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Center for Civic Engagement

Reporting Civic Engagement Activities

Relevant Definitions

Community engagement is a form of civic engagement that cultivates partnerships between the institution and communities to co-create knowledge and positive change through mutually beneficial reciprocal relationships. It can be present in teaching, research/creative activity, and service; meaningful community engagement benefits the community and prepares students to be ethical, informed, and engaged community members who recognize the assets of communities while working for positive change.

Revisions to Appendix 2 of ISU’s Faculty Appointment, Salary, Promotion, and Tenure Policies regarding community engagement were completed during the 2021-22 academic year and approved by the Faculty Caucus in November 2022. This revision added community-engaged teaching, scholarship, and service to the guidelines and criteria for faculty evaluation. This document highlights the additions relevant to community engagement.

Community-engaged teaching is instruction that gives students the chance to collaborate with community partners to define and address community goals and to engage in structured reflection designed to help students achieve civic engagement learning outcomes (adapted from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Jacoby, 1996, 2014). Community-engaged teaching activities may include, but are not limited to, community-based service-learning, supervising students in community-engaged research or advocacy, and co-creating community-engaged curricula, service-learning projects, and assessments with community partners. Other examples are highlighted in the revised version of Appendix 2.

Community-engaged scholarship is scholarship that involves the faculty member in a mutually beneficial partnership with the community and can be found in teaching, research and/or service. It is academically relevant work that simultaneously addresses disciplinary concerns and fulfills campus and community objectives, and results in scholarship deriving from teaching, discovery, integration, application, or engagement. It involves sharing authority with community partners in the development of goals and approaches, as well the conduct of work and its dissemination. It should involve critical review by discipline-specific peers, community partners and the public (Engaged Scholarship Advisory Committee, 2012; Jordan, 2007). Examples are highlighted in the revised version of Appendix 2.

Community-engaged service involves activities that “1) affirm principles of community engagement (mutually beneficial partnerships, public purpose), and 2) enable the University to carry out its mission, contribute to the function and effectiveness of the faculty member’s profession and discipline, and reach out to external communities and constituencies, such as government agencies, business, and the arts” (Janke & Shelton, 2011, p. 8). Community-engaged service as a form of professional service is distinct from service as an individual in that community-engaged service involves the faculty member using their disciplinary/interdisciplinary knowledge to contribute to the public good. Examples are highlighted in the revised version of Appendix 2.

Reporting Civic Engagement in Collaboratory

We encourage all faculty and staff to report civic engagement activities involving a community partner or public service activity in Illinois State's Collaboratory database. Collaboratory is used to systematically collect a broad range of information on a variety of activities from all faculty/staff members (e.g., community engaged research, outreach programs, events, course-based experiences, co-curricular activities) that utilize community engagement principles, practices, and/or pedagogies.

As a public-facing platform, Collaboratory can also be used to showcase faculty, unit, and college engagement and identify potential cross-campus and cross-community collaborations, further enhancing Illinois State’s impact on student learning and community outcomes. All activities entered in Collaboratory are eligible for CCE’s Collaboratory Civic Engagement Champion Award. Previous recipients of this award are:

More information about Collaboratory can be found in this Collaboratory guide. You can also refer to this activity entry summary to learn about the data collected for each activity in Collaboratory. For support entering activities in Collaboratory, contact the Center's Assistant Director of Assessment, Rachel Waring-Sparks, PhD at raspar1@IllinoisState.edu or (309) 438-1100

Reporting Civic Engagement in Watermark

Faculty can also report basic information about civically engaged teaching, scholarship, and service with Watermark Faculty Success for each calendar year by the following January 5. See the civic engagement in Watermark reference guide for specific directions on how to add your activities to Watermark Faculty Success. CCE staff may reach out for additional details on activities entered in Watermark. For support reporting activities in Watermark, contact the Center's Assistant Director of Assessment, Rachel Waring-Sparks, PhD at raspar1@IllinoisState.edu or (309) 438-1100.