This year marked the 23rd annual convening of the Pathways to Achieving Civic Engagement (PACE) conference to advance knowledge and scholarship in the higher education service-learning and community engagement field. Hosted at Elon University, the 2020 conference was attended by over 200 community engagement professionals, faculty, and administrators, representing 38 institutions in six states.
Dr. Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Executive Director of the ALL IN campus Democracy Challenge, served as the keynote speaker during the Opening Plenary session. Dr. Domagal-Goldman celebrated the increased voting rates among young people, both nationally and in North Carolina, while challenging participants to think strategically about how their institutions can further cultivate democratic engagement.
After the keynote address NC Campus Compact presented the 2020 engagement awards (see below). Following the Opening Session, PACE attendees had the option of attending three of thirty workshop sessions available. The 22 presidents and Chancellors in attendance, convened for the 10th Anniversary President’s Forum, hosted by Dr. Connie Book, President of Elon University.
Civic Engagement Award recipients
Visit the links below to learn more about each award and recipient.
- Civic Engagement Professional of the Year: Dr. Lori Kniffin, UNC Greensboro
- John H. Barnhill Civic Trailblazer Award: Neariah Mandisa-Drummond, UNC Charlotte
- Community Partner Award: Haywood Pathways Center in partnership with Western Carolina University
- Engaged Faculty Award: Dr. Elizabeth Wall-Bassett, Western Carolina University
- Leo M. Lambert Engaged Leader Award: Chancellor Elwood L. Robinson, Winston-Salem State university
New Prize Awarded
In December 2019 NC Campus Compact partnered with the University of North 
Carolina at Greensboro to launch a new Engaged Scholarship Prize. The prize was developed by NC Campus Compact in partnership with Dr. Frank Gilliam, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, to grow and promote the scholarship of engagement in North Carolina. Faculty members or full-time graduate students, from an NC Campus Compact institution, were eligible to apply. Dr. Erin Mckenney, NC State University is the 2020 faculty recipient and Jessica Soldavini, MPH,LDN, UNC Chapel Hill, is the graduate student recipient.
Special Presentations
NC Campus Compact recognized Dr. Diya Abdo of Guilford College, the 2019 Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award recipient. Dr. Abdo, was one of two recipients of this award that recognizes senior faculty members in the national Campus Compact network for exemplary engaged scholarship, including leadership in advancing students’ civic learning, conducting community-based research, fostering reciprocal community partnerships, building institutional commitments to service-learning and civic engagement, and other means of enhancing higher education’s contributions to the public good.
Dr. Spoma Jovanovic, the editor of Partnerships: A Journal ofService-Learning and Civic Engagement, NC Campus Compact’s online peer-reviewed journal, was recognized for her service to the journal since 2012. Launched in 2009, the final issue of Partnerships will be released later this Spring.