Assessing the Culture of Engagement on a University Campus

Abstract

This article describes one team’s efforts to assess the culture of engagement at Virginia Tech. The team utilized a two-pronged approach to analyze the current culture of engagement on campus. This included focus groups with faculty, administrators, and graduate students in two colleges at the university to address pedagogy, implications, and practical issues related to engagement. Analysis of college strategic plans was also completed to assess language related to engagement and engaged scholarship. We found why faculty, administrators, and students conduct engagement work and the challenges and opportunities of doing so. We also discovered what criteria these individuals use to determine quality engagement, what they believe engagement on campus should look like, and the products derived from engagement work. This article describes our team’s efforts and documents the lessons learned to inform similar efforts on other campuses.

Social responsibility in the context of inclusive higher education development – experiences and insights from the perspective of participatory teaching

“…It can be assumed that the challenges for structural anchoring lie, among other things, in the fact that higher education policy claims at the macro level appear too abstract, and that recontextualization processes can stall concrete establishments at the university level. An important takeaway could be that binding cooperation structures with actors outside of the university could lead to the development of participatory transfer strategies (Gräsel, 2010), for example through evaluative monitoring by focus groups (Krueger and Casey, 2014; Franz et al , 2012).…”

“…Gräsel, 2010). Ultimately, this will require a fundamental change in university and campus culture (Franz et al , 2012). Both the Common European Reference Framework for USR (EU-USR Network, 2015) and the Hans Böckler Foundation's proposal for a model of a democratic and social university refer to the need for such a social opening of higher education and a responsible approach to diversity to contribute to the democratic development of society (Hans Böckler Stiftung, 2009).…”

“…“Culture change is never easy for large organizations” (Franz et al , 2012, p. 38). Aichinger, Linde and Auferkorte-Michaelis (2020) recognize a wider opening for diversity in the development of higher education in recent years and confirm the need to put these changes into effect at the macro, meso and micro levels, respectively.…”

Decision Points in Academic Leadership Development as an Engaged Scholar: To Lead or Not to Lead

“…Many of us struggle with what route to take as we explore the pathways of our career. We want to take on new challenges to learn and grow but as engaged scholars, we also want to make a difference in the world (Franz, Childers, & Sanderlin, 2012). Academic leadership roles can help meet these aspirations and in fact can provide an important multiplier effect-being able to make a difference more deeply or more widely.…”