Community Engagement

2018-9 Assessment of Community Engagement at UW Seattle

Why did UW pursue the Carnegie Community Engagement classification?

In 2017, UW examined the Carnegie Community Engagement classification framework and its alignment with efforts on the UW Seattle campus. The results of this exploration highlighted the fact that community engagement is woven into the fabric of our institution. In 2018, President Cauce charged a Working Group to undertake this self-assessment to better understand and align our efforts in community-engaged research, teaching, and service.

Read the Executive Summary of UW Seattle’s Carnegie process

The pursuit of the Carnegie classification was both a means and an end, particularly in the four areas below:

  • institutional self-assessment and self-study: a way to bring the disparate parts of our campus together in alignment with a larger vision while, at the same time, identifying promising practices that could be shared across the institution.
  • accountability: a way to demonstrate the fulfillment of our mission to serve the public good and to partner with community in ways that are beneficial to both partners.
  • catalyst for change: a tool for fostering institutional conversations and alignment for community-based learning, teaching, and scholarship.
  • institutional identity: the classification provides clarity and legitimacy to our identity and mission, and allows us to tell more authentic stories about our work.

Learn more about the Classification for Community Engagement

Outdoor shot of man in UW logo shirt pointing and a group of people listening to him

The Carnegie application is based on:

  • institutional identity, culture and communication
  • community relations, outreach and partnerships
  • curricular and co-curricular engagement
  • professional activity and scholarship
  • infrastructure and finance
  • tracking, monitoring and assessment
  • faculty and staff support and rewards
  • alignment with other institutional initiatives

Carnegie Working Groups

Carnegie requires each campus to apply separately, and both UW Bothell and UW Tacoma undertook this assessment concurrently with UW’s Seattle campus.

On the Seattle campus, UW’s application process was led by a cross-campus Working Group under the advisement of Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs; and Thaisa Way, chair of the Faculty Senate and faculty director of Urban@UW.

The Working Group, assembled in early 2018, represents faculty, staff and students from all units and with diverse perspectives on our community engagement efforts. The Working Group was chaired by Rachel Vaughn, director of the Carlson Center; and Jen Davison, program director for Urban@UW.

Working Group members

Kimberly Ambrose
Senior Lecturer
School of Law
kambrose@uw.edu

Lynette Arias
Assistant vice provost for Research
Office of Research
ariasl@uw.edu

Rachel Arteaga
Assistant director, UW Simpson Center for the Humanities
College of Arts and Sciences
rarteaga@uw.edu

Dana Arviso
Director, Unite:Ed
College of Education
darviso@uw.edu

Janet Baseman
Associate professor, department of Epidemiology
School of Public Health
jbaseman@uw.edu

Kim Blakeley
Director of strategic marketing and communications
School of Medicine
krb13@uw.edu

Justin Camputaro
Director
Husky Union Building
jcamp77@uw.edu

Sally Clark
Director of regional and community relations
External Affairs
salclark@uw.edu

Paul Constantine
Associate dean of Distinctive Collections
Director, Special Collections
UW Libraries
pjc6@uw.edu

Giuliana Conti
President
Graduate and Professional Student Senate
gpsspres@uw.edu

Butch De Castro
Associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
School of Nursing
butchdec@uw.edu

Jen Davison
Program director
Urban@UW
jnfrdvsn@uw.edu

Don Downing
Institute for Innovative Pharmacy Practice Endowed Clinical Professor
School of Pharmacy
dondown@uw.edu

Kelly Edwards
Professor, Department of Bioethics and Humanities; Associate dean, Graduate School
School of Medicine
edwards@uw.edu

Mike Engh
Program operations specialist
College of Engineering
enghmw@uw.edu

Carrie Evans
Senior Assistant Dean, Student Services
Evans School of Public Policy and Governance
evans77@uw.edu

Janet Germeraad
Academic services director, Department of Biology
College of Arts and Sciences
janetjg@uw.edu

Ritika Jain
President
ASUW asuwpres@uw.edu

Sandra Janusch
Assistant Vice Provost
Continuum College
sjanusch@uw.edu

Lara Littlefield
Associate Vice President for Innovation Strategy, and Chief Strategy Officer for Global Innovation Exchange
CoMotion
laralitt@uw.edu

Rick Mohler
Associate professor; director, Graduate Studies, Department of Architecture
College of Built Environments
remohler@uw.edu

Marisa Nickle
Senior director, strategy and academic initiatives
Office of the Provost
mnickle@uw.edu

India Ornelas
Associate professor; research director, Latino Center for Health or Population Health Initiative
School of Public Health
iornelas@uw.edu

Mike Renes
Program manager, Advising and Outreach, Student Programs
Office of Global affairs
renesm@uw.edu

Amy Snover
Assistant dean for Applied Research; director, Climate Impacts Group
College of the Environment
aksnover@uw.edu

Margaret Spearmon
Chief officer of Community Engagement and Diversity
School of Social Work
spearmon@uw.edu

Chelsea Stone
Program coordinator, Office of Educational Partnerships and Diversity
School of Dentistry
cstone17@uw.edu

Rachel Vaughn
Director
Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center
rvaughn@uw.edu

Nic Weber
Assistant professor
iSchool
nmweber@uw.edu

Kristian Wiles
Executive director, Retention & Academic Support Programs
Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity
kmwiles@uw.edu

Denise Wilson
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering
denisew@uw.edu

Emily Zimmerman
Director, Jacob Lawrence Art Gallery
College of Arts and Sciences
zimmee3@uw.edu

Timeline

May 1-July 1, 2018: Application request portal open
April 15, 2019: Application deadline
December 2019: Campus notifications
January 2020: Public announcement of 2020 Carnegie Community Engaged Institutions

Additional background

How will the Carnegie Community Engagement classification help UW?

Carnegie provides a means of becoming more intentional and systematic as an institution about how we develop effective and equitable community engagement infrastructure in alignment with national best practices, including institutional partnership strategy, faculty rewards, curricular integration and assessment of outcomes for students, faculty, partners and the institution.

It is an end in that it enables us to become a visible member of a national community made up of institutions that share our commitment to community engagement.

In other words, applying for the Carnegie classification will ensure that we practice what we preach, and that we are consistently reflecting upon and improving our practice in collaboration with a larger community of practice.