Strategic Goals: Community Engagement - West Chester University
Community engagement is the process of creating mutually beneficial partnerships between the University and our local, national, and international communities through the exchange of knowledge, by serving as a cultural resource, and by supporting initiatives that contribute to the common good.
Goals, Outcomes & Initiatives
Goal C1: To improve students’ and faculty and staff members’ social responsibility and civic skills toward recognizing and respecting community strengths and differences.
- Outcome C1-1: To develop an appropriate civic engagement strategy of implementation
and corresponding timelines designed to cultivate students’ and faculty and staff
members’ social responsibility and civic skills.
- Initiative C1-1-1: In Year One, conduct a minimum of three forums and focus groups to help inform the strategy.
- Initiative C1-1-2: In Year Two, using the work of the institution’s Carnegie Community Engagement Reclassification Task Force, develop and pilot programming that examines and fosters students’ and faculty and staff members’ social responsibility and civic skills.
- Initiative C1-1-3: In Year Three, implement additional programming based upon assessment of Year Two through appropriate institutional opportunities, such as new student/employee orientation and/or the First Year Experience, etc.
- Outcome C1-2: Leverage the Center for Community Solutions, the Office of Service-Learning
and Volunteer Programs, and Executive Director for External Relations to develop a
sustainable structure to identify, create, and deepen community-engaged partnerships
and projects.
- Initiative C1-2-1: In Year One, benchmark best practices of instruments that enable effective data collection and assessment of community engagement opportunities.
- Initiative C1-2-2: In Year Two, identify new community-based learning and research opportunities in partnership with community stakeholders to utilize and leverage institutional assets and resources.
- Initiative C1-2-3: In Year Three, assess community engagement outcomes to inform optimal and effective future community engagement consistent with Initiative C1-3-2.
- Outcome C1-3: Leverage the Center for Community Solutions to develop a sustainable
structure to share information regarding community partnerships and projects that
provide opportunities for collaboration and growth
- Initiative C1-3-1: In Year One, benchmark best practices of instruments that enable effective searches, data collection, and assessment of community engagement opportunities
- Initiative C1-3-2: In Year Two, based upon benchmark data from Year One, implement use of an effective community engagement assessment tool(s) to track community-engaged activities and measure impact outcomes.
- Initiative C1-3-3: In Year Three, continue use of instrument(s) implemented in Year Two to help inform and optimize institutional community engagement strategies and partnerships.
Goal C2: To strengthen community-university relations on local, regional, and international levels through the exchange of knowledge, the promotion of cultural experiences, and the community-focused application of the expertise and skills of students, faculty, and staff.
- Outcome C2-1: To complete an inventory and develop a sound organizational structure
for sustaining and deepening community engagement activities.
- Initiative C2-1-1: In Year One, leverage the work of the institution’s Carnegie Community Engagement Reclassification Task Force for this purpose.
- Initiative C2-1-2: In Year Two, utilize the inventory completed in Year One in conjunction with Outcome C1-2 to inform future community engagement; clarify an institutional organizational structure based upon and reflective of the completed inventory.
- Initiative C2-1-3: In Year Three, ensure implementation of a sustainable organizational structure to support Goals 1 and 2.