The Scholarship of Civic Engagement

Adapted from a presentation by Robert G. Bringle

Director, Center for Service and LearningIndiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

TSU’s Mission

• Teaching and Learning

• Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

• Service - Locally, Nationally, and Globally

Boyer’s New American College

• A new model of excellence• Undergraduates involved in

social issues• Application of theory to

practice• Integrated view of knowledge• Classrooms extended into

communities

Boyer’s New American College

• Faculty partnerships with practitioners

• Cross-disciplinary courses• New dignity and status to the

scholarship of engagement• Reflective practitioners

Traditional Assumptions About Faculty Work

-Rice

• Research is the central professional endeavor and the focus of academic life.

• Quality in the profession is maintained by peer review and professional autonomy.

• Knowledge is pursued for its own sake

• The pursuit of knowledge is best organized by disciplines.

Traditional Assumptions About Faculty Work

-Rice

• Reputations are established in national and international professional associations.

• Professional rewards and mobility accrue to those who persistently accentuate their specializations.

• The distinctive task of the academic professional is the pursuit of cognitive truth.

Major Shifts in Faculty Work

-Rice

From ToFocus on faculty Focus on learning

Autonomous Building institutions faculty

Individualistic Collaborative

Discipline-based Interdisciplinary

University is Civic engagement separate from community

Research Site

Professional Community Service

Distance Education

Community

Engagement

Participatory Action Research

Service Learning

Research Teaching

Service

Bringle, R. G., Games, R., & Malloy, E.A. (1999). Colleges and Universities as Citizens. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Definition of Civic Engagement

Civic engagement is active collaboration that builds on the resources, skills, expertise, and knowledge of the campus and community to improve the quality of life in communities in a manner that is consistent with the campus mission.

Teaching, research, and professional service in and with the community.

What is good citizenship?

Battistoni (2002)• Civic Professionalism• Social Responsibility• Social Justice• Connected Knowing: Ethic

of Care• Public Leadership• Public Intellectual• Engaged/Public

Scholarship

Service Learning

A course-based, credit bearing educational experience in which students

• Participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community goals

• Reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility

(Bringle & Hatcher, 1997)

Why Service Learning in Higher Education?

• Good Pedagogy • Structured Service• Civic Responsibility• Student Development• Expanding Role of Higher

Education• Student Persistence and

Retention• Supports an expanding role of

higher education• Addresses community need

Promoting Learning for Understanding

• Active Engagement

• Frequent Feedback

• Collaboration

• Cognitive Apprenticeship

• Practical ApplicationMarchese

Key Principles

• Academic credit is for learning, not service.

• Set learning goals for students.• Establish criteria for the selection

of community service placements.

• Be prepared for uncertainty and variation in student learning outcomes.

• Maximize the community responsibility for orientation of the course.

• Do not compromise academic rigor.

(Howard, 1993)

Service Learning as a Subversive Activity

• Change the traditional assumptions about faculty work

• Change the way faculty teach• Increase interdisciplinary work • Contribute to the nature of first-year,

honors, scholarships, capstones• Change institutional accreditation• Broaden assessment• Broaden promotion and tenure• Contribute to the campus culture• Change campus/community

relationships• Promote democratic values in the

academy and with the community

Professional Service

Service applies a faculty member’s knowledge, skills, and expertise as an educator, a member of a discipline or profession, and a participant in an institution to benefit students, the institution, the discipline or profession, and the community in a manner consistent with the mission of the university.

Boyer’s Criteria

• Clear Goals

• Adequate Preparation

• Appropriate Methods

• Significant Results

• Effective Communication

• Reflective Critique

Scholarly Service will have

• Multiple sources of evidence on impact

• Clear academic qualities• Demonstrated effective

dissemination to relevant stakeholders, including academic ones

• Publications, including academic ones

• Peer review• Demonstrated professional

growth

Unsatisfactory (Documentation of)

Service?

• Only listing university committees

• No evidence of nature of activities or results

• Evidence on outcomes, but no evidence of individual role

• No review by others• No evidence on how service

work is consistent with professional development or goals

Advancement And Tenure Are Decisions About The

Academic Nature Of Work

There are differences between professional service as scholarship and • Doing good• Doing one’s job well• Administrative work• Clerical work• Evaluation for a merit increase• Collegiality• Citizenship

Promotion & Tenure

for Professional Service

• Service documented as intellectual work

• Evidence of significance and impact from multiple sources

• Evidence of individual contributions

• Evidence of leadership• Dissemination through peer

reviewed publications• Dissemination to peers, clients,

patients• Peer review of professional

service

Good Documentation of Scholarly Service will . . .

• Clearly portray the role of the candidate in each service activity

• Clearly illustrate how the service activities represent well informed plans for achieving goals

• Clearly demonstrate coherence with professional development of the candidate

Comprehensive Action Plan for Service Learning (CAPSL)

Institution Faculty Students Community

Planning

Awareness

Prototype

Resources

Expansion

Recognition

Monitoring

Evaluation

Research

Institutional-ization

Bringle, R.G., & Hatcher, J.A. (1996). Implementing service learning in higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 67, 221-239.Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (2000). Institutionalization of service learning in higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 71(3), 273-290.Bringle, R. G., Hatcher, J. A., Hamilton, S., & Young, P. (2001). Planning and assessing campus/community engagement. Metropolitan Universities, 12(3), 89-99.