The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach recently sponsored the "Can you Dig It?" event at the McClung Museum in celebration of International Archaeology Day. This exciting experience offered K-12 students and local families the chance to engage with archeology through hands-on learning and expert-led sessions. Above, a photo captured by Grayson Martin Media features Mackenzie Pina at the interactive zooarchaeology table, showcasing one of the activities. Read the full story below.

University leadership, alongside UT’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, recently surprised 57 high school seniors from Austin-East, Central, and Fulton with early admission offers. Scholars are also eligible for the Flagship Scholarship, which covers tuition and mandatory fees for up to eight semesters when combined with the HOPE scholarship. More information about the Flagship Scholarship program, including a full list of the 52 Flagship schools, can be found here.

Karen Delong, an engaged scholar and associate professor, was recently selected as one of the inaugural Athletics Professors of Excellence Award. Erin directs The Peter Howard Endowment for Wine and Ag Tourism and The Farm Credit Mid-America Enrichment Program which create opportunities for students to interact with professionals in their areas of study.

Her course, AREC 395: James L. Herbert Executive Seminar Series, teaches students about entrepreneurship and leadership and brings in successful alumni to speak with the students each week. 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 Community Engagement Seminar Series is a bi-monthly professional development opportunity that is open to all members of the campus and broader community. Our first seminar in 2025 will be "Community-Engaged Research and Collaborative Institutional Review Board (IRB)." This session, facilitated by Hollie Raynor and Eboni Winford, will explore the considerations and requirements of the UT Human Research Protection Program of the IRB for community-engaged research. Resources, including tools for collaboration, will be shared. Register below to attend in person or via zoom on Friday, January 24, from 2:00 -3:00 p.m.

The Office of Community Engagement and Outreach, in collaboration with the Judith A. Herbert Writing Center initiated a Community-Engaged Scholarship Writing Group this fall. 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, 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 ask those interested to provide feedback. Your insight will inform the structure and cadence as we work to reconvene in the spring. If you are eager to connect with fellow scholars committed to community  engagement, explore avenues and strategies for publishing and presenting community-engaged scholarship, connect with fellow scholars committed to community engagement, or wish to designate specific time for your writing, please complete the interest form provided below. If you have any questions, please email Amy Gilliland or Matt Bryant Cheney. 

Registration is open for the 2025 Thomas "Tank" Strickland Leadership Awards Luncheon being held on Thursday, January 16, from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. in the Pilot Ballroom at the University of Tennessee Student Union. Tickets are $50.00 each, and the keynote speaker will be Nzinga "Zing" Shaw, a global authority on inclusive leadership and CEO of Attack the Glass LLC.

Free Parking will be available in the G-10 Parking Lot (Neyland Parking Garage) near Thompson Boling Arena with an optional shuttle service to the Student Union. 

To explore all of the 2025 MLK Celebration Events being planned by the MLK Commission, please visit the MLK Commemorative Commission website.

The Clay and Debbie Jones Center for Leadership and Service annual MLK Jr. Days of Service will be held January 27 - February 7, 2025!  This series embodies the importance of living out the legacy of Dr. King by volunteering and supporting our community. Each day, volunteers will gather to serve either a morning or afternoon session  at various sites in the Greater Knoxville area. Join us to reflect on the meaning of Dr. King’s legacy and make meaningful connections with nonprofits in our area. Sign-ups will launch in January on ServeUTK!

The ARIS Broader Impacts (BI) Toolkit is designed to assist research investigators and research support staff as they develop broader impact projects. These tools help researchers satisfy the Broader Impacts Criterion of the National Science Foundation and other agencies, while also helping them to fulfill their interest in communicating science.

The ARIS Toolkit currently includes: Guiding Principles for Effective BI Statements, A checklist for reviewing BI statements, The BI Wizard, and a new BI project evaluation rubric.

The Appalachian Justice Research Center’s Engaging Democracy group invites young artists to share their representations of democracy through art for an upcoming exhibit at the East Tennessee History Museum. AJRC is looking for genuine expression, so you don’t have to be an artist, but you do have to be under age 30. Register and upload art by clicking the button below, or send submissions to engagingdemocracy2024@gmail.com by January 1.

Each month, the Engagement Scholarship Consortium offers webinars and online professional development and networking opportunities for faculty, practitioners, graduate students, and university leaders. On January 22, from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Rod Williams, vice provost for outreach and engagement at Texas Tech University, will discuss how to frame your dossiers, incorporate important components, and report impact. This session will also address strategies to evaluate engagement dossiers in external reviews and on primary promotion committees.

Register now to attend the inaugural University of Tennessee Grand Challenge Summit, February 13-14, in Murfreesboro. The summit is aimed at addressing Tennessee's most pressing issues with a goal of fostering innovative solutions and strategic partnerships that can drive meaningful change across the state. 

This is a unique opportunity to delve into interconnected challenges and collaboratively explore ways to advance our communities. The Grand Challenge areas include: Advancing K-12 Education, Strengthening Rural Communities, and Overcoming Addiction. 

Are you looking for volunteer opportunities this holiday season? The United Way of Greater Knoxville has made it easy for you! Check out the guide to holiday volunteering below.

The IMPACT Conference is historically the largest annual conference focused on the civic engagement of college students in community service, service-learning, community-based research, advocacy and other forms of social action. Impact 2025 will be at Virginia Commonwealth University from February 27-March 1. Registration is officially open and the Early Bird deadline is January 13. 

North Carolina Campus Engagement’s PACE conference is for faculty, researchers, community partners, and graduate students who want to gain skills, knowledge, and best practice models for community and civic engagement pedagogies and practices. 

This year’s theme Democracy Begins at Home: The Place-Based Imperative of Community and Civic Engagement calls higher education institutions back to their anchor and place-based mission. It imagines what would happen if higher education invested fully in our community and civic mission to address wicked social problems, improve civic health, enhance public discourse, and strengthen democracy locally. Keynote speakers include Timothy Eatman, Peter Levine, and Byron White. Register here by January 24 to attend the conference on February 12 at The Conference Center at Guilford Technical Community College. 

NewSchools Venture Fund envisions an education system that keeps its promise to all students. Through NewSchools 2025 funding opportunity, $10 million is available for innovators and educators working to reimaging education in the United States. The focus is creating new possibilities and a just future for all students, especially those furthest from opportunity. One-year, unrestricted grants ranging from $150,000 to $250,000 are provided, as well as one-on-one coaching, access to national experts, and connections with peer organizations. The final application deadline is January 8. 

The JAMS Foundation-ACR Initiative for Students and Youth provides support for conflict resolution education and training for pre-K through 12th grade students and youth in the United States, as well as the adults working with these youth populations. The 2025 funding cycle focuses on the development of systemwide educational policies and procedures that effectively integrate conflict resolution and restorative practice training in order to foster a more peaceful and positive school climate. Interested organizations or individuals are required to submit a 1-3 page Initial Project Idea description to ACR by January 10.

First Horizon Foundation grant applications for the 2025 year opened on October 1. Grants are targeted to improving the well-being of our communities, investing in the financial future, educating and developing the next generation of leaders, promoting excellence and enrichment in the arts, and a more sustainable tomorrow and futures. Counties across Tennessee have deadlines varying from December 31 to January 31, so click here to learn when applications in your area close. 

NEA Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, is a national program that offers matching grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to support community-wide reading programs in the United States. The grant helps bring communities together around the shared activity of reading and discussing the same book. NEA Big Read programs vary and can be as short as a week or as long as several months. Beyond discussions of the book, organizations may choose to include a kick-off event, invite the author for a visit, or have other events inspired by the content and themes of the book, including panel discussions, lectures, film screenings, art exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, poetry slams, writing workshops and contests, and community storytelling events. Programming for the 2025-2026 grant cycle will center around the theme OUR NATURE: How Our Physical Environment Can Lead Us to Seek Hope, Courage, and Connection. Submit your intent to apply by January 23. 

The Tennessee Department of Health seeks applications for the Rural Healthcare 
Resiliency Program grant funding opportunity. The funds available for fiscal year 2025 
are available to projects that serve the 89 rural counties in Tennessee. Projects that 
serve patients/clients in Davidson, Shelby, Hamilton, Knox, Sullivan, and Madison 
counties are not eligible to apply for this funding. Applications are due by 3:00 pm. EST on January 24. 

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