Different Views of Civic Engagement

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Different Views of Civic Engagement

• Regional and economic development
• Educations role in a democratic society
• Response to accountability pressures
• Faculty response to vocational focus of students
  and public
• Improving their own community and image
• Better learning, new forms of scholarship
• Challenges of an urbanized society and economy

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The Engaged University

• The engaged institution is committed to direct
  interaction with external constituencies and
  communities through the mutually-beneficial
  exchange, exploration, and application of
  knowledge, expertise and information. These
  interactions enrich and expand the learning and
  discovery functions of the academic institution
  while also enhancing community capacity. The
  work of the engaged institution is responsive to
  community-identified needs, opportunities and
  goals in ways that are appropriate to the
  universitys mission and academic strengths. The
  interaction also builds greater public
  understanding of the role of the university as a
  knowledge asset and resource.

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Engaged Campus Characteristics

• Articulates engagement in mission and strategy
• Involves community in continuous, purposeful and
  authentic ways
• Links learning to engagement
• Links engagement to every aspect of campus org
• Develops and sustains necessary infrastructure
• Demonstrates leadership at all levels of
  organization
• Supports interdisciplinary work
• Makes engagement visible internally and
  externally
• Assesses engagement within the context of
  faculty, students, and community

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Civic Engagement as Scholarship

• Civic engagement is a specific conception of
  faculty work that connects the intellectual
  assets of the institution (i.e., faculty
  expertise) to public issues such as community,
  social, cultural, human and economic development.
  Faculty apply their professional knowledge and
  academic expertise to public purposes, as a way
  of contributing to fulfillment of the mission of
  the institution.

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The Scholarship of Engagement

• Engagement is a reflection of the institutions
  high interest in the community. The faculty
  member is performing intellectual tasks that
  reflect a larger commitment of the institution to
  link scholarship to public issues.

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Scholarship of Engagement

• Integrates teaching, research and service
• Is not an add-on or extra activity
• Recognizes diverse faculty interests
• Can be valued and rewarded
• Gives scholarly work a public purpose
• Is not just a new view of service

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Forms of Service

• Service to the campus
• Service to the discipline
• Community service
• First and third dont use academic expertise
• Second and third benefit individual more than
  institution

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Features of Engaged Scholarship

• Collaborative
• Participatory
• Shared Power
• Knowledge exchange
• Messy!
• Long term

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Challenges to Measurement

• Diverse strategies and forms
• Multiple perspectives and expectations
• Involves complex issues
• Shared roles makes attribution difficult
• Impact of work is not immediate
• Different levels of interest across institutions
  and among faculty

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Faculty Motivation re Engaged Scholarship

• Personal Values
• Disciplinary Culture/Standards
• Incentives
• Evidence
• Rewards
• Reputation/Imitation

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Another View of Faculty Interests

• Academic
• Link to discipline
• Opportunity for research, grants
• Combine theory and practice
• Civic/Personal
• Making a difference
• Link personal values to work
• Maintain a sense of balance
• Career
• More rewarding work
• Renewed interest in teaching/research
• Acquire new skills

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Obstacles to Faculty Involvement

• Time
• Unclear Priorities
• Skill/Confidence/Expertise
• Infrastructure and resource
• Leader Involvement
• Mission Clarity
• Rewards pressure for standardization

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Tools for Change

• Mission clarification roots
• Faculty development
• Hiring values and orientation of new faculty
• Peer interactions/disciplinary societies
• Incentives, rewards, recognition
• Infrastructure investments
• Curriculum reform
• Data on students, community and faculty
• New Resources

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Faculty Development Topics

• Definitions The language of engagement
• Characteristics of effective partnerships
• Methods for needs analysis/asset mapping
• Methods of applied research and participatory
  action research
• Evaluation methods
• Documentation strategies
• Best practices in their discipline
• Curricular re-design and syllabus development

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Faculty Development Formats

• Incentives
• Mentors
• Thematic teams
• Partnership events
• Conferences and publications
• Readings, speakers, exchange visits
• Portfolio training

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Time for a change

• The one size fits all model of scholarship does
  not fit the actual demands or personal interests
  of many faculty today (Diamond, 1999).
• Faculty discontent
• Standard reward guidelines for non-standard work
• Public concern about faculty productivity

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Diamonds Model for Assessing Engaged Scholarship

• High quality Scholarly Activity
• Requires a high level of disciplinary expertise
• Breaks new ground, is innovative
• Can be replicated or elaborated
• Can be documented and peer-reviewed
• Has demonstrable significance or impact

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Scholarship Assessed Boyers Design

• All scholarly work will have in common
• Clear goals
• Adequate knowledge and preparation
• Appropriate methods
• Significant results
• Effective presentation
• Reflective critique

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A Vision for a New Academic Culture

• Distinctive but comprehensive institutional
  missions
• Value given to integration of traditional
  scholarly roles
• Variety and flexibility in faculty roles
• Multiple career pathways recognize personal
  goals and career stages
• Balance between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
• Shared governance and shared leadership

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The Growing Integration of Scholarly Work

• Boyer (1996)
• Teaching, Research and Service become Learning,
  Discovery and Engagement
• Huber (2001)
• The scholarship of teaching like the scholarship
  of engagement calls for viewing academic work as
  an integrated whole instead of as a series of
  distinct and competing parts

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Validating the Role of Engagement

• Incorporation of CE into regional accreditation
  processes
• Federal investment in grant programs
• State investment in public service roles
• Exploration of CE (and learning) as element of
  Carnegie classifications

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• START slides on govt programs here

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• International info goes here

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Departmental Questions

• What engagement activities fit our discipline?
• Which of these are consistent with the mission of
  our university?
• Which might enhance our depts undergraduate and
  graduate programs?
• Which would involve students?
• Which would enhance basic and applied research?
• How would the work be documented evaluated?