THE ENGAGED CAMPUS:DIVERSE MODELS FOR POWERFUL

COMMUNITY-BASED TEACHING, LEARNING & RESEARCH

Presentation by Dan W. Butin

Dean, School of Education, Merrimack CollegeExecutive Director, Center for Engaged

Democracydan.butin@merrimack.edu

ForIndiana University’s Center for Innovative

Teaching & LearningScholarship of Teaching & Learning Series

March 29, 2013

THE PUNCH LINE: THIS SHOULD BE EASY…BUT…

This Should be Easy…But

We Have Reached

an “Engagem

ent Ceiling”

The Potential for the

Engaged Campus

What’s at Stake

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WHAT IS “THE ENGAGED CAMPUS”?

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

SCHOLARSHIP OF

TEACHING & LEARNING

PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH

SERVICE-LEARNING

COMMUNITY-BASED

RESEARCH

PUBLIC SCHOLARSHI

P

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THE “FOUR RS” OF THE ENGAGED CAMPUS

RELEVANCE: Academic integrity

RECIPROCITY: Meaningful community voice, impact, and participation

REFLECTION: Experience is never transparent

RESPECT: Avoiding the “community as lab” phenomenon

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THIS SHOULD BE EASY…RESEARCH-

BASED

• NRC’s How We Learn

• SL “At a Glance”

• NSSE

EMPIRICALLY-DRIVEN

• UCLA’s HERI

• Campus Compact

• AAC&U

POLICY-SUPPORTED

• Carnegie• Kettering• US Dept. of

Ed.

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10% ENGAGEMENT CEILINGRhetoric/Reality Gap

• Minimal community impact (80% of CBR projects have no community outcomes; Stoeker, 2010)

• Minimal social & political framing (<5% of students viewed SL from such a perspective; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004)

• Institutional Diversification (>40% community colleges, 12% for-profits, 3% Liberal Arts; NCES 2013)Shallow Institutionalization

• Self-selected audience (<8% of student and faculty engagement; Campus Compact, 2013)

• Student demographics (<25% “traditional” & >50% need remedial education; NCES, 2013)

• Faculty work (>67% non-tenure-stream & >80% lecture; NCES 2011 & 2007)

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BREADTH DEPTH

Diffuse Focus

Answers Questions

Toolkits Handbooks

A Campaign A Discipline (or SoTL)

SOCIAL MOVEME

NT

INTELLECTUAL

MOVEMENT

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THE POTENTIAL FOR THE ENGAGED CAMPUS

• CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

TECHNICAL

• CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & CULTURAL COMPETENCY

CULTURAL

• SOCIAL & POLITICAL ACTIVISM/SOCIAL JUSTICE

POLITICAL

• COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

ANTI-FOUNDATIONAL

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THE POTENTIAL FOR POWERFUL COMMUNITY-BASED TEACHING, LEARNING & RESEARCH

As the question Depth of practice As critical

inquiry Pedagogic

al legitimacy

As embedde

d Course

integrity

As text academic freedom

“who benefits?”“can you walk away?”

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WHAT’S AT STAKE…

Is there a place for the civic in a place-less

world?

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