Community engagement
Community engagement definition
Community Engagement describes the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, state/regional, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. There are three categories of engagement: 1) curricular, 2) outreach and partnership, and 3) curricular engagement and outreach and partnership. (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching)
Resources for community engagement
University campuses around the country are involved with community service learning, and often describe that involvement along with invitations to faculty and students to join in on their websites. Check campus websites for ideas about how to incorporate community engagement into your courses, research and service activities. Find a colleague who is engaged with the community, and discuss with them how they got started. Contact community organizations and associations to determine what their needs may be. Seek support for community engagement in the form of grants, materials, and volunteers.
Choosing a project
Identify a need in your community that your expertise and your students’ efforts may address. Contact community agencies and organizations who are addressing similar issues. Check to determine what partnerships already exist between your campus and the community to see if your efforts might result in a collaboration. Talk with representatives of the community you hope to partner with in order to see how you might develop a reciprocal relationship. Think about ways to link your course content, your research agenda, and or your service to activities in the community. Seek resources to support your work together, including people, funds, materials, and time.
Start small
It can be overwhelming to launch a new initiative, develop new relationships, and complete projects. As a new faculty member it will be smart to begin with a small scale project that you feel passionately about, develop the necessary relationships, and begin to develop trust within the community. Over time there will be opportunities to expand the work together.
Examples of Community Engagement
Community Engagement Grants
Office of the Provost, Virginia Commonwealth University
This site describes six univeristy-community programs that won grants from the university.
Teaching Social Justice through Community Engagement
Closson, R. & Nelson, B.M. (2009). International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
This case of engaging students in Habitat for Humanity examined the impact on students’ personal growth and the potential to contribute to a more equitable and just society.
Center for Sport and Social Justice
CSU East Bay
CSSJ’s aim is to critically examine the cultural practices and structural inequalities that continue to shape and inform sport. We encourage creative and radical work in sport and physical activity that empowers people and transforms communities.
Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative
University of California Berkeley
This collaborative is one example of community engagement by the Berkeley campus.
Center for Community Engagement
California State University, Long Beach
This site offers resources for faculty engaged in community service projects.
Assessing Community Engagement
Tools for Assessing Community Engagement at the Course, Program, and Institutional Levels
Duffy, D.K. & Andreadis, C. (2007), Middlesex Community College,
Massachusetts
This article examines the thirteen indicators of engagement organized into five thematic groups of institutional culture, curriculum and pedagogy, faculty culture, mechanisms and resources, and community campus exchange.
Service Learning at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Preliminary Study
National Dropout Prevention Center, Points of Light Foundation, University of California Los Angeles, United Negro College Fund, Benedict College, and National Service Learning Clearinghouse partnership (2001)
This study consisted of three surveys for faculty, community partners and students who had been involved in service projects in order to get a sense of service learning, identify patterns, and serve as a guide for follow-up interview questions.
How to Incorporate Community Engagement
Service Learning = Solutions
Learn and Serve America’s National Service Learning Clearinghouse
This clearinghouse has many links to lesson plans, project ideas, and examples of service learning nationwide.
Resources and Principles for Best Practices in Service Learning
Excerpted from Howard, J. Ed (2001). Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning: Service Learning Course Design Workbook, OCSL Press, Summer, p. 16-19. University of Michigan
This series of web based communication modules on service learning provides useful information available for faculty in planning and leading a service learning course.
TERP Impact
Faculty and Staff Resources Coalition for Civic Engagement and Leadership, University of Maryland
This site takes faculty through questions such as, How do I start? I’m interested but don’t have much time. I do community service, what else can I do? Can I get academic credit for this? Links to many resources are provided.
New York City Civic Engagement Program
Barnard College
This site describes events, partnerships and resources to get involved. It offers a list of courses on campus that involve civic engagement, sample syllabi, and a basic introduction to service.
Support for Community Engagement
Center for Community Engagement
California State University System
This site describes the commitment by the CSU to Community Engagement, explains initiatives, policies, resources, and campus contact information for each of the community engagement offices at the twenty-three campuses of the CSU.
Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service
Tufts University
This university wide college works with each school at Tufts to provide active citizenship opportunities for every student. It does not offer its own degree. This unique campus wide community engagement concept supports research, teaching and service.
The Scholarship of Community Engagement: Using Promotion and Tenure Guidelines to Support Faculty Work in Communities
Agenda and Focus Group Notes (2002). Annual Conference of the Association of American Medical Colleges
This article asserts that institutions should encourage faculty to use their expertise in new and creative ways to work with communities, thereby removing constraints to faculty community engagement.
