UMass Amherst Named a Community-Engaged University

What does a truly engaged institution look like? And how does a university most effectively foster the scholarship of engagement?

These are questions that UMass Amherst has been asking itself and its community partners in a very deliberate manner as part of an ongoing discussion over the course of the past five years. UMass Amherst Outreach has encouraged and helped shape that discussion.

Now, however, we know at least part of the answer to the first question. We know that a truly engaged institution looks a lot like UMass Amherst, at least according to the Carnegie Commission for the Advancement of Teaching.

The Carnegie Foundation has named UMass Amherst a Community-Engaged University under a rigorous classification process developed two years ago to document community engagement in the curriculum, and separately in community outreach and partnerships.

The campus was recognized for its engagement initiatives in both areas—the curriculum and the community. UMass Amherst now joins 194 other campuses across the country receiving the classification since 2006.

Chancellor Robert C. Holub called the classification a “milestone,” adding that it “recognizes the many campus programs that have fostered strong relationships with external community partners to address many of the social, economic, environmental, educational and cultural needs and issues in our region, the Commonwealth, nationally and internationally,” Holub said.

The classification follows a six-month documentation and application effort led by the Faculty Senate Outreach Council in collaboration with UMass Amherst Outreach, and with the assistance of the Faculty Senate Rules Committee, leaders of major campus outreach initiatives, and the deans.

Answers to the second question emerge in a variety of ways from the UMass Amherst engagement initiatives reviewed by the Carnegie Foundation, and exemplifying—in its words—“collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in the context of partnership and reciprocity.”

The Carnegie application focuses, in part, on 15 major initiatives being pursued by UMass Amherst with external partners. Included, among others, are the Center for Economic Development, the Renewable Resources Research Project, and the Small Business Development Center, the Psychological Services Center, the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, and UMass Extension’s TWEEN Power curriculum to fight teen obesity.

Vice Provost for Outreach Sharon Fross said the partnerships outlined for the Carnegie Foundation “illustrate that community engagement does not stand apart from the core functions of the university.”

Carnegie President Anthony S. Bryk said that such recognition benefits both a university and the communities it services, and encourages other colleges and universities to move toward greater engagement.

William Miller of UMass Extension, who served as Outreach staff application coordinator, said that the process put the spotlight on examples of community engagement that might otherwise have stayed hidden.

“Community is not necessarily defined by a specific geographic location,” said Miller. “Communities are constituted in a variety of ways, around shared activities, goals and civic, professional or commercial interests. Engagement helps develop mutually beneficial relationships with external partners from which unique opportunities for teaching, scholarship and public service can emerge,” he said.

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, said Bryk 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 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 Rico. There are over 4100 degree-granting colleges and universities in the U.S.

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, California. More information may be found at www.carnegiefoundation.org.