Amidst the considerable literature published on institutional change in undergraduate teaching an... more Amidst the considerable literature published on institutional change in undergraduate teaching and learning, an article co-authored by Robert Barr and John Tagg in 1995 stands out. The authors offered a vision and —perhaps most importantly—gave it a memorable name, the Learning Paradigm. “From Teaching to Learning—A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education” is the most frequently cited article in the history
Since the mid-1990s, universities and colleges have sought to institutionalize service-learning a... more Since the mid-1990s, universities and colleges have sought to institutionalize service-learning and community engagement. Along with aligning institutional roles and rewards, professional development for faculty and academic staff has been a key strategy for institutionalization. However, as Welch and Plaxton-Moore (2017) noted, professional development around community engagement is rarely guided by theory or conceptual frameworks and often lacks impact or outcome data. As a response to this critique, this paper presents Michigan State University’s Summer Intensive on Community-Engaged Scholarship, a weeklong professional development program for faculty, academic staff, and advanced graduate students offered in person annually. The author describes the program’s underlying conceptual framework, chronicles iterative improvements in its implementation over 4 years, and documents its impacts on 85 participants. The most significant gains in participant understanding were in history an...
Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning, 2017
Increasingly, graduate and professional students arrive at institutions of higher education with ... more Increasingly, graduate and professional students arrive at institutions of higher education with personal and professional commitments to make the world a better place through community engagement; however, departments often do not incorporate outreach and engagement into graduate curricula (Austin & McDaniels, 2006; O’Meara & Jaeger, 2006). As a result, students must seek out supplementary professional development opportunities to increase knowledge, strengthen skills, gain experience, and reflect critically on engagement. In 2008, Michigan State University initiated a competencybased Graduate Certification in Community Engagement to meet the professional development needs of students who aspire to be communityengaged, tenuretrack faculty; community engagement professionals; extension educators; or engagement professionals in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. This paper chronicles the evolution and emergence of community engagement competency areas identified through iter...
Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 2016
More than 20 years since Scholarship Reconsidered and 15 years since The Disciplines Speak raised... more More than 20 years since Scholarship Reconsidered and 15 years since The Disciplines Speak raised awareness about multiple ways of defining, conducting, and rewarding engaged scholarship, faculty members continue to cite institutional barriers to outreach and engagement scholarship. This qualitative study analyzed promotion and tenure policies from 15 Consortium for Institutional Cooperation (CIC) institutions. Thematic and content analysis focused on documents, including policies, instructions, forms, and templates, and followed a two-stage coding process guided by both extant theory and emergent discovery. The study revealed unexpectedly wide variations in language used to describe faculty work; types of examples included in the documents; the role of outreach and engagement in the promotion and tenure process; and criteria for assessing quality and excellence. No policy stood out as an exemplar, though many incorporated exemplary elements. Implications for policy and practice and...
In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground that overlooks a ... more In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground that overlooks a swamp. On the high ground, manageable problems lend themselves to solutions through the application of research-based theory and technique. In the swampy lowland, messy, confusing problems defy technical solution. The irony of this situation is that the problems of the high ground tend to be relatively unimportant to the individuals or society at large, however, great their technical interest may be, while in the swamp lie the problems of greatest human concern. The practitioner must choose. Shall he remain on the high ground where he can solve relatively unimportant problems according to the prevailing standards of rigor, or shall he descend into the swamp of the important problems and non-rigorous inquiry? (Schön 1987, p3).
Across higher education, we lack a common under-standing of the language of public service. A con... more Across higher education, we lack a common under-standing of the language of public service. A confusing myriad of terms has arisen, and the rhetoric of public service is not clear to everyone.... [T]he lack of clear
“niches ” They are “individuals with dual memberships in ” (C 198 2)institutions and subjects lar... more “niches ” They are “individuals with dual memberships in ” (C 198 2)institutions and subjects lark, 7, p. 4 Within each discipline, a unique subject matter defines the
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2012
This autoethnographic essay represents the authors’ critical reflection on their experiences part... more This autoethnographic essay represents the authors’ critical reflection on their experiences partnering with Liz Lerman and Dance Exchange (a dance company) artists on a collaborative evaluation of of Origins , a contemporary art and sci ence dance performance. They describe meaningful moments in their collaboration and reexamine those pivotal experiences in the broader context of scholarly community engagement. Based on their reflections, the authors identified themes including ethnographic approaches to collaboration, shared systems of meaning, and developmental evaluation to understand the com plex experiences that took place at the engagement interface. The essay concludes with suggested reflective questions for scholars to consider in their own community engagement activities.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2015
The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist R... more The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist Russell Ackoff referred to as “messes”—complex dynamic systems of problems that interact and reinforce each other over time. In this article, the authors argue that the lack of progress in managing messes is in part due to the predominance of a university-driven isolated-impact approach to social problem solving. The authors suggest an alter native approach called systemic engagement (SE), which involves universities as partners in systemic approaches to community change. The six principles of SE are presented and illustrated with a case example. Barriers to SE are discussed, and strategies are proposed for increasing faculty use of this methodology. The promises and perils of SE as an alternative community-engaged approach to social problem solving are considered.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2019
Community-engaged scholars, practitioners, and community partners often find the language of comm... more Community-engaged scholars, practitioners, and community partners often find the language of community engagement challenging. Words like participate, collaborate, partner, or engage fail to convey who in a community–university partnership has voice and authority in decision-making and responsibility for actions. The Degree of Collaboration Abacus Tool was developed as a visual to address this challenge. The authors provide two case studies to demonstrate how this tool can be used to name steps in community-engaged projects, clarify voice and decision-making authority, and represent collaboration responsibilities at multiple project stages. The Matter of Origins evaluation example illustrates how the tool can be used in a community-engaged research setting. The GRAND Learning Network example demonstrates how the tool can be used in a more complex community-engaged teaching and learning context. In the conclusion, the authors acknowledge the tool’s potential limitations and imagine p...
In 2001, Michigan State University revised it reappointment, promotion, and tenure form to encour... more In 2001, Michigan State University revised it reappointment, promotion, and tenure form to encourage faculty members to report engaged scholarship during the review process. While such revisions in institutional policies are necessary, they are not sufficient for shifting academic culture at college and department levels, where the significant decisions about reappointment, promotion, and tenure often reside. On-going discussions between tenure track faculty members and administrators about how scholarly outreach and engagement is interpreted and valued in their disciplines, departments, and colleges is critical.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2017
Although contemporary models of faculty involvement in publicly engaged scholarship recognize the... more Although contemporary models of faculty involvement in publicly engaged scholarship recognize the important influence of disciplines on faculty members, few studies have investigated disciplinary variations empirically. This study used the Biglan classification of academic disciplines to analyze publicly engaged scholarly activities reported by faculty members during reappointment, promotion, and tenure review. The Biglan dimensions (pure/applied, soft/hard, life/nonlife) were used to explore types of scholarly activity, intensity of activity, and degree of engagement. Using interpretive content analysis, we analyzed 171 reappointment, promotion, and tenure forms gathered from faculty members at one research-intensive, land-grant, Carnegie-engaged institution in the Midwest. Descriptive statistics revealed statistically significant disciplinary variations associated with all three Biglan dimensions. Study results provide evidence for moving beyond a universal, institutional approach...
Amidst the considerable literature published on institutional change in undergraduate teaching an... more Amidst the considerable literature published on institutional change in undergraduate teaching and learning, an article co-authored by Robert Barr and John Tagg in 1995 stands out. The authors offered a vision and —perhaps most importantly—gave it a memorable name, the Learning Paradigm. “From Teaching to Learning—A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education” is the most frequently cited article in the history
Since the mid-1990s, universities and colleges have sought to institutionalize service-learning a... more Since the mid-1990s, universities and colleges have sought to institutionalize service-learning and community engagement. Along with aligning institutional roles and rewards, professional development for faculty and academic staff has been a key strategy for institutionalization. However, as Welch and Plaxton-Moore (2017) noted, professional development around community engagement is rarely guided by theory or conceptual frameworks and often lacks impact or outcome data. As a response to this critique, this paper presents Michigan State University’s Summer Intensive on Community-Engaged Scholarship, a weeklong professional development program for faculty, academic staff, and advanced graduate students offered in person annually. The author describes the program’s underlying conceptual framework, chronicles iterative improvements in its implementation over 4 years, and documents its impacts on 85 participants. The most significant gains in participant understanding were in history an...
Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning, 2017
Increasingly, graduate and professional students arrive at institutions of higher education with ... more Increasingly, graduate and professional students arrive at institutions of higher education with personal and professional commitments to make the world a better place through community engagement; however, departments often do not incorporate outreach and engagement into graduate curricula (Austin & McDaniels, 2006; O’Meara & Jaeger, 2006). As a result, students must seek out supplementary professional development opportunities to increase knowledge, strengthen skills, gain experience, and reflect critically on engagement. In 2008, Michigan State University initiated a competencybased Graduate Certification in Community Engagement to meet the professional development needs of students who aspire to be communityengaged, tenuretrack faculty; community engagement professionals; extension educators; or engagement professionals in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. This paper chronicles the evolution and emergence of community engagement competency areas identified through iter...
Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 2016
More than 20 years since Scholarship Reconsidered and 15 years since The Disciplines Speak raised... more More than 20 years since Scholarship Reconsidered and 15 years since The Disciplines Speak raised awareness about multiple ways of defining, conducting, and rewarding engaged scholarship, faculty members continue to cite institutional barriers to outreach and engagement scholarship. This qualitative study analyzed promotion and tenure policies from 15 Consortium for Institutional Cooperation (CIC) institutions. Thematic and content analysis focused on documents, including policies, instructions, forms, and templates, and followed a two-stage coding process guided by both extant theory and emergent discovery. The study revealed unexpectedly wide variations in language used to describe faculty work; types of examples included in the documents; the role of outreach and engagement in the promotion and tenure process; and criteria for assessing quality and excellence. No policy stood out as an exemplar, though many incorporated exemplary elements. Implications for policy and practice and...
In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground that overlooks a ... more In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground that overlooks a swamp. On the high ground, manageable problems lend themselves to solutions through the application of research-based theory and technique. In the swampy lowland, messy, confusing problems defy technical solution. The irony of this situation is that the problems of the high ground tend to be relatively unimportant to the individuals or society at large, however, great their technical interest may be, while in the swamp lie the problems of greatest human concern. The practitioner must choose. Shall he remain on the high ground where he can solve relatively unimportant problems according to the prevailing standards of rigor, or shall he descend into the swamp of the important problems and non-rigorous inquiry? (Schön 1987, p3).
Across higher education, we lack a common under-standing of the language of public service. A con... more Across higher education, we lack a common under-standing of the language of public service. A confusing myriad of terms has arisen, and the rhetoric of public service is not clear to everyone.... [T]he lack of clear
“niches ” They are “individuals with dual memberships in ” (C 198 2)institutions and subjects lar... more “niches ” They are “individuals with dual memberships in ” (C 198 2)institutions and subjects lark, 7, p. 4 Within each discipline, a unique subject matter defines the
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2012
This autoethnographic essay represents the authors’ critical reflection on their experiences part... more This autoethnographic essay represents the authors’ critical reflection on their experiences partnering with Liz Lerman and Dance Exchange (a dance company) artists on a collaborative evaluation of of Origins , a contemporary art and sci ence dance performance. They describe meaningful moments in their collaboration and reexamine those pivotal experiences in the broader context of scholarly community engagement. Based on their reflections, the authors identified themes including ethnographic approaches to collaboration, shared systems of meaning, and developmental evaluation to understand the com plex experiences that took place at the engagement interface. The essay concludes with suggested reflective questions for scholars to consider in their own community engagement activities.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2015
The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist R... more The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist Russell Ackoff referred to as “messes”—complex dynamic systems of problems that interact and reinforce each other over time. In this article, the authors argue that the lack of progress in managing messes is in part due to the predominance of a university-driven isolated-impact approach to social problem solving. The authors suggest an alter native approach called systemic engagement (SE), which involves universities as partners in systemic approaches to community change. The six principles of SE are presented and illustrated with a case example. Barriers to SE are discussed, and strategies are proposed for increasing faculty use of this methodology. The promises and perils of SE as an alternative community-engaged approach to social problem solving are considered.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2019
Community-engaged scholars, practitioners, and community partners often find the language of comm... more Community-engaged scholars, practitioners, and community partners often find the language of community engagement challenging. Words like participate, collaborate, partner, or engage fail to convey who in a community–university partnership has voice and authority in decision-making and responsibility for actions. The Degree of Collaboration Abacus Tool was developed as a visual to address this challenge. The authors provide two case studies to demonstrate how this tool can be used to name steps in community-engaged projects, clarify voice and decision-making authority, and represent collaboration responsibilities at multiple project stages. The Matter of Origins evaluation example illustrates how the tool can be used in a community-engaged research setting. The GRAND Learning Network example demonstrates how the tool can be used in a more complex community-engaged teaching and learning context. In the conclusion, the authors acknowledge the tool’s potential limitations and imagine p...
In 2001, Michigan State University revised it reappointment, promotion, and tenure form to encour... more In 2001, Michigan State University revised it reappointment, promotion, and tenure form to encourage faculty members to report engaged scholarship during the review process. While such revisions in institutional policies are necessary, they are not sufficient for shifting academic culture at college and department levels, where the significant decisions about reappointment, promotion, and tenure often reside. On-going discussions between tenure track faculty members and administrators about how scholarly outreach and engagement is interpreted and valued in their disciplines, departments, and colleges is critical.
Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 2017
Although contemporary models of faculty involvement in publicly engaged scholarship recognize the... more Although contemporary models of faculty involvement in publicly engaged scholarship recognize the important influence of disciplines on faculty members, few studies have investigated disciplinary variations empirically. This study used the Biglan classification of academic disciplines to analyze publicly engaged scholarly activities reported by faculty members during reappointment, promotion, and tenure review. The Biglan dimensions (pure/applied, soft/hard, life/nonlife) were used to explore types of scholarly activity, intensity of activity, and degree of engagement. Using interpretive content analysis, we analyzed 171 reappointment, promotion, and tenure forms gathered from faculty members at one research-intensive, land-grant, Carnegie-engaged institution in the Midwest. Descriptive statistics revealed statistically significant disciplinary variations associated with all three Biglan dimensions. Study results provide evidence for moving beyond a universal, institutional approach...
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