The Purdue Technical Assistance Program (TAP) offers a model of university engagement and service that is achieving technology adoption and performance improvement impacts in healthcare, manufacturing, government, and other sectors. The TAP model focuses on understanding and meeting the changing and challenging needs of those served, always…

This article describes the Community Grant Writing Project (CGWP), a flexible service-learning framework designed for use in writing-intensive courses. The CGWP incorporates best-practice recommendations from the service-learning literature and addresses recent challenges identified for successful service-learning partnerships. In the CGWP,…

This qualitative study provides a theoretical framework for understanding faculty members' motivation to persist in utilizing academic service-learning pedagogy. Twenty-four faculty members from a private liberal arts university in the southeastern United States were interviewed about the benefits and challenges of teaching academic…

In this reflective essay, we describe Widener University's 10-year transformation from a disengaged institution to an institution that has a metropolitan-focused mission vested in civic leadership, community engagement, and service-learning. We describe our journey to embed an expansive civic frame that includes concrete practices of…

This study investigated a federal comprehensive community initiative, the Promise Neighborhood initiative, in order to understand higher education community engagement in an embedded context. Promise Neighborhood programs aim to create a place-based system of family and education services that can support youth from early childhood through college…

As more colleges and universities commit to a public mission, it is critical that our work as anchor institutions have a sustainable and positive impact, and that we collaborate fully with the diverse voices and expertise beyond our campuses--the most valuable assets of our multicultural cities. Taking Syracuse, New York, as a microcosm, the…

Global demand is increasing for food, feed, and fiber; for additional agricultural outputs, such as biofuels; and for ecosystem services, such as clean water and outdoor recreation. In response, new agricultural enterprises are needed that produce more outputs from existing lands while meeting the "triple bottom line" of high performance…

This article reports on an assessment of North Carolina State University's Extension, Engagement, and Economic Development Seed Grant Program (2004-2009). The research questions addressed the extent to which the grants (1) stimulated faculty interest in the engagement and outreach mission of the university; (2) served as incentives for…

Alternative break programs, which are short-term service-learning trips, immerse students in direct service and education, resulting in the creation of active citizens who think and act critically around the root causes of social issues. Over the last 20 years, domestic alternative breaks have effectively created strong community partnerships and…

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership works with U.S. manufacturers to help them create and retain jobs, increase profits, and save time and money. Members of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership recognized the need to expand capacity and capabilities of their network to address the…

Successful, sustainable initiatives in communities are community-based, community-paced, and community-led. In addition, the unique culture of each community is a protective factor, contributing to that community's physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. Academic researchers working with six First Nations and one Metis Settlement asked,…

In this article, the authors describe a cultural transformation to embrace community-engaged scholarship by faculty members in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia-Vancouver. They describe a transition from community-inquiry faculty projects to community-engaged action research projects achieved through…

Using data collected from three colleges, the authors examine how faculty members view the level of support for service-learning at their respective institutions. There is variation among the institutions in perceived instructor and administrator support for service-learning, availability of support services, and attitudes regarding consideration…

In 2001, the University of Denver included language in its vision statement that committed the institution to becoming "a great private university dedicated to the public good." This essay (1) explains how the development of an institutional visioning statement led to the implementation of a series of campus dialogues and action steps designed to…

In this article, the author talks about incorporating what those in academia do best--scholarship and teaching--and what government bureaucrats do best in administering housing and community revitalization programs into a strong and sustainable system of community engagement and outreach. He frames the discussion by focusing on some examples of…