Food, Inc. Notes
 
The way we eat has changed more in last 50 years than in the previous 10,000.
 
We still use the image of agrarian America to sell the food.
 
47,000 products in average supermarket
 
No seasons…tomatoes ripened with ethylene gas
 
No bones in meat…provides a veil between what it is and how it is
 
No just what we’re eating, but what we can say and what we know.
 
Eric Schlosser, Fastfood Nation

• Industrial food system began with fast food
• McDonald’s brought the factory system to the kitchen
• One worker do one thing again and again and again
• Could pay workers a low wage and replace them easily
• Uniformity, conformity, and cheapness
• This big fast food chains want big suppliers, and now there are a handful of companies controlling our food system/
• 1970s 5 beef packers controlled 25% of the market
• 2008 the top 4 control more than 80% of the market
• Same thing happening in pork
• Even if you don’t eat fast food, you’re eating what’s produced by this system

 
Tyson biggest meat packing company in the history of the world

• Birds now raised and slaughtered in half the time they were 50 years ago, but now they’re twice as big. Chicken redesigned to have large breasts.
• Changed the farmer…
• Tobacco growers in the south switched to chickens
• Antibiotics put into feed…bacteria builds up a resistance
• Farmers are indebted 80-300k per chicken house
• Companies demand upgrades for new equipment or they lose the contract
• 2 chicken houses=500k borrowed, 2 chicken houses=18k/year

 
Eric S.

• Wanted to trace the source of his food
• Illusion of diversity in grocery stores
• Kept ending up in a cornfield in Iowa: so much of our food is a clever rearrangement of corn
• 30% of US land is used to grow corn
• Paid to overproduce corn because it’s what multinational corporations want
• Farm policy determines our food
• We subsidize farmers by the bushel

 
CAFO (Controlled Area Feeding Operation)
Michael Pollan

• Tracing e coli in meat
• Run off from factory farms=how e coli gets into vegetables
• Government appoints agribusiness leaders and lobbyists to oversee federal regulation, which means none
• 1972 FDA did approx. 50k food safety inspections
• 2006 = 9164
• Concentration of farming means bad pathogens get spread far and wide more easily
  
• 13 slaughterhouses in the US today that process the majority of beef
  

 
DC

• Food Safety Advocates
  
• Diana DeGette (D-Colorado): We’ve moved to self-regulation
• E coli 0157H7
  
• Story about child dying from e coli poisoning
• Courts decide USDA couldn’t enforce their policies 2008
• Kevin’s Law: give power back to USDA
• (Did this law ever pass?)

 
efficiency leading to massive problems…they don’t go back and see what’s wrong with the system, they try to develop some hi-tech fixes to resolve that problem, but lead to others
 
ammonia and ammonia hydroxide used in processing meat (70% of US burgers now…gunning for 100%)

“I’m a mechanic…we design our own machinery.”

“It’s a marriage of science and technology.”
 
“We’ve skewed our food system to the bad calories, and it’s not an accident. The reason those foods are cheaper is because those are the ones that are heavily subsidized…The snack food calories come from the commodity crops, the wheat, the corn, and from the soybeans. The biggest predictor of obesity is income level.”
 
“1 in 3 Americans born after 2000 will contract early onset diabetes.”
 
Faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper
 
I think people are fooling themselves if they think that the people making these decisions (corporations) don’t know the consequences.
 
Jumps to largest slaughterhouse in the world: Smithfield Hog Processing Plant (Tarheel, NC)
“Same mentality toward workers as they do toward hogs”
Comparing to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
Teddy Roosevelt took on the beef trust
Unions made meatpacking worker one of the best union job in US
Then fast food comes in
Now meatpacking is one of the most dangerous jobs in the US
Meat packers began actively recruiting in Mexico after subsidized US corn put Mexican corn farmers out of business (NAFTA)
            Government cracks down on illegal workers and not the companies
 
“Hidden Costs”
Environmental costs, health costs, subsidies, labor conditions
 
Natural Products Expo

• Organic is one of the fastest growing segments of food industry
• If we only say we’re gonna buy food from the most perfect system in 100 miles, we won’t get there.
• All these companies being acquired by agribusiness and huge corporations.
• Trying to replace products. I don’t see how this affects things immediately.

           
“From Seed to Supermarket”
1980s Supreme Court said you could patent life, which opened the door to corporations owning the most valuable parts of life (crops_
Monsanto story

• Roundup Ready soybeans with patented gene1996=2% of soybeans in US, 2008=0ver 90%
• Illegal to save your own seed, Monsanto will sue them for patent violation supposedly though it sounds like a roving band of thugs
• When you genetically modify a crop, you own that patent.
• Land grant universities used to develop public seed. The vast majority of plant breeding was done in public institutions.
• Monsanto has a black list.  They use it to put people out of business.

 
“The Veil”

• Clarence Thomas on decisions about seed saving
• Monsanto tied to Bush and Clinton administration
• Lists all these people who are appointed to federal positions and work for agribusiness
• SB-63 Passed in California, Schwarzenegger vetoed it
• Fast food fought against listing calories, about divulging transfats
• Meatpacking fought country of origin labeling for years
• Fought not to label genetically modified foods
• More laws protecting corporations and agribusiness than people
• Moe Parr case

 
“Shock the System”

• Everything is getting concentrated into fewer hands, making the entire system more precarious
• Modern agribusiness depends heavily on fossil fuel

 
Stoneyfield dude argues that buying groceries is voting. I’m not sure hoe this actually fits into his earlier argument that in order to save the planet change has to happen faster. I guess he doesn’t mean all that fast.
 
Pollan argues for changes at the policy level
 
 
Food Chains Notes (Prime)
 
Immokalee, FL

• Shows the life of Farmworkers, tomato pickers
• “The history of farm labor in the United States is the history of exploitation.”
• Cuts to MLK speech
• Supply chain: intricate system of farmers, farm workers, and distributors
• Claims supermarkets set all the rules and who gets paid what
• Coalition of Immokalee Workers
  • Taking on Publix
  • Asking for 1 cent more per bucket to workers
  • Would double their wages (??)
  • Publix refused
  • CIW launch a hunger strike in front of Publix headquarters
  • Six-Day Strike
• Immokalee in 1960
  • Edward Murrow story
  • Looks largely the same except it’s black people
• Farmworkers at the bottom of a supply chain dominated by fast food, food service, and supermarkets
• Supermarkets earn more than Monsanto, Goldmann Sachs, Microsoft, and Apple
• Walmart changed the game, forced consolidation
• Today= Walmart, Kroger, Publix, and Safeway
• When a supermarket can dictate costs down the entire supply chain, a free market no longer exists…called a monopsony
• Asking for paying a penny per pound not bushel
• In this country, “you are poor because you’re making others rich.”

 
California

• More migrant farmworkers than any other state
• California economy always relied on exploited, cheap labor, first Native Americans, then Mexicans
• Caesar Chavez, lettuce fields of California, helped found UFW Union
• RFK stepped in and ended a historic strike, sitting down with havez
• Piqued at 100k farmworkers
• 1980s California made it more difficult for farmworkers to organize
• Discusses the conditions for migrant laborers in Napa
• Wine…labor costs 25 cents regardless
• Addresses the role NAFTA played in increasing migrant labor pool in US
• Moves into global migrant labor

 
Back to Immokalee

• Companies chalk it up to labor disputes and say they have no power
• Slavery ring discovered in Immokalee in 2007
• 1995 Strike, first big CIW action
• Early 2000s
• took it to taco bell
• per more per pound and supply chain code of conduct
• Taco Bell joined fair food program (Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Trader Joe’s)
• Supermarket chains still a huge hole
• Since it’s inception fair food…
  • $11 million more to workers
  • Set up ways for women to report sexual harassment
  • Eliminated slavery on the farms that work with CIW
• Walmart joined in Jan 2104
• Publix didn’t join
• Fairfoodnow.com

Intro
"I want you to see how connected our lives are with the rest of the world. How we have a lot to learn from one another. How we can live lives that either exploit others or provide others with opportunity. And how our local lives impact the lives of others around the globe. We aren't just local citizens; we are global citizens. We are glocals" (xv).
 
Cites MLK's "A Christmas Sermon" (24 Dec 1967)
 
"It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality. Did you ever stop to think that you can't leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that's handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that's given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that's poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that's poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you're desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that's poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that's given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you've depended on more than half of the world. This is the way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated quality. We aren't going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality."
 
Audio: https://youtu.be/1jeyIAH3bUI
Text: http://www.ecoflourish.com/Primers/education/Christmas_Sermon.html
 
"I'm not going to tell you what to think. I'm not going o tell you that how you live, eat, and consume is wrong. But I will ask you to care" (xvi).
 
 
Part 1. Coffee: Product of Colombia
 
Ch. 1: The Starbucks Experience
Tracing Starbucks cup to its source
Additional Sources:

• Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation
  • Munday Library Media Collection (PN1995.9.M45 F378 2007 DVD )
  • Munday Library On Display (TX945.3 .S355 2001 )
• Bill McKibben's Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
  • Munday Library Book Stacks (HD75 .M353 2007 )
• Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma
  • Munday Library Book Stacks (GT2850 .P65 2006 )
• Food, Inc.
  • Munday Library Media Collection (HD9005 .F66 2009 DVD )
• King Corn
• Supersize Me

• Munday Library Media Collection (TX945.5 .M33 S87 2004 DVD )

 
Lots of setting the scene with facts about food production and sales in the US, e.g., how much food the US imports, the difference between organic and local, etc.(6-8)
 
Dole Organic Banana Farm #773 (from Trader Joe's)
http://www.doleorganic.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118&Itemid=203&phpMyAdmin=101ec4fece409t73498e50
 
Rainforest Alliance: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/
Global Gap (formerly Euro Gap): http://www.globalgap.org/uk_en/
 
"There are 1 billion farmers on earth. Sxity percent of them live in poverty. More than two-thirds of the population is composed of rural farmers in Asia and Africa, but that is changing. It's estimated that by 2050, 70 percent of the world's population will live in the city."
 
"Today, 1.5 billion people eat so much food that it causes them to have health problems. They are overnourished. Yet, we have 1 billion people who are starving" (11).
 
Source: Raj Patel's Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
Munday Library Book Stacks  (HD9000.5 .P277 2012 )
 
We spend less on food, but overeat, and the government doesn't track of inspect shit, especially in other countries.
 
His questions:

• Why, how, and by whom is dinner being outsourced?
• What does this mean for farmers in my hometown in Indiana--and farmers around the world?
• Is he increasing global nature of our food economy part of the problem or the solution?
• Do we need more farmers or fewer?
• How can we sustainably feed our growing population?
• "Less than 2.3 percent of imported food is inspected" (12). US FDA annual report... What does this mean for our national food security?

 
 
Ch. 2: The Grande Gringo Picks Coffee
What coffee production looks like in Colombia
 
Additional Sources:

• Anthony Wild's Coffee: A Dark History

 
The problem of middlemen between farmers and consumers
 
 
Ch. 3: The Cup of Excellence
Discussion of Starbucks' C.A.F.E. Practices program
Shakey evidence that the program is having any effect; it doesn't seem to have resulted in higher wages, but it did provide some farmers with beneficios (machinery for processing coffee beans) and signs around villages. (33-36)
 
40: Discussion of how/whether C.A.F.E. Practices had any benefit on farmers with statistics
 
 
Ch. 4: The Heart of the World
Discussion of visiting an Arhuaco Indian village
 
Additional Sources:

• Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
  • Munday Library Book Stacks (HN13 .D5 2005 )

 
"If the world were made up of Americans, it would be as if we shared the planet with 72 billion people" (52). Based on how much Americans use/waste
 
"We do less to reverse the change--and more to out-engineer our impact" (53).
 
Seems to be making a general argument about much more strict regulation over production, working conditions, wages, etc related to food sold in US
 
58: How fair trade works for the Arhuaco
 
"Contentment is bad for some cultures where growth must be relentlessly pursued" (59).
 
 
Part II. Chocolate: Product of West Africa
 
Ch. 5: Solo Man
Story of Solo, a worker on a coca farm in the Ivory Coast, who may or may not be a slave
 
73: How the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund control these farms and exploit them
 
77: Stats on coca
 
84: Utz Certification
 
Additional Sources:

• The Dark Side of Chocolate: Child Trafficking and Illegal Child Labor in the Cocoa Industry
  • DR TV (Television station : Copenhagen, Denmark); Films for the Humanities & Sciences (Firm); Films Media Group. 2010], c2010: Online access

 
88: Relationship between child labor and certifications
 
 
Ch. 6: Slavery and Freedom
Helping Solo escape
 
Additional Sources:

• Orla Ryan's Chocolate Nations: Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa
  • Munday Library Online Access
• http://wwww.slaveryfootprint.org

 
94: Contrasts the difference between awareness and action
 
"Multinational corporations control 40 percent of the world food trade, 20 companies essentially control the world coffee trade, 70 percent of wheat trade is controlled by six companies, 98 percent of tea trade is controlled by one company, and 10 companies account for 90 percent of all agrochemical sales" (98).
 
99: Story of Guy Andre Keiffer and what happens to journalists that expose the corruption in the Ivory Coast.
 
 
Ch. 7: Is it Peace?
Looking for Solo's family in Ghana
 
If it's bad in Ivory Coast, it's worse in Ghana. Young Ghanaian men leave for Ivory Coast and work for years to amass some wealth and come back to Ghana.
 
 
Part III. Banana: Product of Costa Rica
 
Ch. 8: The Banana Commuter's Work
Costa Rica, Juan (a bananero) and his daily life on a banana plantation
 
 
Ch. 9: Banana Worker for the Day
Story of Timmerman working on the banana plantation and going to EARTH University
 
Additional Sources:

• Dan Koeppel's Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World
  • Not available through Munday directly
• EARTH University
  • https://www.earth.ac.cr/

 
"Today, the term 'Banana Republic' is used to describe any country that relies heavily on one export crop that the government and private institutions work to exploit--often to the detriment of the nation's people" (138).
 
139: How US dominance/imperialism controls banana production
 
EARTH as an alternative, sustainable model based on small production and diversity
 
How Norman Borlaug's "Green Revolution" fucked everything up
 
Timmerman raises these questions:

• What is the goal of agriculture?
• Is it to produce food?
• Or is it to produce money?

 
How economics define taste: Addresses how the Cavendish banana is the most widely produced and basically the only one available in the US. This has to do with uniformity and durability and nothing to do with taste.
 
Addresses serious issues with supply chains
 
"BananaLink, a nonprofit in the UK, breaks down the profit of the retail price of a supermarket banana into the following percentages: the supermarket gets 41%, the importer gets 19 percent, the exporter gets 28 percent, the farm owner gets 10.5 percent, and the banana worker gets 1.5 percent" (151).
 
Additional Sources:

• Banana Link
  • http://www.bananalink.org.uk/

 
 
Ch. 10: Nowhere to Go But Bananas
 
Additional Sources:

• Bananas! On Trial for Malice(documentary)
  • Amazon Prime Add On Sub or for rent (3.99): http://tinyurl.com/ztxmpto

 
Addresses the courts role in colluding with corporations to exploit farmers (159)
Also addresses what bananeros think about their futures
 
Unions were replaced by solidarismo (160), which prevents them from striking (for more on solidarismo: PDF from Banana Link: http://tinyurl.com/js5clff)
 
 
Part IV. Lobster: product of Nicaragua
 
Ch. 11: Life, Death, and Lobster
 
Jumps back to Nicaragua in 2005
Addresses lobster divers and their horrible working conditions (no training, equipment, etc)
 
Additional Sources:

• My Village, My Lobster
  • Amazon Video rental (3.99): http://tinyurl.com/zbrfwzq

 
 
Ch. 12: The Lobster Trap
Short chapter with Timmerman's FBI/CIA story
 
 
Ch. 13: The Future of Fish
 
Begins by addressing Red Lobster and Darden, moves into Global Fish Alliance and sustainable fisheries
 
"For aquaculture to be sustainable, it must be done in inland pools with filtered water and composted waste, raising mussels, oysters, or nonfish-eating fish, such as tilapia" (193).
 
Addresses Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch label, which takes into account sustainability and conditions for obtaining seafood and turns it into rankings for consumers
 
Bon Appétit (which runs St. Ed's cafeterias uses it)
 
Additional Sources:

• Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch
  • http://www.seafoodwatch.org/
• Bon Appétit
  • http://www.bamco.com/

 
 
Part V. Apple Juice: Product of Michigan China
 
Ch. 14: No Apples
Starts with story of children drinking apple juice, how much of our agricultural imports come from China (and how it has grown exponentially in recent years), and foodborne illnesses related to Chinese products
 
Additional Sources:

• Paul Midler's Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game
• Marion Nestle's Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety
  • Munday Library Online Access

 
USFDA inspection issues:

• 2001: less than 1 percent of imported foods
• 2012: 2.3 percent of imported foods (but the amount of imported food has dramatically increased

 
Goes to Indian Farms in Michigan, discovers the juicer/orchard uses Chinese concentrate
 
"'Some companies won't buy your apples unless you have a third-party audit,' Daryl says, and then explains one problem they're having. Walmart wants farmers to use a private audit firm that it owns" (209).
 
 
Ch. 15: Mr. Feng's Apple Empire
Goes to Xi'an, Luochan to see an apple orchard (Mr. Feng's)
Very meticulous production
Famers have become quite wealthy, but kids do not want to take it over
Farming helped develop a middle class, but the kids are moving to the cities
Never gets into the company
 
 
Additional Sources:

• Frank Dikotter's Mao's Great Famine: The Story of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962
  • Munday Library Book Stacks (HC430.F3 D55 2010)

 
 
Ch. 16: As American as Apple Juice Concentrate from China
Tries to visit a juice company in Luochan, but they won't let him in
Has a really expensive dinner with Feng's daughter
 
 
Part VI. My Life: Product of USA
 
Ch. 17: Food as Faith
Finds a food guru at Downtown Farmstand in Muncie, IN
Addresses the development of the store
 
 
Ch. 18: Farmers No More
Addresses his father's experience going from a farmer to a construction worker
 
 
Ch. 19: Imagined Futures
A very unnecessary chapter that limply makes a connection between chemicals in food and autism in regards to his son, who to this day can't get diagnosed as ASD
 
 
Ch. 20: Decisions about Man and Land
The conclusion
 
"We simply aren't going to shop our way to a better world. Buying socially and environmentally certified products is better than not doing so, but if all we do is look at a certification label and feel like we're doing our part, that's not enough" (259).
 
Additional Sources:

• La Via Comapesina: http://www.viacampesina.org
• International Labor Rights Forum: http://www.laborrights.org
• Slow Food: http://www.slowfoodusa.com
• Food First: http://www.foodfirst.org
• Real Food Challenge (for universities): http://www.realfoodchallenge.org/take-action
• Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in the Age of Plenty

 
"There are responsible purchasing decisions that I can make at Walmart, but the fact is most of the decisions have already been made by the small group of companies responsible for marketing, shelving, processing, and transporting food from producers to these shelves and the policies under which they operate" (265).
 
"In 1950, an American farmer received half the retail price of food, but by 2000 only 20 percent went to the farmer" (266).
 
"In 1949 Americans spent 40 percent of their income on food. In 2012 we spent around 15 percent" (267).
 
 
Appendix A. A Guide to Ethical Labels
Addresses dfferent food certifications and what they mean:

• USDA Organic
• Fair Trade Certified
• Fair Trade
• Rainforest Alliance Certified
• Far for Life
• Whole Trade

 
 
Appendix B. The Journey Continues
What Timmerman and his family are doing personally
 
 
Appendix C. A Guide to Going Glocal (most useful for class)
Addresses what the term means and the need to take local and global action (no simply awareness)
A lot about travelling and getting close to people/issues
 
 
Chapter Discussion Questions (285-298)

Carnegie Classification 2015 Application Notes
 
Data provided needs to reflect the most recent academic year.
 
How they define community engagement:
Community engagement describes the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.
 
The previous paragraph sums it, and the second one just reiterates it:
The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good.
 
This definition excludes work that doesn't happen with partnering organizations. It's an extremely narrow definition that excludes much of the work at St. Edward's. Furthermore, it takes the position that students, faculty, etc, are always separate from communities. We are always marked as representatives of the institution first. It's an outmoded notion though I'm not sure if it's the way they define communities or the way the define engagements that's outmoded. Still, this definition leaves space for the following types of work:

• Service-Learning (e.g., S.E.R.V.E. Austin)
• Ongoing Community-University Partnerships (e.g., ??)
• Internships
• Limited-partnerships (e.g., Eakman's Grant Writing Class)

 
On its face, this definition excludes:

• Faculty or Student projects grounded in communities, but not directly benefiting a partner or where there's no specific "partner" to assess the engagement outside the institution (e.g., ATXonVinyl)
  • With an example like ATX on Vinyl, would something like page hits be enough to count as assessment?
  • It's doubtful because the assessment measures are meant to be uniform across campus.
• Course projects aimed at familiarizing students with different communities

 
This raises some important questions about our infrastructure. On the one hand, we need to document, reinforce and streamline what we have. On the other hand, we want to be open to innovative forms of engagement that don't neatly fit into a streamlined, neatly assessable format.
 
In a call out, the authors expand their definition:
Community engagement describes activities that are undertaken with community members. In reciprocal partnerships, there are collaborative community-campus definitions of problems, solutions, and measures of success. Community engagement requires processes in which academics recognize, respect, and value the knowledge, perspectives, and resources of community partners and that are designed to serve a public purpose, building the capacity individuals, groups, and organizations involved to understand and collaboratively address issues of public concern.
 
Again, this definition creates a division between the institution and the community. While it's important to recognize that different pressures and goals might exist among different people within a community, this definition actually positions people with university ties and others as oppositional thus reinforcing division under the banner of reciprocity.
 

I. Foundation Indicators


A.  Institutional Identity & Culture

1.  Mission Statement

• https://www.stedwards.edu/mission
• "They encourage individuals to confront the critical issues of society and to seek justice and peace. Students are helped to understand themselves, clarify their personal values and recognize their responsibility to the world community. The university gives the example of its own commitment to service." and "by stressing the obligation of all people to pursue a more just world"

2.  Campus-wide Awards & Celebrations

• Awards for faculty & students need to be created
• Incorporate something into Source?
• EARP event among classes?

3a. "Systematic assessment of community perceptions of the institution's engagement with community"

• What does Lou use?

3b. Aggregate assessment data

4.  CE emphasized in marketing materials?

5.  Executive leadership promote CE?


B.  Institutional Commitment

1.  Campus-wide coordinating infrastructure

• Needs work, includes
  • Office of Community Engagement
  • CTE Fellow
  • Center for Social Innovation

2a. Internal Budget Allocations

• For the above yes, beyond that?

2b. External Funding

2c. Fundraising

2d. Invest financial resources in the community for engagement and development?

3a. Systematic, campus-wide engagement tracking mechanisms

3b. Use this data? How?

4a. Systematic, campus-wide assessment mechanisms to measure impact?

4b. Indicate the focus of these mechanism and describe 1 key finding in impact on students

4c. Indicate the focus of these mechanism and describe 1 key finding in impact on faculty

4d. Indicate the focus of these mechanism and describe 1 key finding in impact on community

4e. Indicate the focus of these mechanism and describe 1 key finding in impact on institution

4f. How does the institution use data from the assessment mechanisms?

5.  Where does it fit in the strategic plan?

• https://www.stedwards.edu/strategic-priorities-2018
• more detailed version: https://www.stedwards.edu/sites/default/files/media/strategic_priorities_2018.pdf
• "Our modern campus and robust technology enliven the educational experience, and our location in Austin — a nexus of innovation, creativity and growth — offers exciting experiential learning opportunities. And a growing network of global partner universities gives students countless chances to engage the world."
• Nothing very explicit about engagement. Most focused on global initiatives, pretty much international students and making the St. Edward's community more diverse.
• Only mentions Austin in terms of networking and internship opportunities.

6.  Prof development support for faculty engaged with CE

7.  Partner role in institutional or department planning
 
8.  Search/recruitment policies or practices designed specifically to encourage hiring faculty with expertise in and commitment to community engagement

9.  Institutional-level policies for promotion that reward CE

10a. Rewarded as a form of teaching and learning

• Asks for citation from handbook

10b. Rewarded as a form of scholarship

• Asks for citation from handbook

10c. Rewarded as a form of service

• Asks for citation from handbook

11.  University/school/department level policies for promotion that reward CE

• List schools
• List as percentage
• Cite three examples from documents

12.  If not, is there work in progress to revise promotion and tenure guidelines?


C. Supplemental Documents

1.  CE noted in Student Transcripts?

2.  Connected with Diversity & Inclusion
 
3.  Connected with student retention & success?


II. Categories of Community Engagement


A. Curricular Engagement (uses the term service learning)

1a. Designation for these courses

1b. How many courses offered in the most recent academic year

1c. Departments represented

1d. Faculty number

1e. Student number

1f. How is this data gathered and by whom?
 
2a. Institution-wide learning outcomes

2b. Are these outcomes systematically assessed?

2c. If yes, describe how this data gets used.
 
3a. Departmental or Disciplinary Learning outcomes
 
3b. Are these outcomes systematically assessed?

3c. If yes, describe how this data gets used.

4a. Integrated in

• Student Research
• Student Leadership
• Internships/Co-ops
• Study Abroad
• Provide examples for each

4b. Integrated in a university-wide level in any of the following structures:

• Graduate studies
• Core courses
• Capstone (Senior-level project)
• First Year Sequence
• General Education
• In the Majors
• In Minors
• Provide examples for each

5.  Faculty Scholarship associated with curricular engagement?

• 5 examples

B. Outreach & Partnerships
(providing resources v. collaborative interactions)

1.  Programs developed for the community:

• Learning centers
• Tutoring
• Extension programs
• Non-credit courses
• Evaluation support
• Training programs
• Prof dev centers
• Provide examples for each

2.  Institutional resources provided to the community

• Co-curricular student service
• work/study placements
• cultural offerings
• athletic offerings
• library service
• technology
• faculty consultation
• Provide examples for each

3.  Describe partnerships (max 15) n place over the most recent academic year

• Use partnership grid template

4a. How do you attend to mutuality/reciprocity?

4b. Mechanisms to collect and share feedback from partnerships (both from institution and             community partner)

5.  Examples of faculty scholarship associated with their outreach and partnerships

• 5 examples

III. Wrap Up

1.  (Optional) Elaborate on any short-answer item for which you need more space

2.  (Optional) Anything not required that you consider significant

• What students do after graduation

3.  (Optional) Any suggestions or comments on the app process

Who is Represented?
2015 =  240
83 = first time
157 = re-classified from 2006 & 2008
2010 = 121 new additions
TOTAL = 361
 
Out of 4140 Colleges & Universities in the US
 
 
What Were the Common Issues in Applications that Did Not Receive the Classification?
If you don't receive the classification, the organization will provide you with general feedback. The website reiterates common issues they found in the 2015 applications:

1. They need to give more attention to assessment, particularly from community.
2. They don't show enough evidence of ongoing relationships with partners.
3. There aren't awards and other clear incentives for faculty engaged in the work.
4. Community engagement isn't prevalent in other high-impact initiatives such as first-year programs, learning communities. Also, they aren't connected to other initiatives (diversity, etc.).

 
 
Why Are Public, Four-Year Institutions Overrepresented?
Despite there being far more private institutions in the US than public institutions (1699 v 2441), public institutions receive the classification in higher numbers. This might mean that the application process is so intense that private institutions don't have the resources to complete it or the infrastructure to receive the classification. It might also mean that they don't apply in as high numbers or that they aren't as interested in community engagement in general. (It falls outside their mission, perhaps, though I find that dubious.) The website does not clarify any of the numbers by addressing the applicants who do not receive the classification. Community colleges seem to be least represented.
 
 
Why Obtain the Classification?
There is no explanation of why one would want the classification other than the fact that it might help institutions reflect on and guide their practices. The website puts it thus, "The classification is not an award. It is an evidence-based documentation of institutional practice to be used in a process of self-assessment and quality improvement."
 
 
How Do They Define Community Engagement?
Very Strictly! The website states, "Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity."
 
"The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good" (emphasis added).
 
I'm wondering if the Carnegie Classification reinforces or is at least more conducive to public universities that have a bloated administrative staff.
 
Questions
Who designed the classification requirements?
What institutions or types of institutions were they at?
How do those requirements relate to or reflect their own institutions in terms of what offices existed, what personal existed, etc?
What kinds of infrastructure do these application requirements not only rely on but demand?
 
I raise these questions because the institution I work at has minimal administrative staff. Much of that work is done by faculty, and course reassignments are minimal as well, which means faculty members provide these services on top of their 4/4 teaching loads. This line of questioning also connects to why so few community colleges obtain the classification.
 
Next, what and who get left out when we focus on community engagement as working with specific partners? People who don't use or don't work at those organizations are obviously left out. I have serious problems with identifying government agencies and non-profits as communities. The definition of community engagement provided by Carnegie is a huge problem and actually limits the types of relationships that colleges and universities can and should have with people who aren't part of the university.
 
 
2020 First-Time Classification
They offer an old version "for planning purposes." The new application will be made available Jan 2018.
 
It seems the classification lasts 10 years (8 years before reapplication).
 
 
2020 Application Timeline
January 2018
Announcement of the 2020 process

May 1- July 1, 2018
Request for applications (payment of fee and release of application)

April 15, 2019
Applications due/Reviewing begins

December 2019
Review process completed/campuses notified

January 2020
2020 classification results announced

 
There is less than one year to complete the application (May 1 to April 15 at best).
 
 
Advice of First-Time Applicants

1. Use the guide and start work early.
2. Create a team to work on the application (include community partners).
3. Asses successes as well as "activities that didn't go as planned." It's unclear whether they actually want you to address these given the limited space of the application, however.
4. Each section has word limits. Be judicious in what you provide, and be sure to provide "important and compelling evidence."

 
 
Who Decides the Criteria and Reviews Applications?
Big wigs in community engagement
For 2015:
Celestina Castillo, Director, Center for Community Based Learning, Occidental College
Amy Driscoll, Consulting Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Timothy Eatman, Co-Director, Imagining America, Syracuse University
Thomas Ehrlich, Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University 
Matthew Hartley, Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
Julie Hatcher, Executive Director, Center for Service and Learning, Associate Professor, Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Barbara Holland, Senior Scholar, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Elizabeth Hollander, Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University
Emily Janke, Director, Institute for Community & Economic Engagement, University of North Carolina Greensboro
Lori Moog, Director of Service Learning and Community Outreach, Raritan Valley Community College
William Plater, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus, Executive Vice Chancellor Emeritus, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Eugene Rice, Senior Fellow, Association of American Colleges and Universities
John Saltmarsh, Director, New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Lorilee Sandmann, Professor, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, University of Georgia
Chanda Smith Baker, President & CEO, Pillsbury United Communities, Minneapolis, MN
 
 
NOTE: The Carnegie site sends you to the New England Resource Center for Higher Education (UMass Boston).
 
 
Additional Resources
Application Process FAQ: http://nerche.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1391
 
Sample Applications: http://nerche.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1386:community-engagement-classification-resources-sample-applications&catid=914:carnegie-foundation-classification
 
Webinars: http://nerche.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1385:community-engagement-classification-resources-webinar-recordings&catid=914:carnegie-foundation-classification
 
Adds a Note about NERCHE/Carnegie Relationship
Around 2013 they made an agreement that NERCHE would serve as the classification's administrators.