Jan 10, 2011

Carnegie Announces New Additions for the 2010 ‘Community Engagement’ Classification


The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recently announced the selection 115 colleges and universities for its 2010 Community Engagement Classification. These schools join the 196 institutions identified in the 2006 and 2008 processes.

Unlike the Foundation’s other classifications that rely on national data, this is a relatively new “elective” classification. Colleges and universities choose to participate by submitting required documentation describing “the nature and extent of their engagement with the community, be it local or beyond.”

This year, 305 institutions registered to receive an application (up from 217 in 2008), about half of which actually completed the process to document community engagement. Of the total applications, 115 were successfully classified as community engaged institutions.

“Through a classification that acknowledges significant commitment to and demonstration of community engagement, the Foundation encourages colleges and universities to become more deeply engaged, to improve teaching and learning and to generate socially responsive knowledge to benefit communities,” said Carnegie President Anthony Bryk. “We are very pleased with the movement we are seeing in this direction.”

To be selected, schools had to provide descriptions and examples of institutionalized practices of community engagement that showed “alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices.”

The Foundation found a great deal of interest among colleges and universities in being recognized for community engagement commitments and noted an overall increase in student engagement tied to curriculum.

Locally, only Loyola University of Maryland, James Madison University, and the University of Richmond have received the Community Engagement Classification. Curiously, no colleges or universities in the District of Columbia appear on the list.

More information and the complete listing of institutions in the Community Engagement Classification, may be found on the Carnegie Foundation website.


Picture provided by Wikipedia.

No comments:

Post a Comment