6 Campus-Wide Engagement and Centers.pdf

Presentation from 2024 New Bonner Staff Orientation. This session describes strategies for building and sustaining campus-wide collaboration and engagement, across divisions and departments. It covers the roles of centers and their staff, faculty, and student leaders.

1. Campus-Wide Engagement

2. What We’ll Cover
•Collaborating Across Campus
•Operations
•Community-Engaged Learning & Faculty
•Strategic Planning
Campus-Wide Centers...

3. Campus-Wide Center
Opportunities to
Collaborate

4. Campus-Wide Center Collaboration
Academic
Departments
Faith & Interfaith
Centers
Alumni Office,
Advancement &
Public Relations
Student Life/
Affairs/Success
Career Services
Diversity Equity
Inclusion &
Belonging
Global
Programs/
Study Abroad
Admissions
Campus-
Wide Center

5. Student Affairs:
Mobilize Students Campus-Wide
•Campus-wide training
•Integrated calendar
•Clubs & organizations
•Learning communities
•Academic Advising
•Career discernment
•Building sectors
•Employment links
•Post-graduate opportunities
Career Services:
Promote Post-Graduate
Success

6. •Self and community care
•Advising
•Tools for spiritual exploration
Interfaith Centers:
Values & Wellness
•Recruitment, hiring, training
•Community relations
•Racial reckoning
•Courses
•Place-based projects
Diversity Equity Inclusion:
Build an Inclusive Campus

7. •Study abroad
•International service trips
•Internships
•Training & courses
International Offices:
Foster Global Engagement
Academic Departments:
Link to the Curriculum
•Faculty advisors
•CBR & research
•Course designator
•Pathways
•Minor/majors

8. Admissions:
Civic Engagement Yields Students
•Marketing
•Programs
•“Make the Case”
•Reputation
•Civic mission front and center
•Campus news
•Stories of Impact
•Teaching, Learning, & Research
•Funding, Grants, Sustainability
PR/IT/Advancement:
Institutionalization

9. Institutional Research:
Data and Evidence
•Studies of
Retention,
Completion,
GPA
•Making the
Case Guide
•Reports
•Rhetoric
•Budget
•Senior Level Support
•Centralizing Processes
•Incentives to Deans and Faculty
President & VPs
Shared Vision

10. Montclair State University’s Center

11. Campus & Place-Based Engagement

12. Staff Colleague(s)

13. In groups with two institutions, discuss key
divisions and departments you need to meet with this year.
Use the Campus Collaboration worksheet
to identify colleagues.
Planning Activity

14. Campus-Wide Center
Operations

15. The Bonner
Program Can Help
•Build your center
•Create and spread a culture
•Develop infrastructure for
sustained partnerships and
projects that result in impact
•Engage others, including faculty,
in effective teaching and
learning

16. The Evolution of Formal Centers
•In 1985, Campus Compact was founded by a group of seven Presidents. In1986, 33
institutions were members, and half of them indicated they had some kind of
central coordinating office to promote student community service.
•In 2014, 423 of just over 1,100 member campuses responded, and nearly 100%
reported having an established coordinating office or center. 
•Additionally, 57% reported that more than one office supports these efforts.
•Nationally, centers remain diverse in their institutional reporting lines:
•40% report to Academic Affairs;
•37% to Student Affairs;
•8% to both Academic and Student Affairs; and
•6% to the President’s Office.

17. •Budgets were increasing (2015). In a national
survey in 2012, 49% of offices reported budgets of
less than $50,000, and 38% had budgets over
$100,000;
•In 2014, only 21% reported budgets below
$50,000, with the majority—59%—reporting budgets
over $100,000.
•Benchmark center against peer / aspirant
institutions.
•Plan for renewable, sustainable sources
including: (1) institutional dollars (hard money), (2)
grants; (3) fees; (4) business; (5) donors; (6) earned
income.
•Collaborate with Advancement/Development.
Pursue fundraising. Ask for training.
Funding

18. •A campus-wide system is critical to build and
scale community engagement.
•Systems are leveraged to plan, manage, and
scale:
>Community partnerships and partner
requests
>Faculty coursework, teaching, research,
and volunteer activity
>Student community and civic
engagement, capacity building projects,
research, and products
>Consider system providers including
GivePulse and others (see Wiki)
Tracking & Managing

19. •Evidence of campus-wide integration
include:
•Awards and recognition: Recognition
of students’ and community members’
civic work
•Visibility: Civic engagement in website,
news, research articles, speeches, etc.
•Assessment: Data backs this up.
Consider a “Making the Case” report.
•Investment of Leadership and Funds:
Community engagement moves from
the margin to center.
Communications

20. Institutionalization
•83% of these centers reported to
Academic Affairs or were in the
process of moving so as to do so.
This reporting structure also
emerged as #7 of Top 10 essential
components
•More than half of lead
administrators also had a Master’s
or Advanced degree
Welch & Saltmarsh (2013) found that
centers at institutions with Carnegie
Classification:

21. Key Points of Evolution
•2008 Bonner Leader Program
•2010 - Successful AmeriCorps grant
•2015 Carnegie Community
Engagement Classification
•2015 Department of Education 2.7
million grant
•2015 Became a formal center
•2016 Re-envisioned Faculty fellows
program
•2020 COVID Corps AmeriCorps grant
•2021 President Jonathan Koppell
•2022 Next Generation Service Corps
•2022 Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation for Paterson
•2022 renamed OCEP and moved into
the President’s office
•2024 Carnegie Leadership for Public
Purpose Classification

22. Leveraging the Community Engagement Field
•Bonner Network
•Carnegie Community
•AmeriCorps Network
•NextGen Network
•EngageNJ
•Campus Compact
•Bringing Theory to Practice

23. Montclair’s Priorities
•Lessons Learned
•What’s next?
•Priorities:
•Institutionalizing
community
engagement
campus-wide
•Building better
reporting
campus-wide

24. Share 1-2 priorities for your center
infrastructure for this year
Pair Share

25. Community-Engaged
Learning & Faculty

26. •Leverage Foundation Funds (RFP)
Community Engaged Learning

27. Up to $25,000 this year for:
•Faculty Fellow(s): partner and build your team
•Course Development: FYE, CBR, policy research,
social action, capstone - tie to Bonner
•Infrastructure: course designator, assessment,
make the case, tracking, strategic planning
•Apply now through March 2025
Community Engaged Learning

28. •Extend your team working with partners on
projects
•Mentor students on capacity-building projects and
engaged capstones
•Develop courses, especially Community-Based
Research, Social Action, Policy Research, FYE and
Capstone courses
•Develop integrative pathways
Why Engage Faculty?

29. Tap into funding, networking, and training
support for...
•Course Development
•Faculty Fellows
•Center and Campus Infrastructure
•Scaling and institutionalizing this work
Bonner CEL Initiative

30. Find faculty who want to teach:
•Community-Based Research: driven by partner
requests for knowledge and/or action
•Policy Research: engaging people in finding
systemic solutions and proven models
•Social Action: teaching and empowering students
to carry out policy change campaigns
•Lead In (FYE) or Capstone courses
Course Types

31. An Aspirational Vision for Pathways

32. Montclair’s Example
2-year Fellowship
$1000 Stipend
per year
8-10 faculty (or
staff)
Year 1
May - June
Fellowship
Application
Year 1
July
Fellowship
Notifications
Year 1
August
Commitment
and Schedules
Year 1
September
Cohort Building
Year 1 October-
May
Monthly
meetings and
small groups
Year 1 Summer
Progress Report,
Implementation
planning
Year 2
September
Cohort Building
Year 2
September- May
Cohort Building, Monthly meetings, small groups and
implementation of project or paper planned
Year 2
June
Celebration, final
report, future
engagement plan

33. Monthly Meeting Topics:
●Theoretical frameworks
●Forms of CEL
●Community and intercultural
competency
●Establishing and Maintaining
partnerships
●Using different tools and
resources
●Assessment of Engaged
Learning
●CETL scholarship
●
Small Groups:
Book:
A Toolkit for Crafting Community
Engagement: A Companion
Guide for Professional
Development
By Marshall Welch &
Star Plaxton-Moore
●CANVAS Community
●Monthly meet-up
●Submit group questions to
guide plenary discussion
Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Scholar
●Course Release
●2-year minimum commitment
●Plan and implement the program with staff assistance

34. •Do a survey and appraisal of how faculty are
engaged
•Engage Bonner student leaders in meeting with
faculty
•Invest time in a transformational strategy, such as
a Faculty Cohort
•Join a learning community with the Bonner
Foundation and Network
Some Recommended Steps

35. Three Publications

36. – Allegheny College Graduate
Katie Beck
Theater major wrote and
produced play about history of
church connected with
Underground Railroad
Student Voice &
Leadership
Many students
are making these
connections, even
without
support and
structures

37. The LEAP Challenge calls on
colleges and universities to
build pathways where all
undergraduates to
complete a substantial
“cross-disciplinary project
in a topic significant to the
student and society, as part
of the expected pathway to
a degree” (AAC&U, 2016).
Our Response to the LEAP Challenge

38. Bonner as a Series of HIPs
First Year Experience
Learning Community
Internship
Project-Based Learning
Capstone
Diversity/Global

40. Pair Share
Discuss how you are engaging with
faculty. What connections are there for
Bonners with curriculum?

41. Campus-Wide Center
Strategic Planning

42. •Engage broad-based
stakeholders
•Forge a 3-5 year vision for
the institution
•Link CE with institutional
mission and priorities
•Foundation staff can
facilitate
Strategic Planning

43. Link with Institutional Plan

44. Foundation Facilitation

45. Written Plan
•Aspirational goals
•Year by year strategies
•Clear objectives and
measures
•Appropriate staffing and
resource allocation
•Institutional decision
making

46. Montclair’s Strategic Plan
•Lessons Learned
•What’s next?
•Priorities:
•Institutionalizing
community
engagement
campus-wide
•Building better
reporting campus-
wide
Initiative (1.) Partnerships: Montclair State University, from 2024-2028 will work to develop mutually-beneficial, reciprocal partnerships
across the institution, ensuring that all schools and departments are able to build and implement civic learning, community engagement,
and public service into their work. The Office of Community Engagement Partnerships (OCEP) is the lead unit for providing the training,
technical assistance, and tracking support across the institution. Through OCEP, external community partners and stakeholders will
understand how to access the involvement of students, faculty, staff, and institutional resources.
Total Estimated Four Year cost: Estimate total cost here
Implementation Plan:
Core Activities
2025-26 2026-27 2027-28
Actions Resources Needed Actions Resources Needed Actions Resources Needed
Activity 1
OCEP will conduct a community needs assessment. Through
focus groups, panel discussions, and roundtables, OCEP will
produce a report about the current status of partnerships and
projects, as well as community perception of the University’s
roles.
Activity 2
OCEP will identify community residents and partner
representatives to be involved in an advisory board or
functions for OCEP, as well as representatives of the
University Community Advisory Board.
Activity 3
The University develops a clear, visible set of opportunities
and system for community and partner involvement in
program development, projects, and impact.
Activity 4
OCEP, in partnership with other key departments, develop
and launch comprehensive training and professional
development opportunities for partners and community
stakeholders. These include resource development, grant
funding, and capacity.
Activity 5
OCEP and key departments initiate new partnerships and
projects that mesh with community-identified issues and
needs.
Activity 6
Within two years, OCEP and Montclair will have increased
partnerships and projects by 25% to accommodate the goals
of institution-wide student and faculty involvement.
Activity 7
By 2028, OCEP and Montclair will have in place mechanisms
for ensuring and evaluating the reciprocity and benefits of
partnerships and projects, including equitable resource
sharing and funding.

47. Does your center have a strategic
plan? How is your work connected
with the institutional strategic plan?
Strategic Planning