CJP Highlights 2020-21

In the spring and summer of 2020, CJP quickly and successfully moved the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) fully online. Our response to the pandemic continued through the 2020-21 school year. At their June 2021 meeting, the EMU Board of Trustees encouraged CJP to continue exploring ways to move online in order to “maximize our global impact at a time of heightened demand and relevance.”

HOW DID WE DO IT?

WE RECOGNIZED THAT THE PANDEMIC WOULD DISRUPT HIGHER EDUCATION FOR YEARS TO COME, SO WE...

• Moved all existing degrees and graduate certificates online and committed to those who opted to enroll online that we would get them through a degree or certificate online. • Launched the newly approved Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership (MATL), a mostly online program for working professionals, in SPI 2020 instead of SPI 2021.

Our message was “Join us for the kind of learning and support that can prepare you to lead in challenging times. If you commit to us, we will commit to you.”

WE PACED OURSELVES BY…

• Postponing the 25th Anniversary Celebration from June 2020 to June 2021. • Pausing STAR during SPI 2020.

WE NOTICED AND MAXIMIZED OPPORTUNITIES IN THE DISRUPTION BY…

• Using the STAR pause for a long-desired curriculum revision as well as a redesign for online delivery.

Lead Trainer Katie Mansfield PhD and STAR’s advisory group deepened the curriculum’s emphasis on multiple types of violence and injustice and further integrated the wisdom of varied communities of practice. The advisory group includes educators, community leaders, artists and activists who address systemic racism, domestic violence, and historical harms, integrate restorative and transformative justice approaches, and cultivate spaces for healing and truth-telling: Ram Bhagat EdD, Meenakshi Chhabra PhD, Lisa Collins EdD, Johonna McCants-Turner PhD, Donna Minter PhD, and Crixell Shell MS.

• Creating a new “Winter SPI” online training program delivered in February-March 2021.

42 participants took four courses, joining from nine countries, 13 states, and the District of Columbia.

WE IDENTIFIED OUR CORE COMMITMENTS AND VALUES, SO THAT WE COULD…

WE WERE REALISTIC ABOUT THE CONTINUING THREAT OF THE PANDEMIC, SO WE…

WE WORKED IN AGILE TEAMS AS A LEARNING ORGANIZATION...

WE CONTINUED LONG-TERM PLANNING...

TRANSITIONS AND CHANGES…

• Replicate the essential “CJP experience” online. • Invite participants to help us experiment with new ways of being a learning community and be unafraid to say when something did not work as expected.

• Moved the summer SPI learning community online for 2021.

18 faculty members taught 14 courses supported by nine tech assistants.

180 participants signed up for 214 spaces in the courses – 61 for graduate credit and 153 for professional education.

Participants joined from 33 countries, 27 states, and the District of Columbia.

• Celebrated CJP’s 25+1 Anniversary online from June 4-6, 2021.

Visit emu.edu/cjp/anniversary/video-links to see recordings from the weekend’s celebrations, including keynote speaker Alicia Garza.

• Our team members took on new work assignments and learned new skills. • We hired technical support and instructional design assistance to ensure that our students could participate in high quality online learning. • We developed rapid feedback systems to determine what was working and what needed to be changed. • We created a mechanism for donors to support ongoing innovation and adaptation in our programs.

An undesignated bequest from the estate of Emily Grace Shenk, received mid-pandemic, led to the creation of an endowed fund, named after Emily, to support CJP’s ability to adapt and respond quickly to major disruptions. Read more on page 20.

• The Zehr Institute completed a strategic plan that involved substantive consultation with leaders in the field. • CJP launched a successful bid to become a Coverdell Program partner program. Returning Peace

Corps Volunteers can receive support to enroll, beginning fall 2022, in the Master of Arts in

Conflict Transformation or the Master of Arts in Restorative Justice program. Coverdell Fellows are supported in programs that prepare them for continued work using the skills they acquired in the

Peace Corps. Their internships will connect them to underserved U.S. communities.

• On May 8, 2021 we added 25 graduates from 14 states and three countries to our global network of alumni. • We said goodbye to three faculty members this spring: Dr. Barry Hart to well-deserved retirement;

Dr. Johonna McCants-Turner to the Peace and Conflict Studies program, Conrad Grebel University

College, University of Waterloo, Canada; and Dr. Carl Stauffer to the US Institute of Peace as a senior expert in reconciliation.

Check out page 13 to see who is joining us for 2021-22 and other plans.