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Notes on 2015 Carnegie CE Classification Application

7/5/2016

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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
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All work in this portfolio was created by Don Unger and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.