There was something on Abby Sharp’s resume that raised a question with job interviewers: What’s a civic engagement and responsibility minor?
“They had lots of questions about it,” Sharp said. “I told them it’s a mix of everything from volunteering at a soup kitchen to going on campus and trying to get students to vote. It definitely made a difference in my interviews. It set me apart from those without a ton of experience.”
The day before her December graduation, where she received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice sciences from Illinois State University, Sharp started working as an investigator with the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services in Springfield. Her work includes preparing pretrial reports on criminal defendants for the courts.
She has been closely following the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, the state’s sweeping criminal justice reform bill that took effect January 1. The bill would have ended the cash bail system, but that part of the law was declared unconstitutional, a decision that’s being appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Sharp transferred to Illinois State in fall 2021. She graduated from high school a semester early, Illinois Central College a semester early, and Illinois State a semester early, at only 20 years old. Her advisor told her about the civic engagement minor, offered through the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), thinking it might be a good match with Sharp’s interests in social justice and politics. She also minored in political science.
Illinois State first offered the civic engagement minor in 2007. Courses focus on diversity, anti-racism, and community-engagement projects. The interdisciplinary minor is open to any major and includes a community internship. It also offers a special concentration for teacher education majors. Many of the courses offer hands-on activities and assignments in urban schools and communities.
Sharp interned with the Illinois Innocence Project and Normal Town Council member Scott Preston as he campaigned in 2022 for the Illinois House of Representatives. She also worked the front desk for CCE, joining staff at campus and election events.
The civic engagement minor did more than build her resume. “I made some of my closest friends through the civic engagement classes,” she said. She plans to go to graduate school, and maybe more. “Grad school is pretty much a yes; law school is a maybe,” she said.
Katy Strzepek, director of the CCE, said: “We are so proud of Abby and our graduates in the minor. The civic engagement and responsibility minor is a great way for students to connect what they learn in the classroom to real-world practices. Through their internship experience and other community-engagement opportunities, students are prepared to be engaged lifelong learners who contribute to their communities.”
Find more information on the civic engagement and responsibility minor’s website.
