Help students find common ground for productive discussions on campus

In recent years, high-profile cases captured in headlines as well as smaller, less attention-grabbing incidents, reflect a trend of increasingly tense discourse on college campuses. As nearly everyone looks for ways to create an inclusive campus community, many student affairs professionals feel pressure to act swiftly to improve the climate for civil discourse. However, it is an intimidating issue to tackle, especially when it is difficult even to know where to start.

Yet institutions of higher education are uniquely positioned to make a difference and foster productive campus discourse. Find out how with this roadmap for finding common ground for productive discussion. Explore the key takeaways of the framework below and learn more by downloading the full presentation, or jump to the next steps.

Review the Key Takeaways

Establish a shared understanding of institutional values and vision for civil discourse

While many colleges and universities  have created statements on civil discourse, free speech, or freedom of expression, few successfully communicate those values to students. Furthermore, statements that isolate university free speech values may disharmonize students who question if the institution values diversity and inclusion to the same extent as free speech.

To promote a holistic view of their institution’s values, leaders must articulate, reinforce, and allow students to reflect on the university’s values.

Help students develop and deepen the skills needed for civil discourse

Civil discourse sounds simple in theory, but in reality requires many sophisticated skills, such as active listening, adaptive thinking, effective communication, and the ability to form and defend an argument. Not all students come to campus already having developed these skills. Even those with these skills may have trouble applying them in the heat of the moment.

Institutions need to target skills-focused civil discourse trainings to key student segments, model good behavior, and use scalable tools that can reach a wide range of students.

Provide structured, compelling opportunities to practice skills for civil discourse

Once students have learned essential skills for civil discourse, they also need the opportunity to practice and strengthen these skills in a structured setting. However, traditional approaches to inviting discourse, such as panel discussions or brown bag lunches, can fail to create productive dialogue or engage large groups of students.

To combat this, institutions can offer facilitated small-group discussions which focus on listening rather than debating, strategically bring together diverse perspectives at events, and integrate civil discourse with career preparation to encourage student attendance and involvement.