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Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement VISTA Assignment Description (VAD)

Title: Civic Education in Underserved Communities VISTA

Sponsoring Organization: University of Montana – Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement
Project Name: MCNCE VISTA
Project Number: N/A
Project Period: August 10, 2026 – August 9, 2027

Site Name: Mansfield Center, University of Montana

Focus Area(s):  Capacity Building
Primary: Education: K – 12 Success or School Readiness
Secondary: N/A

 

VISTA Assignment Objectives and Member Activities 

Goal of the Overall VISTA Project: 

The goal of this project is to build capacity for the Mansfield Center’s Civic Education programs to provide sustainable civic education in underserved communities across the state of Montana.  These new programs invest in high-quality curriculum materials, comprehensive teacher professional development, and meaningful student civics events that can be used and adapted over time by school systems. The VISTA member will accomplish this goal by supporting the Civics Education team in expanding the scale, reach, efficiency, and effectiveness of its new programs to underserved schools in Montana. The Mansfield Center and the VISTA member will engage students and teachers in these communities by adopting a collaborative, place-based approach that invites them to co-create civic education experiences. To address the challenges of civic education in underserved communities, our curriculum and workshops foster in students and teachers a better understanding of founding documents, constitutional government, local governance, public policy, and community organizing. Together with developing capacity for advocacy, our project empowers youth to address systemic barriers such as limited resources and restricted economic opportunities. Our civic education work is designed to strengthen community networks and leadership, empowering youth to collaborate on solutions, work to build investment, and hold civic institutions accountable.

 

Objective:
The VISTA member will orient themselves to project performance measurement requirements in order to successfully implement each component and accurately report on progress. 

Member Activity (8/10/2026 – 8/21/2026): The member will work closely with their supervisor to ensure they participate in a thorough On-Site Orientation Training upon arrival at the host site and communicate any project questions to the host site supervisor and/or the Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement staff.

Member Activity (8/10/2026 – 8/21/2026): The member must review applicable performance measurements and anticipate outcomes for each activity included in this VAD. 

Member Activity (8/10/2026 – 8/21/2026): Upon understanding the performance measurements and reporting requirements, the member will determine and put into place reporting tools necessary to supply performance measurement data monthly to the Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement VISTA Project. 

 

Objective:  
Determine the role of the campus/community partners in the VISTA project.  

Member Activity (8/24/2026 – 9/25/2026): Establish communication with primary project partners to discuss and plan for civics education programs at their schools. These include schools particularly in rural and tribal areas of Montana.

Member Activity (8/31/2026 – 9/25/2026): Establish communication with an expanded network of project partners to discuss and plan for civics education programs at their schools. These include schools particularly in rural and tribal areas of Montana.

Member Activity (9/8/2026 – 9/25/2026): Provide the project supervisor with a list of partners, the scope of civics education programs at their schools, a schedule for taking programs to their schools, and a schedule for regular communication of progress and input. 

Member Activity (9/8/2026 – 9/25/2026): Maintain regular communication with these partners. 

 

Objective:

Create academically appropriate and engaging education materials and activities for civics programs designed to meet the identified needs of K-12 teachers and students. 

Member Activity (9/14/2026 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will document what civics education materials are being used by project partners in Montana K-12 schools currently, particularly focused on 5th, 8th, and 11th grade curriculum

Member Activity (9/14/2026 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will create curriculum content for civics education to accompany a 20-episode video series about Mike Mansfield’s engagement with and promotion of civics issues and values.

Member Activity (9/14/2026 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will coordinate with project partners to schedule the employment of the new video curriculum and the Montana 250 Tapestry tour to their schools.

Member Activity (11/30/2025 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will identify ideas and opportunities for further student and teacher engagement in their local civics programs, advocacy, and community engagement.

Member Activity (12/12/2025 – 6/2/2026): The VISTA member will develop recommendation for the project supervisor to help guide the development of new civics programming based on their research and identified educational needs.

 

Objective:

Establish strong relationships between the Mansfield Center’s Civics team and school systems in Montana to advance the programs reach particularly into underserved rural and tribal schools. 

Member Activity (9/14/2026 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will maintain and expand the schedule of civics programming to Montana schools, focused on underserved rural and tribal schools and 5th, 8th, and 11th grade classrooms.

Member Activity (9/14/2026 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will develop ideas and recommendations to the project supervisor to integrate the civics video series and Montana 250 Tapestry with other civics goals and programming in Montana partner schools.

 

Objective:

Help evaluate the efficacy and sustainability of the 

Programs and the VISTA member’s programmatic contributions. 

Member Activity (9/14/2026 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will collaborate with an evaluation expert to determine metrics and data collection to determine if civics education programming is meeting program goals.

Member Activity (2/8/2027 – 8/9/2027): The VISTA member will gather and analyze data 

  • the number of schools by grade reached by civics programming
  • the number of students and teachers by grade reached by civics programming
  • evaluation of civics knowledge gained
  • evaluation of student and teacher comfort with engaging in civics issues
  • the number and quality of generated ideas and opportunities for repeated student engagement in civics issues

 

Compensation/Benefits: 

  • $24,962 VISTA Living Allowance (full year) = $957.46 bi-weekly
  • $7,395 Education Award or $1800 cash award
  • $1,000/month Housing Stipend 
  • Relocation Allowance
  • Health Insurance
  • Personal & Medical Leave
  • Non-Competitive Federal Hiring for one year
  • University of Montana access & resources
  • Access to regular professional trainings through MCNCE & University of Montana