{"id":24,"date":"2022-06-27T15:24:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T15:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daeprd.wpenginepowered.com\/communityengagement\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2025-12-11T14:24:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T19:24:54","slug":"what-is-community-engagement","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/about\/what-is-community-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Community Engagement?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6020 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/PublicEngagementSpectrum-e1605105472423.png\" alt=\"Public Engagement Spectrum:\nInform: Purpose - To provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problem, alternatives, opportunities, and\/or solutions.\nConsult: Purpose - To obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives, and\/or decisions.\nInvolve: Purpose - To work directly with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution.\nEmpower: Purpose - To place final decision making in the hands of the public.\nArrow going to the right with &quot;Increased Level of Participation&quot; on it.\" width=\"1605\" height=\"754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/PublicEngagementSpectrum-e1605105472423.png 1605w, https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/PublicEngagementSpectrum-e1605105472423-300x141.png 300w, https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/PublicEngagementSpectrum-e1605105472423-1024x481.png 1024w, https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/PublicEngagementSpectrum-e1605105472423-768x361.png 768w, https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/PublicEngagementSpectrum-e1605105472423-1536x722.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1605px) 100vw, 1605px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The University of Tennessee, Knoxville uses the Carnegie Foundation&#8217;s definition of community engagement:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Community Engagement describes the collaboration between higher education institutions and their larger communities (local, regional\/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.<\/p>\n<footer>Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Studies have found that building a more contemporary &#8220;engaged campus&#8221; requires an intentional plan that moves the institution from a one-way &#8220;outreach&#8221; delivery framework (e.g., the university shares its expertise with the community to serve the needs of the public) to an &#8220;engagement&#8221; or two-way partnership framework (e.g., the university and community co-construct and co-produce solutions to societal issues).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2022\/06\/292133_200402_Evening_Empty_Campus_013-300x200-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Torchbearer statue in Spring\" \/>Research also shows an association between community engagement and:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>higher retention rates (faculty and students)<\/li>\n<li>increased public appropriations<\/li>\n<li>increased capacity in a university\u2019s research and teaching functions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(Weerts &amp; Sandmann, 2008).<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s engagement is scholarly, is an aspect of learning and discovery, and enhances society and higher education. Undergirding today\u2019s approach to community engagement is the understanding that not all knowledge and expertise resides in the academy, and that both expertise and great learning opportunities in teaching and scholarship also reside in non-academic settings.<\/p>\n<p>By recommitting to their societal contract, public and land-grant universities can fulfill their promise as institutions that produce knowledge that benefits society and prepares students for productive citizenship in a democratic society. This new engagement also posits a new framework for scholarship that moves away from emphasizing products to emphasizing impact.\u00a0 (Fitzgerald, Bruns, Sonka, Furco, and Swanson, 2012).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of Tennessee, Knoxville uses the Carnegie Foundation&#8217;s definition of community engagement: Community Engagement describes the collaboration between higher [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"parent":12,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-24","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is Community Engagement? - Office of Community Engagement and Outreach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The collaboration between higher education institutions and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dae.utk.edu\/communityengagement\/about\/what-is-community-engagement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Community Engagement? 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