Engaged Departments
July 30th, 2008
Engaged Department Initiative
As part of TSU’s Commitment to Excellence, funds have been designated for faculty to design Engaged Department/School/College initiatives to be funded for at least one year starting Fall 2009. These campus funds, awarded through Title III and the Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement (CSLCE), are used to create new models for student learning and civic engagement, and to develop staff infrastructure within academic units for collaborative work with community partners to address community issues. These grants to departments and Schools/Colleges support curricular reform and increased civic engagement. These funds will be awarded competitively based on the degree to which the proposals represent coherent and innovative plans for developing infrastructure in units and curricular reform that reflects new community-based learning experiences ranging from first-year courses through Capstone courses. The CSLCE works with departments and schools to approach this work through on-campus activities and off-campus retreats. Thus, Engaged Department/School/College initiatives are designed to:
- Increase opportunities for students to participate in meaningful experiential education (e.g., internships, service learning courses, participatory action research) with organizations in the region to address community issues.
- Create new models for student learning through civic engagement that have (a) vertical distribution (first-year courses through Capstone experiences), and, in the case of a school, (b) horizontal distribution (not only within departments but also across departments).
- Increase the number of students involved in multiple community-based learning experiences including curricular and co-curricular (e.g., Federal Work-Study Community placements, student organizations, one-time service activities) experiences.
- Be accountable to good practice and to internal and external constituencies through systematic assessment of student learning outcomes and campus performance indicators for service learning and civic engagement.
- Assist schools and departments to develop strategies to:
- Include community-based activities in both teaching and research (including student research)
- Include community-based experiences as a standard expectation for majors
- Develop a level of coherence within the unit that will allow them to model successful civic engagement and progressive change at the departmental and/or school level.
Resources
The Scholarship of Civic Engagement
Building Engagement Across the Campus
Introduction to Civic Engagement
Measuring up 2000: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education
