CSU Global, governors unite to help Americans disagree better

SALT LAKE CITY (July 12, 2024)

One big thing

Colorado State University Global has armed the nation’s governors with training designed to help Americans disagree better.

Why it matters

Governors have expressed concern about the rising level of vitriol in public and private discourse, including on college campuses.

Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis and Utah Governor Spencer Cox made the issue the primary policy initiative of the National Governors Association (NGA), which he chaired for the past year.

“Americans disagree about a lot of things and that’s reasonable, as long as we can debate issues without attacking individuals,” said Governor Cox. “The Presidents Forum has been an incredible partner in collaborating with our governors to create compelling and effective training to help learners develop the skills they need to disagree productively. I know the governors are eager to implement this work in their respective states.”

“The Disagree Better initiative has brought together elected officials and leaders from different backgrounds to discuss and share ways to have healthy disagreements, and I am thrilled CSU Global is providing the opportunity for students to join this conversation,” said Governor Polis. “Navigating conflict and working through disagreements is never easy, but the more we all come together to learn strategies to address conflicts, the better we can all disagree.”

Go deeper

Becky Takeda-Tinker, president of Colorado State University Global (CSU Global) joined Ivy Tech Community College (ITCC) President Sue Ellspermann,Purdue Global University Chancellor (PGUC) Frank Dooley and Gregory Fowler, president of the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), at the NGA summer meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah to present three state collaborations to create trainings around the NGA’s disagree better initiative.

In collaboration with their home state governors, these institutions are looking to provide the next generation of leaders with the skills and competencies to handle disagreement in a more productive way than it is now handled.

“The governors see the growing hostility in public discourse as a significant challenge that hampers their ability to address difficult policy issues,” said President Takeda-Tinker. “Our job was to provide tools that could help address the issue and we agreed that there are skills to help residents and learners of all ages to disagree better and those skills are valuable not only as they build their careers, but in all aspects of their lives.”

How it works

In Colorado, CSU Global led the way and collaborated with Governor Jared Polis to create a fully-online, instructor-facilitated course designed to equip learners with healthy conflict styles, tools, and strategies for resolution. The four-module, four-week course available at $175 provides a college credit that can be applied to CSU Global’s undergraduate programs and has garnered positive feedback from course completers. Learner data to-date reflects that prior to the course, 44 percent of students self-reported feeling very uncomfortable or uncomfortable having conversations where they disagreed. After course completion, 100 percent of students self-reported that they felt comfortable or very comfortable having conversations where they disagreed.

In Indiana, Ivy Tech and Purdue Global, joined Governor Eric Holcomb’s office, state agencies, and business and community leaders to create a four-week four module course. The course will be delivered as a microcredential and will be piloted in the fall by faculty at both institutions, then students. At the end of the training, students will earn a badge they can add to their Indiana Achievement Wallet. By partnering together and co-teaching the course, this microcredential will be able to reach dual credit, traditional, and working learners. 

In Maryland, UMGC is working to educate learners, including their military students occupying positions overseas and on the front lines of world stages, to navigate difficult issues and conversations. UMGC has approached Disagree Better as part of a larger redesign process within their institution. They plan to integrate the principles of productive disagreement and concepts into a redesign of their general education curriculum, which is based on an explicit framework of 25 skills across five competency areas. This process will support people in the various contexts of their lives to acquire and deploy these skill sets.

What’s next?

These trainings will continue to be refined and it is anticipated that this new focus will remain a critical focus of higher education moving forward.