Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University has earned national distinction by being selected for the new Community Engagement Classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. “This is a new classification of American colleges and universities. For WKU to be one of only 62 which measure up is monumental,” WKU President Gary Ransdell said.

WKU is one of only 62 institutions nationwide to achieve both the Curricular Engagement and the Outreach and Partnerships components of the Community Engagement classification. “WKU is nationally recognized as a leader in this area and is being asked by Carnegie to mentor and support those institutions that are in the initial stages of institutionalizing community engagement. Receiving this classification is critical to the achievement of WKU’s vision of being a leading American University with international reach,” Dr. Ransdell said.

Curricular Engagement describes teaching, learning and scholarship which engage faculty, students, and community in mutually beneficial and respectful collaboration. Outreach and Partnerships describes the application and provision of institutional resources for community use with benefits to both campus and community and focuses on collaborative interactions with community and the related scholarship.

“This designation is concrete evidence that at WKU we are living our mission of stewarding a high quality of life throughout our region and demonstrates the coming together of numerous initiatives across campus and the dedication of our faculty, staff and students to public engagement,” Dr. Ransdell said.

In recent years, community engagement has become a priority as WKU strives to become a leading American university with international reach. WKU has expanded study abroad offerings, has instituted the American Democracy Project, has initiated a Class Legacy Project, has provided workshops on student engagement and service learning, and has enhanced leadership programs and opportunities.

Community outreach and partnerships include the Clinical Education Complex, research centers in the Applied Research and Technology Program, the ALIVE (A Local Information and Volunteer Exchange) Center, the Southern Kentucky Book Fest, the Bowling Green Western Symphony Orchestra, the Cultural Enhancement Series and other lecture series, tutoring programs at the Bowling Green Housing Authority, and education and training programs through the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach.

“The Community Engagement Classification is an exciting move in Carnegie’s work to extend and refine the classification of colleges and universities,” said Alexander McCormick, who directs Carnegie’s classification work. “It represents a significant affirmation of the importance of community engagement in the agenda of higher education.”

To create this elective classification, the Carnegie Foundation, working with a team of advisers, developed a documentation framework to assess the nature of an institution’s community engagement commitments. Eighty-eight institutions applied to document community engagement for the new classification.

In order to be selected into any of the three categories, institutions had to provide descriptions and examples of institutionalized practices of community engagement that showed alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices.
For more information on the classification, visit www.carnegiefoundation.org/

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Dennis George, Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, at (270) 745-8723.

-WKU-
"A leading American university with international reach"

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