Faculty Engagement

Engagement is the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity (Carnegie Foundation, 2008). It is a way to dynamically empower communities to address issues, opportunities, or needs through ongoing partnerships with higher education. Engagement also enhances and enriches discovery and learning outcomes by bringing relevance resulting in societal impacts. Societal impacts are changes or benefits beyond academia to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, and the environment or quality of life because of research, teaching, or engagement. In other words, engagement is one of the mechanisms—in addition to discovery and teaching—through which the land grant mission is fulfilled. The land grant mission compels universities to serve their state, region, nation, and world.