With the election right around the corner and political discussion heating up, a local program is hoping to connect the Syracuse University community and the city of Syracuse with the local government through discussion and hands-on engagement.

Citizens Academy, which runs from Sept.7 until Nov. 2, is a collaboration with SU’s University College and F.O.C.U.S Greater Syracuse, a nonprofit dedicated to engaging Syracuse citizens with the government. The program — a series of eight classes teaching citizens about the ways local government is organized and funded — aims to create passion about local politics among its attendees.

“It’s for those who want to learn more about their community. It’s about improving the quality of life, leaving behind a better world than before,” said Frank Moses, the manager of F.O.C.U.S.

Each free class, held Wednesday nights from 5:30 to 8:30, includes a panel discussion hosted by local officials and a Q&A, and includes a light dinner. Each class is held in a different location, with the hopes of showing participants areas of the city they have never been and engaging them with local government-funded facilities, Moses said. Participants have the option of touring the facilities, including Syracuse City Hall and Onondaga County Justice Center, before the class starts.

Class topics vary and focus on the different branches of the local government. Session themes include land planning, community development, water and waste management and law enforcement and public service, Moses said.

The program began accepting applications in late July and received more than 100 of them. Moses’s goal was to find participants that genuinely want to learn more about their own community and help make their government stronger.

One of the questions on the application was about how the participant would apply the information they learned in the seminar to real life.

Short answer application questions helped Citizens Academy obtain the most diverse class possible, thus facilitating better discussion, said Moses.

This year’s class size is capped at 35 people, which keeps the discussion moving and allows people to participate in one-on-one learning and discussion. The median age for the program this year is about 30 years old. Moses said the hope is for citizens to build relationships with the public officials and department heads that they meet, and in turn give the government feedback about what services they want the government to provide.

Though Citizens Academy’s purpose is to teach individuals about the community, there is an underlying hope that citizens will take the knowledge they acquire and get involved.

This could include voting in the next election, volunteering for a campaign or even running for office themselves, said Eileen Jevis, spokeswoman for the University College of Syracuse University.

“We try and choose people we feel will most benefit from a program like this one,” said Jevis.

The program is open to Syracuse University students, but Jevis said they tend to lean towards people that live in the wider community and are planning to live in Syracuse for a long time, as the program is focused on local politics.

However, Syracuse students have expressed interest in such a program, simply because they want to know more about the politics of the city they live in.

“I would definitely apply for Citizens Academy,” said public health junior Catherine McInerney, “I think it’s important for students to know what going on in their community, because decisions the government makes can affect us students.”

Though most don’t go into politics after completing the program, alumni of Citizens Academy say that they definitely feel more involved and connected with their community, and more inclined to participate in local government.

Ahmeed Turner, the director of Say Yes to Education Syracuse Scholarship, said in the program’s brochure that the experience was “eye-opening” and gave him a “broad perspective learning the inner workings of government.”

As an alumnus of the program himself, Moses said it is all about connecting with your community and figuring out what issues are most important to those living in the city.

The timing of these classes are also no coincidence. Citizens Academy hopes to take the fervor of this year’s unconventional general election and apply it to local politics.

With the tagline ‘Your Community, Your Future,’ Citizens Academy believes it is providing the Syracuse community with an essential purpose, and after 10 years, has no plans to change or leave anytime soon.

“I cannot stress enough how important this program is for Syracuse residents,” Moses said. “It’s essential information really everyone should know.”

Published on September 6, 2016 at 8:41 pm

Contact Hanna: hrhorvat@syr.edu