2009 Scholarship of Engagement Award

DEADLINE: Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Purpose
This award recognizes and honors a tenured faculty member for significant contributions to advancing civic engagement at the University of Georgia (UGA) through her/his scholarship of engagement and by providing service-learning opportunities for students. A faculty member who participates in the scholarship of engagement partners with a community to identify a community need, and then works with the community to design and implement a research-informed outreach program or activity to address the need. Faculty members often involve their students (undergraduate, professional or graduate), as well as faculty members in other disciplines in the project or activity. Lessons learned from designing and implementing the outreach program or activity often have a profound impact on the faculty member’s subsequent research and teaching. This is the essence of the scholarship of engagement – when research informs outreach and teaching, and outreach and teaching inform research. The scholarship of engagement represents a tight-knit interweaving of the University of Georgia’s three-part mission.

Outreach and engagement programs or activities include service-learning projects by UGA students; community-based participatory research, applied research, and policy analysis; technical assistance; technology transfer; and program development and delivery. A program or activity is regarded as outreach or engagement if the faculty member’s academic expertise is applied to the expressed need of the community; there is a direct application of knowledge to the community need; new knowledge is generated for the discipline; and, there is a clear contribution to the department, school, college, or institutional mission.

Service-Learning projects are academically-based activities that connect student learning to outreach and engagement in a community context. Service-learning extends learning beyond the classroom and encourages students to reflect on their academic, personal, and civic growth through writing and other reflective strategies.

The Award

Up to one Scholarship of Engagement Award is presented each year. The awardee receives a $5,000 faculty development grant to sustain or enhance the current outreach and engagement project(s) or to develop new ones. The awardee will be recognized at the Public Service and Outreach Annual Meeting, Honors Day, and the Faculty Recognition Banquet. The award is supported by funding from the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach.

Eligibility and Criteria

Permanent, full-time tenured associate professors or full professors, who have significant experience and evidence of advancing civic engagement at the University of Georgia through contributing to the scholarship of engagement, and providing service-learning opportunities for students, are eligible for this annual award.

Process

Nominations are made by the nominee’s department head or dean. A maximum of one nomination should be forwarded by any department or equivalent unit. The Vice President for Public Service and Outreach forms a selection committee and appoints a chair for the committee to review the nominations. The committee provides a recommendation of the awardee to the Vice President.

The Nomination Portfolio

The nominee prepares a dossier that does not exceed 20 pages (including the cover page and all materials), and that includes the sections outlined below.

Section 1: Background

A cover page with candidate Name, Current Title, Unit, and Contact Information (address, phone, e-mail).

A condensed curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum).

A description of the nominee’s Scholarship of Engagement, and involvement of students:

  • What is the nature of the nominee’s research that addresses critical societal issues and contributes to the public good through her/his outreach and engagement programs or activities?
  • What is the primary community or community need that is served?
    • How did the nominee identify the need?
    • How did the nominee and the community form a partnership?
  • What are the outreach and engagement programs or activities that the nominee has developed over time based on the nominee’s research (may add a listing in the appendix)?
  • How have students (undergraduate, professional, or graduate) been involved in the nominee’s outreach and engagement programs particularly through service-learning projects (may include a sample syllabus in the appendix)?
    • What strategies have been used for students to reflect on the impact of the service-learning experience on their academic, personal, and civic development?

Section 2: Impact

On the Community Partner(s): What has been the impact of the faculty member’s scholarship of engagement and partnership endeavors on the community?

On the Student Experience: What is the evidence of innovative ways that the faculty member has incorporated service-learning (academically-based, reflective, teaching strategies to connect the student learning experience to outreach and engagement in a community context) in her/his teaching methods? What has been the impact on the student experience (academic learning, personal growth, or civic engagement)?

On the Faculty Member’s Scholarship: What has the faculty member learned from work with the community, and how have these “lessons learned” enhanced, or changed the direction of, her/his research or teaching?

On the Faculty Member’s Department, School or College, and the University as a Whole: How have the faculty member’s scholarship of engagement activities complemented and advanced the teaching, research, and/or outreach and engagement goals of the department, school or college, and the university as a whole? How has the faculty member partnered with people in other University units to address the expressed community need?

Section 3: Letter from the Unit Head:

The written statement should include:

  • A brief position description that outlines the nature and scope of the nominee’s roles and responsibilities; and
  • Reflective commentary on the impact of the nominee’s scholarship of engagement on student learning, on the goals of the unit, and on the community.

Section 4: Appendix

Supporting Documentation may include:

  • A syllabus that demonstrates how student learning has been connected to the needs of a community through service-learning activities, and by opportunities for students to reflect on the impact of the service-learning experience on their learning of course content, personal growth, or civic engagement.
  • A Letter from the Community Partner.
  • A listing of Outreach and Engagement Activities. The nominee may refer to the categories below. Numerous activities of the same type may be summarized, and brief descriptions and examples provided.
    • Honors, awards, and special recognition for outreach and engagement activities.
    • Publications including books, monographs, and article-length publications (distinguish by type: book chapters, articles in refereed journals, invited articles, bulletins, proceedings, etc.).
    • Instructional activities.
    • Technical assistance. List each type of assistance, the clientele, the contribution, and the number of times provided.
    • Outreach and engagement products (e.g. exhibitions, electronic products; copyrights, patents, inventions).

The nomination dossier should be prepared in the following manner:

  • The completed nomination dossier should not exceed 20 pages (including the cover page and all materials). Dossiers exceeding this length will not be considered.
  • Please format with one-inch margins and 12 point font.
  • Nomination portfolios should not be placed in folders or binders. Each copy of the dossier should be stapled in the upper left-hand corner.
  • An original and six copies should be submitted, under a transmittal letter, to the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach no later than Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Units submitting nominations should be prepared to provide additional documentation upon request of the selection committee.

Questions should be directed to:

Dr. Trish Kalivoda
Associate Vice President
Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach
Treanor House
1234 South Lumpkin Street
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
Phone: 706-542-6125
Fax: 706-542-6278

Established May 2007. Revised June 2008.

The guidelines for this award are modeled after the University of Georgia’s Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in University Public Service and Outreach, and the C. Peter Magrath Engagement Award.