IUPUI is a welcome home for faculty seeking to chart a career course that 
encourages blending our teaching and research with the public purposes of the academy. Community engagement may seem synonymous with community service and outreach, but it is not. Traditional outreach activities tend to emphasize the unidirectional flow of information and resources out from the university to external groups. Community engagement refers to collaborations among universities with their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources, guided by principles of partnership and reciprocity. Through partnerships, knowledge and resources flow bi-directionally among academic and community partners.
In relation to faculty work, community engagement represents a cross-cutting dimension that, when conducted in intentional, equitable, and scholarly ways, enhances the rigor and impact of teaching, research and creative activity and service. The products resulting from scholarly activities conducted in and with communities become the basis for public scholarship.
IUPUI defines public scholarship as an intellectually and methodologically rigorous endeavor that is responsive to public audiences and public peer review. It is scholarly work, which advances one or more academic disciplines by emphasizing the co-production of knowledge with community stakeholders.
It is important to note that disciplinary norms and preferences influence norms about what to call scholarly work with communities. In addition to public scholarship, the terms community-engaged scholarship and translational research may be more commonly used in some fields.
Here are some tips to help you gather your bearings:
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Start tenure planning now, not later. While intentional planning is valuable for all faculty seeking tenure or advancement, research suggests that early planning is even more critical to the success of faculty that integrate community engagement into their academic work, particularly, women, faculty of color and those from other underrepresented groups.
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Find colleagues that share your interests across campus.
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Get to know offices that fund and support the work of public and community-engaged scholars.
Learn More.
Contact Mary Price, director of faculty development at Center for Service and Learning, at
ude[dot]iupui[at]6ecirp
encourages blending our teaching and research with the public purposes of the academy. Community engagement may seem synonymous with community service and outreach, but it is not. Traditional outreach activities tend to emphasize the unidirectional flow of information and resources out from the university to external groups. Community engagement refers to collaborations among universities with their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources, guided by principles of partnership and reciprocity. Through partnerships, knowledge and resources flow bi-directionally among academic and community partners.