Support for Carnegie’s New Community Engagement Classification

AS-2784-07/AA (Rev) - January 18-19, 2007

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of the California State University (CSU) express its support for the new Community Engagement Classification designation by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in affirmation of the importance of community engagement in higher education; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU commend the five CSU campuses (Chico, Fresno, Monterey Bay, San Francisco, and San Marcos) that sought and were selected for this new Community Engagement Classification; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU urge other CSU campuses well-known for community engagement to elect to participate by submitting documentation for this classification in the categories of curricular engagement and/or outreach and partnerships; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU dedicate this resolution to our esteemed colleague, Dr. Paul T. Persons, Member-At-Large of the Executive Committee and Professor of Political Science and Statewide Senator from CSU Chico in honor of his conscientious contributions in support of community engagement; and be it further.

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU send copies of this resolution to the campus presidents, provosts and campus senate chairs.

RATIONALE: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected 76 U.S. colleges and universities for its new Community Engagement Classification. 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. To create this elective classification, the Foundation, working with a team of advisors, developed a documentation framework to assess the nature of an institution's community engagement commitments. Eighty-eight institutions applied to document community engagement for the new classification. 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 interaction and curricular engagement and outreach & partnerships address community-identified needs, deepen students' civic and academic learning, enhance community well-being and enrich the scholarship of the institution.

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.).

Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships includes institutions with substantial commitments in both areas described above.

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 new Community Engagement Classification was developed as part of an extensive overhaul of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and represents a second phase of work that began last year. Last November, Carnegie released five new classification schemes, and last February released a revised version of the basic classification (the traditional framework developed in 1970). The Foundation has also created online tools that allow institutions and researchers to examine institutional classifications and generate custom listings.

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 usedfor a wide range of purposes by academic researchers, institutional personnel, policymakers and others.

A website that highlights CSU campus applications and approaches for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification designation is available at http://www.calstate.edu/csl/resource_center/
bestpractices/Carnegie.shtml. A listing of the institutions in the Community Engagement Classification is available at http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/
classifications/index.asp?key=1213.