Civic Involvement

The Schaefer Center delivers programs that encourage civic involvement. Highlights include the two-week Taft Seminar for Teachers. This nonpartisan program combined academic presentations and interactive sessions with those directly involved in government. Teachers from across Maryland were given the opportunity to learn the inner workings of government from elected officials, nonprofit lobbyists, historians, government executives and policy analysts.

The center conducted a survey assessing the feasibility and financial viability of establishing a special benefits district in the midtown section of Baltimore City. Based upon the findings of the study, a core group of Mount Vernon Belvedere Improvement Association members decided to pursue the establishment of such a district. The Schaefer Center assisted the Baltimore City Board of Elections in administering the special election that established the Midtown Special Benefits District.

The Schaefer Center and the University of Baltimore’s Center for Citizenship and Applied Politics were selected by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to be one of only 15 sites nationwide to help implement the Help America Vote College Program The Baltimore City election director reported that as a result of the Help America Vote College Program at UB, “for the first time in 20 years, the precincts in the city were fully staffed.” The program’s pre-election phases were followed by extensive post-election day research including a mail survey, interviews with election directors and student participants and two focus groups. The center anticipates ongoing work in this area through the training of election judges and the continued involvement of college students—as both election judges and interns who work with county, city and state election directors.