the MSC.

(!) Poverty Expert, and Fall 2008 Platform by Jeff Kupperman on Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 4:43 PM

Three announcements today:

1. Sociologist Dwight Lang will be answering questions on topics related to Poverty; submit your questions in the Experts area before mid-day Sunday.

2. You can download the Fall, 2008 MSC platform as a single document at the link below. We are distributing this document to all members of the Michigan House, and to many agency heads as well; we will do the same in the spring with the platform that is created this semester. Please give it a look -- you may find it valuable as a set of examples of what legislative proposals look like, and as a way to be sure that you are not repeating ideas from the fall, but rather expanding the depth and range of the MSC platform.

3. Be sure to read David's announcement about the hearing date, posted yesterday.

(!) !! Lansing Legislative Hearing!!! IMPORTANT -- MARK YOUR CALENDARS by David Lossing on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 10:44 PM

The Michigan House of Representative's Special Commission on Civic Engagement hearing is scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009 starting at 9am. The hearing, chaired by State Representative Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) will take place in Rooms 402/403 of the Michigan State Capitol. The hearing rooms are located on the 4th floor of the Capitol Building. Please arrive no later than 8:30am. Carpooling is highly recommended. Business attire is required.

Those proposals that make it to the final MSC platform, as well as the selected service proposals, will be presented by the authors to the Commission. Be prepared to answer any questions posed by state legislators following your presentation.

According to the class syllabus, you are required to attend this legislative hearing as part of your grade. If you have any questions, please email Jeff, Gary and myself.

(!) Expert responses by Jeff Kupperman on Friday, January 23, 2009 at 4:10 PM

Responses from Dr. Malinoff to your questions have been posted in the "experts" area. (Follow the same link as when you posted questions.) More expert responses will be coming soon....

(!) Second education expert by Jeff Kupperman on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 6:11 PM

We're very pleased to report that Doug Hart, former state rep, instigator of the original version of MSC, and current high school teacher, has agreed to take questions from the caucus. You may submit questions until Friday noon; details, as usual, in the "experts" section.

(!) Proposal construction begins in Education & Arts by Jeff Kupperman on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 2:14 PM

Proposal construction starts today in Education & the Arts. Brainstorming in that area is now closed, though you may access discussions for reference. Keep in mind that while you should consider the ideas and issues that came up in the brainstorming discussions, you do not need to limit yourself to them. In particular, you should feel encouraged to think beyond formal K-12 and higher education, and consider everything from performing arts to museums, libraries, and nature centers.

Remember that you are proposing a *state law or policy*. That means that if you propose something that would affect, for example, university students, it needs to apply to *every university student in the state.* The exception would be if you propose conditions based on some principle -- for example, a law that would affect "undergraduate students' families making less than $40,000" or "high schools in cities with more than 80,000 residents." Also bear in mind that the state has fairly direct influence on K-12 curriculum requirements, but not so on higher ed. The state's influence on universities tends to come in the form of funding, and in the form of requirements for professional certification (K-12 teaching certification being one major example).

Finally, don't forget that the consultations must be *real people* outside the MSC who would be affected by the proposal, or who are especially knowledgeable about the topic.

(!) Health topic expert now taking questions by Jeff Kupperman on Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 4:22 PM

Questions for Dr. Paula Schwartz, our first expert in the Health topic area, are currently being taken. Go to the "experts" tab for details....

(!) Now taking questions for first Education expert by Jeff Kupperman on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 12:52 PM

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Lynn Malinoff is our first expert in Education & Arts. Check out the "Experts" tab for her bio and a link where you can post questions to her. Topic coordinator Marissa Eliades will be moderating. You may post questions until Friday noon, at which point Marissa will send a selection of the questions to Dr. Malinoff via email. Marissa will then post Dr. Malinoff's responses when she replies.

(!) A couple things to note by Jeff Kupperman on Monday, January 12, 2009 at 3:33 PM

1. Brainstorming in Health has started as of today, and brainstorming continues in Service. Speaking of the schedule, you may want to put relevant dates in your personal calendar -- don't count on announcements to remind you of each deadline!

2. There has been some good discussion in the Ed & Arts brainstorming. Keep in mind that (a) ultimately the focus needs to be on how state law or policy should be changed to benefit students across the state -- not just what you want your own school or college to do; and (b) the topic also includes EVERYTHING related to arts and culture, and you can propose ideas related to the arts, even if there is no direct connection to education.

(!) Attention topic coordinators by Gary Weisserman on Monday, January 12, 2009 at 10:25 AM

... just a friendly reminder: regardless of which topic you're coordinating, it's probably a really good idea to get working on bringing in expert witnesses in your subject areas. Remember you'll have to schedule them for a chat/email exchange, and that this schedule needs to jibe with your topic's calendar. FYI!

(!) ... for EDU 362 students only by Gary Weisserman on Thursday, January 08, 2009 at 2:29 PM

If you were unable to get a copy of the Statement of Commitment at the orientation session last night, a copy is attached here. Please email it back to us, or drop it by our Ann Arbor office, or arrange to mail it to us via snail mail if you'd prefer.

(!) Welcome! by Gary Weisserman on Thursday, January 08, 2009 at 11:24 AM

Welcome offically to the Winter, 2009 Michigan Student Caucus!

Brainstorming has already started in the "Education & the Arts" area -- everyone should feel free to start new discussion threads as well as respond to postings by others. Proposal construction in Ed & Arts starts on January 19, but as you brainstorm now, start thinking about how your ideas could be crafted into legislative proposals. Also note that brainstorming for Service has also begun -- you should be engaged in discussion in that area as well. Please take a look at the rest of the schedule (at the bottom of this page) for information about the other topic areas.

We'd like to give a special welcome the Topic Coordinators, all of whom are "veteran" MSC members.

Their role will include leading and deepen brainstorming and other discussions, giving advice and guidance in proposal writing, and approving the proposals that will become part of the platform (or in the case of Service, the proposals that will be featured for enactment). They will also be facilitating the expert Q & A sessions, and they will introduce authors of platform proposals at the hearing in Lansing. Please give them your full cooperation, and don't hesitate to contact them individually for help with an idea. (Email addresses can be found in members' profiles under the "users" tab.)

Education & the Arts: Randi Arnstein, Marissa Eliades, Danielle Berns, Adam Carlin

Health: Sara Pervil, Hillary Arden, Natasha Uberoi, Natasha Aronson

Poverty: Jesse Gross, Devin Chasanoff, Eric Lassin, Lee Nussbaum

Environment and Science: Mark Goldstein, Andrew Smook, Jared Siegal, Daniel Elrod

Justice and Security: Alan Wohl, Lauren Shick, Rebecca Ades, Hallie Sand

Service: Michael Eichberg, Lewis Miller, Jeff Brunswick

(!) Winter 2009 session starts January 7 by Jeff Kupperman on Saturday, January 03, 2009 at 12:50 PM

The Winter, 2009 session of the MSC will start on Wednesday, January 7 and will continue through early April. The Ann Arbor orientation session (mandatory for students enrolled in EDUC 362 at UM-Ann Arbor, but all are welcome) is scheduled for 7:00-9:00pm on January 7 in room 1324 East Hall (Psychology auditorium).

Technical notes:

The new Michigan Student Caucus site is still in beta. Thanks for your patience in helping us make it better!

At the moment, you'll need the Firefox or Safari browser to be able to access all site capabilities (we strongly recommend Firefox for all platforms). Until further announcement, assigning weights to topics and the "drag and drop" features used while editing proposals do not work in Internet Explorer. We are working on the issue and hope to resolve it soon.

Technical update: A problem has been found in Safari as well. When you upload media files, Safari will not refresh the page properly. For the time being, if you must use Safari, you may need to click on a tab again to refresh. We are aware of the problem and are looking for a fix.

About the Michigan Student Caucus

The Michigan Student Caucus represents students throughout Michigan to the Michigan State Legislature. Since 2001, thousands of students across Michigan have participated in online deliberation, negotiation and voting leading to the construction of a political platform that is presented in formal testimony to the House Commission on Civic Engagement.

The Michigan Student Caucus is not affiliated with any political party or organization. The MSC is open to any Michigan resident (permanent or temporary) who is a student. For information about the program, please contact our faculty advisors at The University of Michigan, Professors Gary Weisserman and Jeff Kupperman.

Twice each year, MSC participants, including hundreds of high school and college students from around Michigan, present testimony about the MSC platform before the Michigan House of Representatives' Special Commission on Civic Engagement.

The following documents may be useful to you in getting started:

• The MSC archives from Winter 2008 and Fall 2008. (You'll need to join the archived site separately to view content.)
• The Winter 2008 platform (160 K, PDF format).
• The Fall 2007 platform (198 K, PDF format).
• The 2005-2006 platform.
• The 2006-2007 platform.
• Students taking this course for college credit at UM-Ann Arbor may download the Winter 2009 syllabus for EDUC 362.
• Here is a presentation that was used during the orientation session to introduce the program (Google Docs).

Committee schedule:

The committee schedule will occur along the following schedule (schedule subject to change):

Education and the Arts (Ed & Arts): Open brainstorming for resolutions begins on January 3, 2009 and ends on January 18, 2009; resolution construction begins on January 19, 2009 and ends on February 4, 2009; voting on submitted resolutions begins on February 5, 2009 and ends on February 12, 2009.

Health (Health): Open brainstorming for resolutions begins on January 12, 2009 and ends on January 30, 2009; resolution construction begins on January 27, 2009 and ends on February 9, 2009; voting on submitted resolutions begins on February 10, 2009 and ends on February 17, 2009.

Poverty (Poverty): Open brainstorming for resolutions begins on January 27, 2009 and ends on February 8, 2009; resolution construction begins on February 9, 2009 and ends on February 21, 2009; voting on submitted resolutions begins on February 22, 2009 and ends on March 6, 2009.

Environment and Science (Env & Sci): Open brainstorming for resolutions begins on February 11, 2009 and ends on February 22, 2009; resolution construction begins on February 23, 2009 and ends on March 9, 2009; voting on submitted resolutions begins on March 10, 2009 and ends on March 15, 2009.

Justice and Security (Just & Sec): Open brainstorming for resolutions begins on March 1, 2009 and ends on March 11, 2009; resolution construction begins on March 12, 2009 and ends on March 21, 2009; voting on submitted resolutions begins on March 22, 2009 and ends on March 25, 2009.

Service schedule:

The service schedule will occur along the following schedule (schedule subject to change):

Winter 2009 (Service): Open brainstorming for service projects begins on January 2, 2009 and ends on February 6, 2009; construction of service proposals begins on February 7, 2009 and ends on March 8, 2009; participants may commit to a service project beginning on March 9, 2009 through March 14, 2009. Service projects will take place between March 14, 2009 and the end of the session, based on the dates identified in each adopted project. (Projects must be approved by the service chair and faculty advisors.)

Special events, such as expert chats, will take place regularly. Please check the latest news in the "updates" area.

All MSC participants are, of course, strongly encouraged to attend our hearings in Lansing, usually in December and April (dates TBA). Participants earning college credit in EDUC 362 (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) or EDT 532 (University of Michigan-Flint) are expected to attend per course requirements.