Printer-friendly versionCarnegie Selects Colleges and Universities for 2008 Community Engagement Classification
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has selected 119 U.S. colleges and universities for its 2008 Community Engagement Classification. These institutions join the 76 institutions identified in the 2006 selection process.
Colleges and universities with an institutional focus on community engagement were invited to apply for the classification, previously developed and offered in 2006 as part of an extensive restructuring of The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Unlike the Foundation's other classifications that rely on national data, this is an "elective" classification—institutions elected to participate by submitting required documentation describing the nature and extent of their engagement with the community, be it local or beyond. This approach enabled the Foundation to address elements of institutional mission and distinctiveness that are not represented in the national data on colleges and universities.
"We hope that by acknowledging the commitment and accomplishment of these engaged institutions, the Foundation will encourage other colleges and universities to move in this direction. Doing so brings benefits to the community and to the institution," said Carnegie President Anthony S. Bryk.
To create this elective classification, the Foundation, working with a team of advisors and a pilot study conducted by 14 colleges and universities, developed a documentation framework to assess the nature of an institution's community engagement commitments. This year, 147 institutions applied to document community engagement, up from 89 in 2006. Of the total applications, 119 were successfully classified as community engaged institutions; 68 are public institutions and 51 are private. In terms of representing Carnegie's Basic Classification, 38 are classified as doctorate-granting universities, 52 are master's colleges and universities, 17 are baccalaureate colleges, nine are community colleges and three institutions have a specialized focus—arts, medicine and technology. They represent 34 states and Puerto Pico.
Institutions were classified in one of three categories:
- Curricular Engagement describes teaching, learning and scholarship which engage faculty, students and community in mutually beneficial and respectful collaboration. Their interactions address community-identified needs, deepen students' civic and academic learning, enhance community well-being and enrich the scholarship of the institution. (Two institutions)
- Outreach and Partnerships describes two different but related approaches to community engagement. The first focuses on the application and provision of institutional resources for community use with benefits to both campus and community. The latter focuses on collaborative interactions with community and related scholarship for the mutually beneficial exchange, exploration and application of knowledge, information and resources (research, capacity building, economic development, etc.). (Six institutions)
- Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships includes institutions with substantial commitments in both areas described above. (111 institutions)
In order to be selected into any of the three categories, institutions had to provide descriptions and examples of institutionalized practices of community engagement that showed alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices.
"The Carnegie staff and our panel of advisors were heartened by the exemplary institutionalized practices of community engagement of the selected institutions," said Carnegie Consulting Scholar Amy Driscoll, who directs the Community Engagement Classification process for the Foundation. "We noted strong alignment between institutional mission and budgetary support, infrastructure, leadership, marketing, and faculty hiring, orientation, and development. There is also an increase in students' curricular engagement with community, yet, there continue to be areas that need more informed development."
Driscoll cited the need for better assessment and tracking, and for more attention to the intentional practices of developing reciprocal relationships between higher education and the community. For example, some institutions continue to operate in a "charity model" with the provision of resources, expertise, student and faculty support to community without acknowledging community assets, expertise and resources. Building reciprocity into a partnership with community requires intensive development of mechanisms for mutual understanding, ongoing feedback, and time and attention to a relationship of respect.
"With regard to faculty rewards for roles in community engagement and community-based achievements, there seems to have been little change from last year's applications," Driscoll said. "We continued to see that few institutions described promotion and tenure policies that recognize and reward the scholarship associated with community engagement. It's often considered in a broad category of either campus-based or discipline-based service. So, despite excellent and extensive examples of faculty scholarship related to both curricular engagement and outreach and partnerships, there is still work to be done."
The Foundation, through the work of the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, developed the first typology of American colleges and universities in 1970 as a research tool to describe and represent the diversity of U.S. higher education. The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education continues to be used for a wide range of purposes by academic researchers, institutional personnel, policymakers and others.
Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of Congress, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center with the primary mission "to do and perform all things necessary to encourage, uphold, and dignify the profession of the teacher." The improvement of teaching and learning is central to all of the Foundation's work. The Foundation is located in Stanford, Calif.
