Reading Time: 5 minutes

Click here to read highlights from the story

• Oshkosh resident Nikolas DeGroot started Groundfloor Democracy after seeking an informal place where community members could gather to discuss politics and local issues. 

• Run entirely by volunteers, Groundfloor Democracy hosts Politics in the Park events several times per month. 

• Organizers focus on fostering respectful discussions in person, which they say helps people connect with their neighbors and find what they have in common. 

• However, it’s been a struggle to attract participants to their gatherings. 

• The group plans to become a nonprofit organization and hopes to eventually host events in more Wisconsin cities.

On a late April evening, in an Oshkosh park bordering the shores of Lake Winnebago, Nikolas DeGroot and Elaine Koch arranged four fabric lawn chairs in a circle. They unfolded a small table and used it to prop up posterboard reading “POLITICS IN THE PARK” in bubble letters. Then they sat down and waited for curious passersby to notice. 

During a time when Americans are increasingly polarized and politics can feel too tense a topic to broach in conversation, Oshkosh resident DeGroot wants to inspire his neighbors to tackle the topic head on — and handle disagreements thoughtfully. 

“There’s a disconnect in the way that we relate to one another, on many different levels. I think that the internet has kind of become the public commons, and it does it really badly,” DeGroot said. “We all know it’s terrible. We all hate it, and yet that’s still like the place where the most discussion is happening.”

The antidote, he thinks, is simple: bring conversation about shared issues back in the flesh, in a public place neighbors frequent, and make sure it stays respectful. 

That’s the gist of “Politics in the Park,” an event series where DeGroot and several helpers invite people to have civil conversations about politics and local issues at a public park. Through this, he hopes his neighbors can learn to connect again and chip away at the polarization driving people away from each other. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, getting people to take part in the initiative has proven difficult. Still in its infancy, the twice-weekly events this spring mark the series’ second year. Turnout has been sparse — typically, a handful of people stop by each event. The group, dubbed Groundfloor Democracy, hosted about 10 attendees at once at its peak. 

But the conversations they’ve had have been encouraging, and they hope it’ll catch on soon. 

“I want people to see that there is a big difference between debate and just regular conversation, and that we can get back to conversation,” said Emmy Carrick, who helps put on the events. “We want people to take away that regular conversation without yelling, without debate, without cameras — it’s possible.”

‘We’ll pull up some chairs, and we’ll just see’

As a political science student at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, DeGroot was eager to attend political and academic events on campus. But when he looked around the room at donors, university administrators, professors or students required to be present for a class, he felt out of place. 

“As somebody who comes from a working-class background, I don’t see any people like me at events like this,” said DeGroot, who works two part-time jobs.  

He started looking for other community organizations he’d be more aligned with. But he didn’t see any addressing his biggest concern: “How do we get people off of their devices and speaking in person again?” 

He decided to take matters into his own hands. 

“I was taking my son to the park every day after school anyway, for like two hours. So I was like, … ‘We’ll just set up a sign, we’ll pull up some chairs, and we’ll just see. We’ll just see what happens,’” he said. 

He made Facebook posts to tell people when he was going to be outside and wanted to facilitate conversation. He let people talk about what was on their minds. A few visitors came the first couple times, but they sometimes struggled with what to discuss. 

He started asking questions to guide discussion: 

“If you could change one thing about your government (local, state or federal), what would it be?”

“What’s something you think we could fix if we just talked about it more honestly?”

“What’s one thing you’d like politicians to stop doing?”

“What gives you hope when it comes to politics or your community?”

“What do you think people get wrong about folks who vote differently than them?”

Meanwhile, DeGroot posted a callout for people to help him with the endeavor. Four board members now help him organize events, post on social media and try to grow Groundfloor Democracy’s turnout. 

That includes Carrick, who discovered the project while surfing Reddit. She wanted to get involved because she feels like “we’ve never been more disconnected from our neighbors.”

“I like the premise of it because it was just something so low-stakes,” Carrick said. “With how polarized things are, it feels like any political conversation that you have is very high-stakes. I liked that this was just informal and welcoming.” 

By the end of last spring, they’d had enough turnout to feel encouraged to continue. This year, the events are guided by a one-word prompt, such as “local,” “education” or “justice.” They ask participants what topics the words bring to mind and let attendees steer the conversation.

Continuing the conversation

Carrick’s favorite Politics in the Park event took place on an early April evening, when about 10 people attended. Two teens on their way to the bus stopped briefly to learn about the initiative. Another man wanted to discuss the Trump administration’s policies — an exchange that ended with him and Koch praying together. 

“Nobody ever said whether they were a Democrat or Republican. We just talked,” Carrick said. “That was so refreshing to me. We didn’t talk about parties at all. We just talked about us and our lives and local issues and more of what brought us together.”

While discussion at the events has stayed civil to date, conversations about politics can often slide off the rails. 

Their goal isn’t to avoid debate, but to encourage handling disagreements respectfully. For that reason, DeGroot took a 40-hour mediation training at the Winnebago Conflict Resolution Center to learn how to handle and dissolve conflict. 

“A big part of that training was getting from the thing that somebody is saying to the underlying feeling that’s connected to what they’re saying,” DeGroot said. “It’s just trying to get to that little crumb at the center of like, why does this person feel so strongly about this particular thing?”

If needed, he will intervene to help the person see how those “big feelings” at the root of their argument overlap with the values of the people sitting with them, to help them see the similarities they share. Though he’s prepared, he hasn’t yet needed to interrupt a conversation.

Since it is a nonpartisan organization, DeGroot and other members are careful not to advocate for specific candidates, parties or policy positions. That’ll become especially important as they look to become an official nonprofit. The federal government prohibits these types of organizations from engaging in political campaign activity. 

As time goes on, they also want to grow the initiative by hosting conversations in more Wisconsin cities or partnering with other local civic organizations. 

They also want to find ways to raise funds — right now, everyone who helps out is a volunteer. 

Mostly, though, they want more people to come talk about politics with them in the park. 

“We can’t delete social media from the world, heal our nation’s politics overnight or anything like that,” Carrick said. “But we can set up some lawn chairs in a park and have a couple neighbors come out and just chat and get to know each other more.”

Learn about Groundfloor Democracy’s upcoming events here.

These Oshkosh residents want you to log off and talk politics — in real life is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Click here to read highlights from the story

• High schoolers account for nearly half the student population at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh – the largest number of dual enrollment students in the state. 

• As the traditional college-age population shrinks, dual enrollment courses have surged in popularity, transforming UW-Oshkosh’s identity. 

• Few high schoolers who take college courses at UW-Oshkosh decide to attend the university for their undergraduate studies, a trend officials are making efforts to change.

When University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh lecturer Paul Sager logs onto Zoom every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to teach his composition course, he asks his students to paste in the chat what emoji they feel like that day. 

If it’s cold outside, they might send a snowflake, or if they’re feeling motivated, a rocket ship. 

“They find that really fun and ice-breaking,” Sager said. “Feeling connected to your professor, I believe, is an extremely important part of being invested in a course, especially when it’s at the college level.”

That’s especially important for Sager, who has never met most of his students in the flesh, and likely never will.

At UW-Oshkosh, high schoolers make up nearly half of the student body. Many of them live hours away and never actually step foot on campus, instead taking the college courses from their high schools. 

It’s an increasingly popular dynamic as dual enrollment classes — where high schoolers simultaneously earn high school and college credit — soar in popularity and the typical college-aged population shrinks. But UW-Oshkosh enrolls more high schoolers than any university in the state, an endeavor that’s transforming the college’s identity.

The approach has helped UW-Oshkosh combat the big enrollment declines Wisconsin universities have seen in recent years. 

But as more colleges tap into the dual enrollment trend, the state’s fourth-largest UW campus is facing stiffer competition for these students. On top of that, few of them currently continue their education at UW-Oshkosh after high school. College leaders want that to change.

“As the competitive landscape that we operate in gets more competitive, and as the number of total high school students in Wisconsin continues to go down, it’s going to be more important that we get more and more of these students to choose UW-O as their four-year solution, as well,” said Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Edwin Martini. 

A service and a strategy

Dual enrollment is now rapidly taking root across the country, but UW-Oshkosh was ahead of the curve when it launched its program 50 years ago. 

Today, over 6,500 high schoolers get a jump start on college through the university’s Cooperative Academic Partnership Program, dubbed “CAPP.” In most cases, UW-Oshkosh authorizes qualified high school teachers — typically those with graduate degrees in their subject areas — to teach CAPP courses at their own schools. 

Just five UW-Oshkosh professors, Sager included, teach courses to high schoolers virtually. This allows them to reach more rural schools that otherwise lack access to dual enrollment courses, often because they don’t have qualified instructors or enough resources. 

“Given the opportunity to teach these courses, I jumped on it … It’s definitely a calling,” Sager said.

The university charges high schools about half the typical tuition costs for the classes. Students considered economically disadvantaged by the state get added discounts. Each school district decides how it passes the cost of books and tuition onto students. 

If students choose not to attend UW-Oshkosh after graduation, their credits can transfer to 200 other colleges.

Over the past decade, the number of students doing dual enrollment through UW-Oshkosh has nearly doubled. While that mirrors nationwide growth, UW-Oshkosh has leaned fully into the trend, hoping to attract as many students as possible across Wisconsin — and, in some cases, beyond.

“The simple truth is, if Oshkosh didn’t do it, somebody else would,” Sager said. “It’s something that I believe at Oshkosh they’ve really understood as not only a moneymaker, but just an opportunity.”

To attract students, program leaders call schools to tell them about the program and advertise at teacher conferences around the state. But largely, word of mouth and its status as the state’s oldest help win school leaders’ trust. CAPP is the only Wisconsin program accredited by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, an organization holding universities accountable to offering dual enrollment courses as rigorous as normal college courses.

“We’ve had, more than ever, people reaching out to us to get involved,” said CAPP Outreach Specialist Sarah Adelson. 

Today, 45% of UW-Oshkosh students are high schoolers, a phenomenon more common at community colleges than universities. Statewide, high schoolers are just 10% of university enrollment, compared to 1 in 3 community college students.

The dual enrollment growth has been, in many ways, a saving grace for the college. 

Like other Wisconsin universities, UW-Oshkosh has lost thousands of traditional college students — those enrolling after high school graduation — over the past decade. Dual enrollment has helped offset that loss. Overall enrollment is down 9%, but without the high school students, enrollment would be down closer to 36%.

“For us, in part, it is a service. It is something that we’re proud of doing and providing these opportunities to students,” Martini said. “But we do consider our dual enrollment portfolio very much part of our strategic enrollment management portfolio.”

A shifting college experience

Walking across the UW-Oshkosh campus, it’s not immediately obvious how much the student body has changed in recent years.

Classrooms are still filled with what many would consider “typical” college students. Sidewalks bustle with students walking to class. Finding parking can still be competitive.

But in recent years, as more students take classes without setting foot on campus, the university has undergone some noticeable changes: The campus-run bookstore closed. Satellite locations in Appleton and Fond du Lac shut down because of enrollment declines. During a budget crunch, leaders offered voluntary retirement to roughly 50 faculty. And three dorm buildings are slated for demolition, as they no longer need as much space to house students living on campus.  

Teagan Massey-Plamann, a senior at Menasha High School, takes UW-Oshkosh’s dual enrollment courses from about 20 minutes away but has visited campus only once.

“It may not be the experience of being on campus and everything, but I still kind of get to see what the curriculums will look like, and how much studying I’ll need to do,” Massey-Plamann said.

As dual enrollment continues to expand, it raises broader questions about what will define the college experience. While the typical experience most think of is by no means dead, Sager said, it seems pretty rare nowadays.

“All of them, I think, also seek that personal connection with faculty and wanting to have an on-campus experience in one way, shape or form … I don’t know if there is a ‘definition’ for what a college experience even is anymore,” Sager said.

For some, the experience of being a professor has shifted, too — teaching high schoolers is a different task than teaching students a few years older, Sager said. 

“It really is about trying to meet them at their level and understand that, and also apply a little bit of pedagogical changes, so that the assignments mean more to them, and they feel more invested in it,” Sager said.

Great colleges think alike?

When Massey-Plamann graduates from high school this spring, she’ll already have a head start on college, thanks to her UW-Oshkosh dual enrollment courses in statistics, calculus and biology.

“It’s just getting me in the mindset that I’m going to be doing more classes like this next year,” the aspiring art therapist said. “They’re not going to be just classes where I can just sit and do nothing because I get all my work done really quickly. It’s getting me prepared for that time management.” 

That head start will save her both money and stress as she heads to St. Cloud State University in Minnesota to play softball.

Like Massey-Plamann, most UW-Oshkosh dual enrollment students don’t continue their education there after high school. Only about 10% do. 

University leaders want to change that. 

While Adelson said students historically “just come to us,” that’s changing as other Wisconsin colleges try to ride the dual enrollment wave. At the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, high schoolers now make up about a third of enrollment. Just 20 miles away from UW-Oshkosh, half of the 8,000 students at Moraine Park Technical College are still in high school.

In response, UW-Oshkosh leaders are stepping up recruitment efforts — they’re offering classes other universities don’t, awarding at least $1,000 scholarships to those who enroll the following fall and funding more campus visits for high schoolers.

But UW-Oshkosh leaders acknowledge there don’t seem to be many students left to go after — the pool of college-bound students may already be tapped. CAPP Director Margaret Hostetler said their next push is for students who aren’t planning to attend college at all. They wonder if dual enrollment could change their mind. 

The university is also ramping up advising services, pointing students toward courses that will actually benefit them in the future.

“We don’t want students just taking every single dual enrollment credit they can because that’s not necessarily saving them time or money,” Hostetler said. “To save time and money, you have to have a class that is going to transfer as a course that you will need in your field of study.”

They’ve ramped up marketing efforts to remind dual enrollment students that “they are Titans,” Martini said, mailing them branded T-shirts, banners and posters for teachers to hang in their high school classrooms. 

“What we want is them to have a great experience, and then that builds their affinity with UW-O,” Martini said. “And then they say … ‘Now I want to go to Oshkosh. Now I want to be a Titan.’”

Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with Open Campus. Email her at mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org.

At one Wisconsin university, nearly half the students are still in high school is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.