Community Engagement

Sam Houston State University uses the Carnegie Foundation definition of community engagement:

Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education 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.

The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching, and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues, and contribute to the public good.

The CCE (Center for Community Engagement) defines community engaged scholarship as a type of scholarly work or creative activity that has the explicit goal of contributing to the public good.

Elements of Community Engaged scholarship include: 

• Focus on community-based problems, 
• Shared decision-making with community partner(s) throughout the scholarly process, 
• Involvement of community stakeholders in the co-production of knowledge, 
• Collaboration with community(s) to translate and implement findings, 
• Dissemination of findings to relevant publics, 
• Creation of applied solutions to public issues.