INSTITUTIONAL PORTFOLIO.

Present: Linda Stein, Greg Lindsey, Susan Kahn, Victor Borden, Sharon Hamilton, Julie Hatcher, Steve Kirchoff, Bob Bringle

Several definitions of civic engagement were considered and the following tentative definition was crafted from the discussion:

Civic Engagement: Collaborative activities with the community that use resources, skills, expertise, and knowledge of both the campus and the community to improve the quality of life and to advance campus mission.

[note: I changed "Collaborative work" to "Collaborative activities"]

[note: Does this definition clearly exclude personal service]

The Task Force members are asked to ask their unit head (e.g., chair, dean, director) and one faculty member of each rank (assistant, associate, full professor) for reactions to the proposed definition. Please bring this feedback to the next meeting.

The Task Force will develop a plan to broaden the distribution of this definition, including distribution at meetings that will focus on other aspects of our agenda, and continue to revise the definition.

Several new schemes were presented and considered in discussion.

J. Hatcher provided a handout that (a) referred us to the current mission and values statement, (b) differentiated between engagement activities and effectiveness, and (c) looked at activities in terms of faculty, students, partnerships, and infrastructure.

R. Bringle"s handout focused on institutional infrastructure, community voice, and capitalizing on strengths.

V. Borden provided an approach that focused on infrastructure, the strengths of the institution, and the quality of campus-community dialogue.

S. Kahn noted that the discussion included references to who, what types of activities, to whom, content areas (e.g., environment, education), and with what effect.

From the discussion, the following synthesis is tentatively offered to guide subsequent work:

1. Infrastructure-evidence that units and the campus provide and develop organizational structures (e.g., mission statements, policies, staff, professional development, resources, and unit development, incentives) to enhance effective civic engagement for the campus and the community.
2. Community Voice-evidence that units and the campus provide ongoing strategic dialogue between community and campus (e.g., opportunities for community input, advocacy, feedback, and guidance) to enhance effective civic engagement for the campus and the community.
3. Urban Commitment-evidence that units and the campus produce significant results (e.g., programs, learning, scholarly activities, community impact) on the visionary civic agenda for IUPUI that is developed and revised through a joint analysis of (a) campus and unit strengths, resources, and mission and (b) community interests, needs, and priorities.

V. Borden has supplied the following list for consideration for #3:

Career and Professional Preparation

Lifelong Learning

Leadership and Service

Linkages with P/K-12 Education

Business and Economic Development

Arts, Humanities, and Culture

Urban and Environmental Partnerships

Health, Social Sciences, and Human Services

Information Technologies

Science and Technology

Breakthroughs and Innovations

It was the consensus of the group that we would test the usefulness of these headings by

1. defining and elaborating what is contained within each (e.g., for reporting)
2. identifying outcomes
3. identifying indicators
4. identifying standards for evaluation that work across the spectrum of types of projects and units

Task Force members are requested to refer to various informational handouts that have been provided (e.g., minutes from Sullivan"s group, the Gelmon article, the draft of "Teaching and Learning", the Board of Advisors summary, Principles for the engaged campus) and bring an elaboration of the headings to the next meeting for distribution and discussion (see next page).

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, December 13, 2000, 9:00 A.M., UL2115J

Brainstorming Grid

 

Definition of Goals	Outcomes	Indicators of Progress	Standard for Evaluation
Campus Infrastructure
Community Voice
Urban Commitment