On October 22, the 2024 Fall Community Engagement Academy (CEA) cohort delivered their final presentations to the campus at a closing ceremony and celebrated completion of the 5-week program. Scholars were congratulated by Javiette Samuel, Associate Vice Chancellor & OCEO director, and Tyvi Small, Vice Chancellor for Access and Engagement.

Throughout the experience, early-career faculty, graduate students, and postdocs learned and applied the fundamentals of community engagement, engaged scholarship, assessment and evaluation, and more. In addition to the fall academy, a summer intensive is offered for graduate students each June. Applications will be available in Spring 2025. 

As the state's flagship land-grant university, we are committed to providing access and education, exploration, and discovery while enhancing culture and advancing the public good. Each year, the Office of Community Engagement and Outreach produces a publication to highlight mutually beneficial partnerships that are impactful in Knoxville and beyond. Please click on the button below to review the current publication and stay tuned for upcoming stories showcasing these and other transformative collaborations. 

Erin Hardin, an engaged scholar and professor, was recently selected as one of the inaugural Athletics Professors of Excellence Award. Erin is the co-lead investigator for IP: Imagining Possibilities, sharing lead duties with Professor Melinda Gibbons. Over the past nine years, the program has encouraged more than 10,000 underserved rural Appalachian high school students to imagine possibilities for their future by exploring careers and encouraging pursuit of education after high school. They work with nearly 1,200 students each year at four different high schools, offer optional summer experiences on the UTK campus, and have produced a 10-video series for teachers on their website.

The awards, which are funded by Athletics and come with a $12,000 honorarium, recognize professional excellence and outstanding university citizenship at the departmental, college, or university levels. The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach would like to thank the Faculty Senate for their advocacy and partnership with the Provost and the Athletics Department to create this recognition of outstanding, engaged faculty. 

The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach, in collaboration with the Judith A. Herbert Writing Center initiated a Community-Engaged Scholarship Writing Group in October. Our goal is to create time and space for community-engaged scholars, including faculty, staff, graduate students, and community members to write and/or talk about their writing. While participants will be expected to bring at least some writing to each session or at least thoughts toward their writing, the format of the group will be determined by participants. This is not a workshop or session focused on content delivery, although each participant will bring insights to the table.

To enhance accessibility and encourage broader participation, we have created an interest form to gather additional information and reconvene in the spring semester. Faculty, staff, students, and community members who are eager to explore various avenues and strategies for publishing and presenting community-engaged scholarship, connect with fellow scholars committed to community engagement, or designate specific time for writing in their schedules are strongly invited to complete the interest form provided below. If you have any questions, please email Amy Gilliland or Matt Bryant Cheney. 

Each month, the Engagement Scholarship Consortium offers webinars and online professional development and networking opportunities for faculty, practitioners, graduate students, and university leaders. On November 20, from 12:001:00 p.m., Michelle Snitgen and Stephanie Brewer, from Michigan State University's Center for Community Engaged Learning, will offer a workshop exploring the many benefits of community-engaged learning for students, faculty, and communities, and share strategies for designing and implementing course-based community-engaged learning experiences. 

The Office of Assessment Culture and Education is collaborating with curators from McClung Museum for Thoughtful Thursday on November 14.  This session will discuss the upcoming exhibit "Homelands," set to open in January 2025. Co-curated with representatives from four Native Nations linked to Knox County, this exhibit will highlight contemporary works by 16 Native artists. Speakers will delve into the museum's collaborative efforts with Native Nations, underscoring the significance of these partnerships in showcasing diverse cultural narratives. Register now to gain insights into the curatorial process, the importance of the featured works, and the impact of this groundbreaking exhibition.

The Community Engagement Seminar Series is a bi-monthly professional development opportunity that is open to all members of the campus and broader community. Our final session of 2024, titled, "Community Engagement Advocacy and Civic Engagement" will be facilitated by Michelle Brown and the Honorable Judge Sunshine Parker. This session will highlight democratic engagement, advocacy, and creating and sustaining change through policy action. Please utilize the button below to register to attend in person or on zoom on Friday, November 15, from 2:00 -3:00 p.m.

Metropolitan Universities, the journal of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), provides an opportunity for scholarly peer-reviewed online publication that centers the relationship between communities and campuses. In a recent issue, a variety of authors composed research and praxis articles exploring various facets of campus-community relationships. From case studies on anchor institution models and place-based education to exploration of dual enrollment, community partnerships, trauma-informed practices, and global education in online spaces, this issue broadly addresses complex themes inquiring into higher education and community relationships. How do we deepen our institutional engagement with community, overcome barriers, increase access, and foster student success? Register below to hear the authors and editors discuss key ideas from the most recent issue on November 21, at 1:00 p.m. 

The Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service-Learning aims to increase service and volunteerism across Tennessee. The conference encourages collaboration between service leaders and participants to address needs in Tennessee while utilizing service and service-learning as a vehicle of change. Volunteer Tennessee invites you to submit a proposal to present a workshop or panel session at the Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service-Learning, to be held February 17-18, 2025, at the Franklin Marriott in Franklin, TN.

The mission of the Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Through Higher Education is to promote networking among practitioners, research, ethical practices, reciprocal campus-community partnerships, sustainable programs, and a culture of engagement and public awareness through service-learning and other forms of civic engagement. Nominations for the 2025 Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning and Community Engagement in Higher Education Awards are due by 5:00p.m. CST on Wednesday, December 11. Award categories are as follows.

Award recipients will receive complimentary registration to the 2025 Gulf South Summit Conference, a commemorative plaque, and a $1,500.00 honorarium.  

The Smart Family Fund allocates resources to early-stage nonprofit ventures that have the potential to make a significant impact on the world, but that have yet to demonstrate the efficacy needed to acquire large-scale funding. Each year, grants are awarded ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. 

The Hearst Foundations fund nonprofit organizations to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive, and satisfying lives. The Foundations’ major areas of focus are culture, education, health, and social services. Funding is provided for approaches that create sustainable employment and productive career paths for adults, improve health and quality of life, increase academic achievement through access to high-quality educational options, promote the arts and sciences, and support family stability and self-sufficiency. The Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that operate with audited expenses of greater than $2 million and that primarily serve large demographic or geographic constituencies.

The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Regional Grant Program promotes the widespread, sustained, and effective use of primary sources from the Library of Congress in K-12 classrooms. School districts, universities, cultural institutions, library systems, and other educational organizations may apply for grants of up to $25,000 to incorporate TPS materials and methods into their existing education and professional development programs for pre- and in-service teachers, librarians, and other K-12 educators.

Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) is dedicated to helping classroom teachers make STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning fun and exciting for students in U.S. schools. TAF funds innovative STEM projects designed by teachers for use in their own schools and classrooms. Teachers at public and nonprofit private schools throughout the United States are eligible to apply. The upcoming application deadline for grades 6-12 is December 1. 

The Brady Education Foundation seeks to close the educational opportunity gaps associated with race, ethnicity, and family income. The Foundation pursues its mission by promoting collaboration among researchers, educators, and other stakeholders via the funding of research projects and program evaluations that have the potential of informing private funders and public policy. They are currently accepting Research Project (RP) proposals and Existing Program Evaluation (EPE) proposals that have the potential to provide data that will inform how to address disparities in educational opportunities associated with race, ethnicity, and family income. Proposals are due on December 1.

The Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) works with U.S. and international scientists and engagement practitioners to build capacity, advance scholarship, grow partnerships and provide resources to help them engage with and demonstrate the impact of research in their communities and society. ARIS Awards recognize Engaged Knowledge Generation (accomplishing societal impacts through the research activity itself, engaging the public in the research process, participating in knowledge generation) and Engaged Knowledge Transition (accomplishing societal impacts through activities that are supported by but are complementary to the research itself.) Awards will be presented in the following categories: Impact Goals Award, Impact Innovations Award, Enduring Achievement Award, and Emerging BI Leader. Travel expenses for ARIS winners to San Juan, Puerto Rico, will be covered by ARIS. Nominations are open now and due December 6. 

If you are conducting community-engaged research, scholarship, or outreach initiatives, we invite you to share your activity with us. Your work is important and deserves to be elevated. Please complete the Engagement Project Form here. 

If you received a copy of this newsletter from someone else and want to subscribe, please click here. 

Contact Us

Office of Community Engagement and Outreach

within the Division of Access and Engagement

301 Andy Holt Tower

Knoxville, TN 37996

865-974-4742

communityengagement.utk.edu

communityengagement@utk.edu