About Engaged Institutions


American colleges and universities are major assets for cities and regions and hold enormous potential to help solve society’s most pressing challenges. Over the past 20 years, there has been a great push for these institutions to be more responsive and engaged in what happens outside their institutional walls. This means being better neighbors by more thoroughly integrating civic engagement within their organizational structures and practices, and their research, teaching, and outreach activities. A key question for advocates for the “engaged institution” is: how can we produce this sort of deep organizational transformation?
 
Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Engaged Institutions project seeks to provide       answers to this question. PolicyLink, a national   research and action institute based in Oakland, California, is the national evaluator of the project a  nd the developer and maintainer of this website. Read More.

 

Latest News

    • A University of Cincinnati initiative to apply classroom study toward the benefit of the community is anticipated to be awarded up to $60,000 over the next three years, with participating local nonprofit agencies receiving the majority of that funding as directed by the UC students. That's as they become part of UC's "Pay It Forward" service-learning program for student philanthropy. Read More. (1/17/10)

    • University of Kentucky was one of four public research university leaders who, along with 79 public university leaders, pledged to address the national shortage of science and mathematics teachers. The institutions are working through the Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative (SMTI) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The initiative is part of Obama's "Educate to Innovate" campaign for excellence in STEM education. Read More. (1/7/10)
                                                      • There are 11 members of a national working group for the newly formed Association of Schools and Colleges of Education for Civic Engagement - established to improve the quality of education by fostering the connection between colleges and their local communities. The group includes representatives from across the country. Read More. (12/28/09)
                                                      • The Society for College and University Planning will host a webcast titled, "Agents and Architects of Democracy: The Struggle for the Future of Higher Education," on November 3, 2009. The webcast will explore the history and future of civic agency as an organizing theme for higher education. Read More. (10/27/09)
                                                      • The latest issue of Metropolitan Universities Journal, in August 2009, features 9 articles from the Community-Engaged Scholarship for Health Collaborative, an initiative of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH). The Collaborative focused on building capacity for community-engaged scholarship in higher educational institutions, with an explicit focus on the faculty promotion and tenure system. (10/13/09)
                                                       

See "News Archive" in "Resources" section for previously posted news items.