engagement classification (re-classification applicants ... · commendable record on this score....

2015 Documentation Reporting Form: Carnegie Community2015 Documentation Reporting Form: Carnegie CommunityEngagement Classification (Re-classification applicants)Engagement Classification (Re-classification applicants)Response ID:376 Data

3. Applicant’s Contact Information3. Applicant’s Contact Information

Please provide the contact information of the individual submitting this application (for CarnegieFoundation use only):

First Name

Deborah

Last Name

Smith-Howell

Title

Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Dean of Graduate Studies

Institution

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Mailing Address 1

6001 Dodge Street

Mailing Address 2

EAB 202

City

Omaha

State

NE

Zip Code

68182

Phone Number

4025544849

Email Address

[email protected]

Full Name of Institution's President/Chancellor

John E. Christensen

President/Chancellor's Mailing Address

6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182

President/Chancellor's Email Address

[email protected]

5. I. Foundational Indicators5. I. Foundational Indicators

1. Provide a letter from the President/Chancellor or Provost (Vice President for Academic Affairs)that:

a. Indicates their perception of where community engagement fits into their leadership of theinstitution, b. Describes community engagement's relationship to the institution's core identity, strategicdirection, and practices, and c. Discusses how engagement is institutionalized for sustainability in the institution.

You must EITHER copy and paste the text of the letter into the following textbox OR upload a PDFcopy of the letter below: *

Uploaded a PDF copy of the letter.

Upload a PDF copy of the President's/Chancellor's letter here.

Carnegie Classification Committee Chancellor Letter.pdf

d. In addition to the letter, provide evidence of recent statements of affirmation of communityengagement. In the grid below, provide excerpts from the relevant documents and a web link to thefull document if it exists.

Document Excerpt Web Link (if available)

Excerpts of Chancellor’s AnnualAddresses Statements on UNO’s

service commitment: “Overseveral years, numerous campus

conversations and annualstrategic planning events,

involving campus and community,have helped us set forth an

ambitious, yet challenging vision -to be one of the nation's leadingmetropolitan universities”(2011,p.1). “At UNO, we actively seek

partnerships and stand ready tocollaborate with all sectors of thecity by utilizing institutional assets

to enhance the quality of life inOmaha. In turn, this engagement

provides exceptionalexperiences for students, faculty,and staff as they teach and learnin real life settings, creating winsfor all”(2013, p.5). “[C]ommunity

engagement agendas shouldparallel the educational, social,

cultural, environmental andeconomic challenges and

opportunities facing cities todayand in the future”(2008, p.5).

“UNO recently has been invited(…) to participate (…) in a

http://surveygizmoresponseuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/fileuploads/51277/1229809/53-186faa6fecda232e40af0d16f59a5ac5_Carnegie+Classification+Committee+Chancellor+Letter.pdf

Annualaddresses/speeches(word limit:500):

national task force. This AnchorInstitutions Task Force has been

convened as a permanentorganization to help create andadvance democratic, mutuallybeneficial anchor institution-

community partnerships”(2010,p.2). Statements about the

Community Engagement Center:“Given our history and

commitment to all facets ofengagement that we are building

a “Community EngagementCenter” - the first building of itskind in the United States”(2013,

p.5). “The CommunityEngagement Center (…) will

significantly expand the quantityand quality of our partnership

and outreach activities,exemplifying the hallmark of

metropolitan universities”(2010,p.5). “The CEC will link civic

initiatives, nonprofit and businessorganizations, high schools, andfaculty/staff/students, maximizingopportunities to partner, createsynergies, and share costs and

expertise. The center will providea home a for public serviceresource center, the Service

Learning Academy, a new publicservice student leadership

program, and a staging area forcommunity engagement

initiatives”(2011, p.3). Evidence ofUNO’s service commitment: “Weare a place (…) where studentsspent 300,000 hours extending

their learning in the community aspart of practica, internships,service learning, and active

citizenship during just the lastyear and engaged in the

community”(2008, p.3). “TheService Learning Academysupported more than 100

academic courses involving 1500students, which I believe is about

twice the Campus Compactaverage nationally”(2010, p.6).“Since 2005, the campus has

been repeatedly named to thePresident’s Higher Education

Community Service Honor Roll(…) Moreover, UNO was in the

first group of institutionsachieving the prestigious

classification for communityengagement granted by the

Carnegie Foundation”(2013, p.4-5). “Communication Fine Arts and

Media won the highest civicengagement award given by The

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#a

engagement award given by TheAssociation for Theatre in Higher

Education”(2012, p.8). “UNO[received] the Washington

Center's Higher Education CivicEngagement Award with

"Distinction", and [was] cited asone of 25 "Best Neighbor"

institutions for university/civicpartnerships”(2010, p.6). “The

UNO Service Learning Academywas honored with the state's FirstLady's Award as the OutstandingService Learning Program”(2011,

p.5). “Service learning andservice activities add millions of

dollars in benefits to thecommunity annually, as well as

enriching academic experiencesand reinforcing the importance ofcitizenship for our students. This

is a great source of pride oncampus”(2013, p.5).

Editorial Excerpts from theOmaha World Herald “As UNO

begins its second century,Christensen urged the university

to build on that tradition andmake civic engagement nothing

less than a ‘core institutionalpractice’ that will ‘permeate theacademy’” (10-09-2009). “For

centuries, ‘town and gown’ was aslogan for separation and evendistrust. In this century, UNO isadmirably showing the way byconverting that phrase into a

slogan for community dialogue,fellowship and mutual support”(10-09-2009). “This 11-year-old

campus credo [engaging incommunity service] continues to

gain force and momentum asincreasing numbers of faculty,staff members and students

collaboratively work to integrateUNO’s educational goals andpractices into the fabric of the

Omaha community” (02-23-2008).“Chancellor John Christensen this

week presented an importantvision for making his campus’scommunity-focused work even

stronger. As noted here onseveral occasions, UNO has acommendable record on this

score. Indeed, its public serviceinvolved help not just for Omaha

but also for Nebraska as awhole”(10-09-2009). “[A]t first,Seven Days of Service was the

only community service project atUNO. Now there are 16 servicedays during the academic year

Published editorials(word limit:500):

days during the academic yearthat collectively, over the past 10

years, have contributed $2.3million in work to the Omaha

area. Some 4,000 hours of workwere given just last year during

Seven Days of Service, accordingto UNO’s Kathe Oleson Lyons”(03-19-2012). “More than 150Nebraska teachers and 500

students received science andengineering training from UNO viathe NASA Nebraska Space Grant

program”(5-26-2010). “Themethamphetamine problem

affects the entirety of the state.UNO’s School of Criminal Justice

and Criminology has begun aproject to help Nebraska

communities, especially in ruralareas, use telecommunications

technology to facilitate thetreatment of meth addicts”(05-

09-2009). “The CarnegieFoundation for Advancement ofTeaching has recognized UNO

among only 76 U.S. colleges anduniversities in its new CommunityEngagement Classification” (02-23-2008). “The proverbial gap

between the classroom and theworld of work is steadily beingbroken down as faculty cross

over disciplinary boundaries andreach out collaboratively tocompanies, agencies andinstitutions in the Omahacommunity”(02-23-2008).

“Christensen also has madecommunity engagement a key

goal for UNO, and last year UNOwon a national award for the

quality of its civic involvement.The chancellor’s strategic plancalls for continued focus on thatgoal. The planned Community

Engagement Center, for example,would open up new opportunities

for UNO to host publicdiscussions and solution-seeking

on a wide array of communityissues (10-7-2011). “A UNO

Community Engagement Facilitiescould serve as a focal point and

a meeting site for students tolearn and practice the skills of

civic responsibility” (04-28-2009).“Caret saluted UNO’s nationally

recognized, award-winningService Learning program, aswell as other lesser known buthighly effective involvements of

faculty and students in localgovernment, nonprofit agencies

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#b

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#h

and educational institutions. Manyof these projects are volunteer

commitments that involvethousands of hours of contributed

time and resources” (04-28-2009). * For an overview of

published news articles pleasereview the provided link.

News Releases ExcerptsCommunity-service projects: 500students will donate more than$95,000 in labor renovating fivenorth and south Omaha homes

(02-19-2008). 100 homeless andat-risk teens received backpacks

filled with personal hygieneproducts (11-30-2010). A book

and toy drive to benefit refugeeand immigrant children (11-08-

2007). A partnership (…) with theCrete Elementary School to

organize a food drive and themaking of (…) fleece blankets tobe donated to families in need

(01-08-2013). The MovingCompany [UNO dance group] willhost a 10-week dance programfor adults living with Parkinson’sdisease (01-05-2012). Food for

Thought has provided over 1,300hours of service and served

approximately 1,350 meals (04-02-2012). [Eureka], designed to

help teen girls developleadership and career skills, wastargeted to girls of color living in

the inner city, many of whomwere economically

disadvantaged (06-15-2012).International students (…)

contributed more than 1700hours of service (…) assistinglocal nonprofits (06-05-2012).

“The [volunteer] fair is anopportunity to introduce ourstudents to volunteering and

community engagement, which isone of our university’s goals”(09-

24-2010). SummerWorks (…)[allows high school students to

learn] important skills that can beused to secure future

employment and encourageactive citizenship (07-10-2012).

“[‘By the People’ brings] differentpeople and perspectives of thecity into an environment wheretheir voices can be heard”(10-

02-2007). (International)partnerships: UNO has extensivepartnerships with more than 250

organizations for developingservice-learning opportunities

Campus publications(word limit:500):

(03-09-2013). [UNO] is providingguidance for over 50 area

educators looking to implementservice learning in the classroom

(07-12-2013). Representativesfrom the University of Alabama

will be visiting [UNO] (…) as partof a collaboration between thetwo campuses to bring science

into the community (02-20-2013).The students and professors (…)will assist with the construction ofa much-needed child care center

in (…) Peru (05-21-2008). Thegoal of the partnership [with

Quaid-i-Azam University] is tobetter connect their university

with Pakistani citizens andsupport the development of civil

society (03-04-2013). Servicecommitment

evidence/statements: “[W]eintegrate community engagement

into all aspects of student andfaculty life – in our courses, our

scholarship and our co-curricularactivities”(03-09-2010). By the

2008-2009 academic year,participation [in service-learningofferings] grew to nearly 1,600

students in more than 100classes (06-14-2010). 75 percent

of incoming freshmen indicatethat they expect and seek

community service activities (09-24-2010). [Food for Thought] willbe honored as the “Outstanding

Community Partnership inEducation”(04-09-2012). [UNO’s]

chapter of the Public RelationsStudent Society of America

(PRSSA) has earned a nationalaward in community service (11-

04-2008). “[The CommunityEngagement Center] will fosterstudent community service and

leadership, expand service-learning opportunities and

become a central location forcommunity events and

workshops. It will support localarea nonprofits (…) the creation

of the CEC continues UNO’s long-term commitment to community

service”(02-01-2013). UNOAdvantage: UNO has achieved

the prestigious electiveclassification for ‘Community

Engagement’ by the CarnegieFoundation (UNO Advantage). For

seven consecutive years, UNOhas been selected to be on the

President’s Higher EducationCommunity Service Honor Roll

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#c

Community Service Honor Roll(UNO Advantage).

Other(wordlimit:500):

Working Together The Universityof Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)

presented at the 2012 Coalitionof Urban and Metropolitan

Universities (CUMU) nationalconference in Chattanooga,

Tennessee. UNO wasrepresented by: • Dr. John E.

Christensen, Chancellor • Dr. B.J.Reed, Senior Vice Chancellor

Academic and Student Affairs •Dr. Deborah Smith-Howell,Associate Vice ChancellorAcademic Affairs & Dean,

Graduate Studies • Sara Woods,Associate Dean of the College of

Public Affairs & CommunityService Their presentation was

titled: “Working Together: AValues Approach for

StrengtheningUniversity/Community

Partnerships” ConferencePresentation Excerpts: Community

engagement integral to vision,mission, and strategic goals.

Interaction/interdependence withcommunity intrinsic to campus

history and culture. UNO as oneof the original Carnegie EngagedUniversities. Involved university

and community in [the] initialvisioning and design forums [of

the Community EngagementCenter]. Established a CEC

Building Advisory Boardcomposed of university andcommunity representatives.Commitment to ‘respectfulreciprocity’. Designed to

strengthen campus capacity tobroaden its outreach throughout

[the] community while makingcampus and its resources moreaccessible. * UNO is pleased to

host the 2015 CUMU nationalconference.

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#d


1.a. Does the campus have an institution-wide definition of community engagement (or of otherrelated terminology, e.g., civic engagement, public engagement, public service, etc.)?

Yes

Please identify the document or website where the institution-wide definition of communityengagement appears and provide the definition:

For the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) the institution-wide definition of community engagement is

found in the campus strategic plan. The campus strategic plan states:

“In accordance with our mission, UNO is committed to community engagement. UNO defines communityengagement as collaboration between the University and its local, regional, national, and global communitiesfor the exchange of knowledge and resources. As an engaged campus, UNO is fully committed to creatingvalue through mutually beneficial partnerships where information and expertise is shared and applied for thecommon good.”

The specific definition was developed by the campus-wide Strategic Planning Steering Committee. Thedefinition was then refined and endorsed by faculty, staff, students, and community partners through thecampus/community Strategic Planning Forum process on April 20, 2009.

The Strategic Planning Forums are designed to help the campus chart a course of action for achieving its threeoverarching goals—student centered, academic excellence, and community engagement. Input from students,staff, faculty, and community members is an integral part of each forum. The University uses this input to refinethe goals and objectives of the strategic plan and to gauge the direction of the University. These forums areheld at least annually, with special topics forums developed as needed.

Link: http://www.unomaha.edu/plan/our_plan.php

1.b. How is community engagement currently specified as a priority in the institution's mission,vision statement, strategic plan, and accreditation/reaffirmation documents? Provide excerpts fromthe relevant documents and a web link to the full document if it exists.

Document Excerpt Web Link (if available)

The University of Nebraskaat Omaha explicitly states

its commitment tocommunity engagement in

its Mission, Vision, andValues found in the StrategicPlan. The campus strategicplan serves as the guiding

framework for theUniversity, the colleges,departments, and units.

Mission: The University ofNebraska at Omaha is

Nebraska's metropolitanuniversity -- a university withstrong academic values andsignificant relationships with

our community thattransform and improve life.

UNO will: • Place students atthe center of the

educational enterprise; •Expand the educational

achievement, intellectualaspirations and horizons of

our students with local,state, national, and global

communities; • Offercomprehensive educationalprograms and services ofthe highest quality; • Serveas a recognized center for

research, scholarship,creative expression and

Mission or visionstatement (word limit:500):

artistic performancedesigned to meet the

broader community’s needs;• Provide outreach

partnerships that addressthe concerns and interests

of the broader externalcommunity and, in doing so,become an integral part of

the community; • Buildunderstanding and respect

in academic and humanrelationships by reflectingthe dynamic and culturally

rich nature of themetropolitan area; •Exercise statewide

responsibility for selectedgraduate and

undergraduate programs.Vision: The University of

Nebraska at Omaha will bea metropolitan university of

high distinction -- auniversity with strong

academic and scholarlyvalues distinguished by

creative relationships withthe communities we serve.Values: The University of

Nebraska at Omahacommunity is a diverse

group of individuals sharingcore values and workingtogether to accomplish a

common mission and vision.UNO: • Believes that

knowledge enriches thelives of all people and iscommitted to preparing

students to face thechallenges of living and

learning in an ever-changingworld; • Strives for an ideal

educational partnershipcharacterized by the

commitment of: students tolearning; faculty to the

highest ideals of teaching,research, service; and staffto the highest standards ofeducation and service; •

Values the welfare, talents,and future of our employeesand commits to expanding

their professionaldevelopment; • Values theeducational, cultural, and

economic strengths of ourcommunities and is

committed to enhancingthese through teaching,research, service and

outreach; • Values educated

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#e

outreach; • Values educatedand healthy citizens and is

committed to offeringprograms that improve theirquality of life; • Encourages,celebrates, and adopts the

principles of inclusion,representation, opennessand diversity. Additionally,

the historical campusmission endorsed by theUniversity of Nebraska

system explicitly addressesengagement stating: “UNOhas a special responsibility

to use its resources andexpertise to provideleadership in solving

problems of the communityand supporting its social,

cultural, and economicadvancement. UNO’s

capacity to engage in publicservice derives from its

instructional and researchprograms and resources;

these, in turn, are enhancedby involvement with thecommunity on issues of

mutual concern including,where appropriate, thedelivery of its programs

through learning centers.”

Goal 3 of UNO’s StrategicPlan relates to community

engagement. It reads: UNOwill be recognized for itsoutstanding engagementwith the urban, regional,

national, and globalcommunities. Sub-Goal A:

UNO will expand itscommunity connections byengaging with partners in

instructionally-basedacademic and educational

activities. • Objective 1.Each of the UNO colleges

will increase the number ofundergraduate and

graduate courses withservice learning

components by 25%. •Objective 2. UNO will

establish dual enrollmentcourse agreements and

offerings with all the publicschool districts in theMetropolitan Omaha

Educational Consortium. •Objective 4. UNO will expectthat all students complete a

minimum of 20 hours ofservice or community

Strategic plan (word limit:500):

service or communityengaged scholarship, such

as volunteering, servicelearning experiences,and/or internships. •

Objective 5. UNO will, incollaboration with schools,

businesses, and othercommunity partners,

increase the number of jointcourses and joint continuing

learning/professionaldevelopment. Sub-Goal B:

UNO will increase itsresearch and creative

activity that expand andadvance the study and

nature of communityengagement. • Objective 1.

UNO faculty andresearchers will research,

write and publish anincreasing number of

projects which may bedescribed as “scholarship

of engagement.” • Objective2. UNO faculty, staff and

students will apply for andbe granted external funding

for doing “scholarship ofengagement”. • Objective 3.

UNO faculty, staff andstudents will create anddisseminate artistic and

media projects which add tothe existing integration of

the scholarship ofengagement and actual

community engagement infields such as voluntarycommunity service. Sub-Goal C: UNO students,

faculty, staff andconstituencies will engage

with our communitiesthrough service, involvement

and support. Sub-Goal D:UNO will provide leadership

through developing andexpanding the infrastructure,

resources, policies, andpractices that support theuniversity’s commitment to

engaging with thecommunity. • Objective 1.

UNO will have a CommunityEngagement Center oncampus that provides

offices, learning spaces,meeting spaces, and

community areas in supportof work with communitypartners. • Objective 2.

Working with governance

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#f

units across the campusand colleges, UNO willembed the culture of

community engagement intoits evaluation and reviewsystems. • Objective 3.

Working with governanceunits across the campusand colleges, UNO willexpand the network of

resources for supportingand encouraging local,

regional, and internationalcommunity partnerships. •

Objective 4. UNO willestablish mechanisms forrecognizing excellence in

contributions andachievements that advance

partnerships aimed ataddressing the compellingneeds in our community.While Goal 3 explicitly

outlines UNO’s communityengagement objectives,

community engagement isalso addressed in Goal 1 –“UNO will be recognized as

a student-centeredmetropolitan university” and

Goal 2 - “UNO will berecognized for its academicexcellence”. For example: •

Goal 1, Sub-Goal C: UNOstudents will be preparedas engaged citizens and

community leaders activelyparticipating in the local,

national and globalcommunities. • Goal 2, Sub-Goal B, Objective 2: Targetspecific outreach activitiesas a basis for developingacademic programs that

stress service learning andcommunity outreach. Indeed,community engagement ispivotal to UNO’s strategic

plan and is addressed in allstrategic goals.

The University of Nebraskaat Omaha (UNO) is

accredited through theHigher Learning Commission

(HLC)/North CentralAssociation following the

Academic QualityImprovement program

(AQIP) pathway. UNO’s 2012AQIP Systems Portfolio

reinforces its institutionalcommitment to community

engagement as a

Accreditation/reaffirmationdocument/QEP (word limit:500):

distinguishing characteristic.Key statements include:

Institutional Overview: “Therole and mission of UNOreflects its metropolitan

location. Many of theacademic majors, researchactivities, and public serviceprograms are designed to

provide leadership andeducation aligned with the

urban and metropolitanenvironment. The university

mission states, ‘TheUniversity of Nebraska atOmaha will be among the

nation’s premiermetropolitan universities—auniversity of high distinctionwith strong academic and

scholarly valuesdistinguished by creative

relationships with thecommunities we serve.’ (…)the three overarching goalsof UNO’s strategic plan arethat UNO will be recognized(…) (3) for its outstanding

engagement with the urban,regional, national, and

global communities” (p. 1).Category 2: Accomplishingother distinctive objectives:

“Our commitment tocommunity engagement,and specifically, service

learning, led to the foundingof UNO’s Service LearningAcademy (SLA) in spring1999 (…) The SLA was

subsequentlyinstitutionalized and iscurrent being strongly

supported by internal funds.(…)As a result of our SLA’s

efforts, UNO hasestablished strong

relationships with dozens ofcommunity entities (…)

Planning has beencompleted for a buildingthat provides a one-stop

shop for UNO’s communityengagement initiatives. Theground breaking ceremonywas held in October 2012”

(p. 28). Category 9: BuildingCollaborative Relationships:

“UNO strives to be ametropolitan university of

distinction, and majorcharacteristics of a

metropolitan universityinclude collaboration and

http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/community-engagement-classification.php#g

include collaboration andconnections with

stakeholders in thecommunity. UNO is

continually improving andexpanding relationships

important to the universityand the greater Omahametropolitan area, and

UNO’s collaborationstrategies are mature and

integrated into the culture ofthe institution” (p.97).“Examples of UNO’s

community engagementefforts include the

university’s 24-year formalconnections with area P-12

school districts representedby the Metropolitan Omaha

Educational Consortium(MOEC), one of the longestrunning university-school

partnerships in the country(...) Collaborations withregional nonprofits andgovernments have alsobeen essential for the

university, its students, andthe community” (p.97).

“Another significant indicatorof UNO’s commitment to

building collaborativerelationships is the

Community EngagementCenter, a $24 million facilitythat is being constructed inthe heart of UNO’s campus.

For a metropolitanuniversity, community

engagement refers to thecollaboration between the

university and local,regional, national, and

global communities for theexchange of knowledge andresources. The new 60,000-

square-foot facility willsupport and allow for

expansion of university-community partnerships,

help meet growing demandsfor community meeting andplanning space, and extend

the campus’ logisticalresources to its communitypartners” (p. 97). “Buildingon UNO’s strong foundation

in collaboration andcommunity engagement,plans for improvementinclude strengtheningconnections with the

employers who hire UNO

graduates. The university isdeveloping an ongoing

process for collecting dataon employed UNO

graduates and employers’requirements for future

graduates” (p.97).

Other (word limit: 500):


2. Briefly discuss any significant changes in mission, planning, organizational structure, personnel,resource allocation, etc. related to community engagement etc., since the last classification.

Since the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s original classification in 2006, the University’s commitment toreciprocal community engagement has deepened and expanded – positively affecting its mission, planning,organizational structure, personnel and resource allocation.

Specifically, the campus strategic plan was updated to include an institutional definition of communityengagement (2009) and expanded Goal 3—outstanding engagement— to strongly link community engagementto teaching, research/creative activity, and community service. The strategic plan now emphasizes thescholarship of engagement, targets for increased engagement activities, and includes a measurement andassessment component. The strategic plan also emphasizes reciprocity and mutual benefits to the campusand community partners.

Furthermore, in the 2012-2013 academic year, the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairsestablished a Community Engagement Executive Steering Committee with oversight for campus-wideengagement activities and the responsibility to coordinate and promote community engagement with allcampus units.

The committee includes the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Associate Vice Chancellor forAcademic Affairs, the Director of the UNO Service Learning Academy, and the Assistant to the Senior ViceChancellor for Community Engagement. The Assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Community Engagementis a newly created position responsible for overseeing the Community Engagement Center (completed inMarch 1, 2014).

Full-time staff devoted to community engagement has also significantly expanded (this expansion will bedetailed in answer IC-1 regarding Infrastructure). For example, the Service Learning Academy has gone fromone full-time staff member (the director) to 6 full-time staff members, including a community liaison andassessment/research staff member, and an increase of 10 graduate assistants.

The Office Student Affairs now includes an Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor responsible for an Officeof Civic and Social Responsibility, and a Sr. Director for Involvement.

Additionally, other campus units are restructuring and expanding commitments to community engagement withpositions such as the Manager for Community Engagement in International Studies and Programs, and theDirector of Operations in the College of Business Administration who encourages and embraces communityengagement.

Louis Pol, Dean of the College of Business Administration, emphasized that “our openness to partnerships, ourdesire to collaborate, and our interest in diverse ideas and opinions” is key to “a culture that is creating avaluable synergy among the college, the university, the City of Omaha, and beyond” (2012-2013 CBA annualreport, p.5).

In summary, there have been substantial changes since the original classification in 2006. The expansion of thecommunity engagement strategic goal, the creation of a Community Engagement Executive SteeringCommittee, and the increase in community engagement positions and accompanying funds - testify to theUniversity’s deepening commitment to community engagement.


3. Specify changes in executive leadership since classification and the implications of thosechanges for community engagement:

Dr. James B. Milliken has been president of the University of Nebraska system since 2006. President Millikenhas consistently emphasized and supported the metropolitan mission of the University of Nebraska at Omahaand its commitment to community engagement. He has also emphasized that University of Nebraska andpublic universities generally have broad responsibilities that include preparing students to be global citizens,leveraging resources to spur economic growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, and helping to solve theproblems of the 21st century.

In 2006, Dr. John E. Christensen was Interim Chancellor. He was appointed Chancellor in May 2007 and remainsin that role today. He has been with UNO for over 30 years, and his career includes a role as faculty member,Department Chair, Dean, Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, and currently Chancellor. Throughouthis career, Chancellor Christensen has emphasized community engagement and outreach.

Indeed, as Chancellor, Christensen significantly expanded UNO’s commitment to its metropolitan mission withcommunity engagement as a distinguishing feature of the institution – evident in UNO’s Strategic Plan.Chancellor Christensen has also led the efforts for funding the Centennial Fellowships for CommunityEngagement, the new endowed Community Chairs, as well as the Community Engagement Center. He has alsoserved as President of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) and is on the CUMUexecutive committee.

UNO’s leadership in engagement experience also extends to the Senior Vice Chancellor position. The 2006acting Sr. Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs was replaced in 2008, and more recently in 2011by Dr. B.J. Reed.

Dr. Reed has served UNO for over 30 years with roles including faculty member, Department Chair of PublicAdministration, Dean of the College of Public Administration and Community Service, and currently Sr. ViceChancellor for Academic and Student Affairs.

Sr. Vice Chancellor Reed led the UNO strategic planning efforts that focused our mission, vision, and values asa metropolitan university and developed the processes associated with strategic planning at UNO. He is fullycommitted to outstanding community engagement embedded in all aspects of the UNO’s teaching,research/creative activity, and service.

The current President, Chancellor, and Sr. Vice Chancellor have provided consistent leadership and support forcommunity engagement at UNO throughout their careers and in their current roles.


1. As evidence for your earlier classification, you provided a description of the campus-widecoordinating infrastructure (center, office, etc.) to support and advance community engagementand you reported how it is staffed, how it is funded, and where it reported to. For re-classification,describe what has changed, if anything, with this infrastructure, its mission, staffing, funding, and

reporting since the last classification. Provide any relevant links that support the narrative.

UNO’s 2006 classification application described the Service Learning Academy with a full-time director and 6part-time staff as well as programs in Academic & Student Affairs and the colleges. Since that, theinfrastructure supporting community engagement has expanded significantly and continues to evolve.

The most significant changes have been (1) the creation of a Campus Executive Steering Committee forCommunity Engagement reporting to the Sr. Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, (2) current andplanned expansion of staffing for the Community Engagement Center—under construction in 2012-2013, (3) theexpansion of the Service Learning Academy staffing and programs, and (4) dedicated staff in Student Affairsfocused on community engagement.

The Executive Steering Committee consists of two administrators focused full-time on engagement. The firstadministrator is the Assistant to the Sr. Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement responsible for managingthe new Community Engagement Center operations, staff, and university and community partners using theCEC. The second administrator is the Director of the UNO Service Learning Academy who oversees academicservice learning, Civic Participation/American Democracy Project activities, and the Stephenson-Harringtoninternship program. The two other members of the Committee are the Associate Vice Chancellors for AcademicAffairs and Student Affairs who have broad campus responsibilities to promote and facilitate the integration ofcommunity engagement into academic as well as co/extra-curricular programming.

At the end of 2012-2013, CEC staffing included the Assistant to the Sr. Vice Chancellor, hired full-time inFebruary 2013, and a Centennial Community Engagement Fellow (a graduate fellowship created during theUniversity’s centennial to support community engagement). Position descriptions had been developed andapproved for hiring a Manager of Operations (now known as the Manager of Possibilities), a staff assistant,and an IT support staff member for the Community Engagement Center.

There was also a staff expansion in the Service Learning Academy. In addition to the Director, there arecurrently 6 full-time positions and 10 graduate assistantships. The positions include a Community Liaison,Coordinator of P-16 Initiatives, and an assessment/research expert.

In Student Affairs, there is an Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Civic and Social Responsibility, aSr. Director for Involvement, and a Director for Student Life and Leadership Development. All of these positionsand offices are developing and supporting a wide range of community engagement, service, and volunteerexperiences.

The colleges also continue to have faculty and staff dedicated to community engagement, including specialprograms and activities. Funding for the new positions as well as programming has, of necessity, increasedsignificantly and will be addressed in detail in answers IC-2A-D regarding Funding.

Link: http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/index.php


2.a. As evidence provided for your earlier classification, you described internal budgetaryallocations dedicated to supporting institutional engagement with community. For re-classification,describe what has changed, if anything, with the internal budgetary allocations since the lastclassification.

In UNO’s 2006 classification, the described funding for the UNO Service Learning Academy included staff andfaculty grants, staffing for the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium (MOEC) and staffing for the Office ofCareer Exploration and Outreach supporting career development and internships. There has been significantexpansion in the internal budget allocations for institutional engagement with the community.

Specifically, the Service Learning Academy has added 2 full-time staff using internal funds, in addition to theDirector (previously the only full-time internally funded position). MOEC continues to be supported and hasexpanded with an executive director, three coordinators, and a project assistant. Additional new positionssupporting institutional engagement include an Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Civic and SocialResponsibility and a Senior Director for Involvement.

In February 2012, an Assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor was hired with oversight for the CommunityEngagement Center. Her initial focus was on completing the building, developing operational guidelines, theconstruction, and other factors relevant to opening a new facility. Moreover, positions for a Director ofOperations, Staff Assistant, and IT support were approved and in process by the end of 2012-2013.

The Academic Career and Development Center was also restructured and expanded to provide better supportfor students with internship preparation and experiences. There has been a minimum of $500,000 (plusbenefits) in increased staff support for institutional community engagement. College and units such asInternational Studies and Programs have also expanded or reallocated staff support to support theirengagement initiatives.

Additionally, programming support for faculty and staff has continued and grown as well. Civic Participationmini-grants have been available to support projects that encouraged civic engagement. Furthermore, faculty‘engagement links’ were developed to create faculty communities that encourage and support scholarship ofengagement and outreach.

While the years since UNO’s 2006 classification have included some difficult financial times - with most yearswith little to no budgetary increases and some years with reductions - the institutional commitment to supportUNO’s community engagement focus has remained strong.

2.b. As evidence provided for your earlier classification, you described external budgetaryallocations dedicated to supporting institutional engagement with community. For re-classification,describe what has changed, if anything, with the external budgetary allocations since the lastclassification.

In the 2006 classification, UNO was the recipient of eight million dollars from 96 awards in 2005-2006 focusedon direct or indirect impact on the metropolitan area or the state. A number of award and impact exampleswere provided.

In the 2012 fiscal year over six million dollars were awarded specifically for public service, outreach andengagement. An additional three million dollars were awarded in grants for instruction and applied researchthat support engagement with the community. For example:

• Building Bright Futures, an Omaha-based collaborative, has provided a multi-year commitment of over$750,000 annually to support the UNO Service Learning Academy P-16 Initiative. The P-16 Initiative providesfaculty development support for both UNO faculty and K-12 partners. It also supports UNO and K-12 faculty,community partners, and student participation in conferences. Furthermore, the P-16 Initiative supports threefull-time professional staff members, ten graduate assistants, and the operating funds for project supplies andtravel costs for participants. • UNO’s Glacier Creek Preserve, which includes a restored tall grass prairie, stream woodlands, and seephabitats within the metropolitan area, is supported by a $390,000. Glacier Creek Preserve is maintained as aregional environmental resources for education, public use, and research. • Other examples of award sources include: Iowa West Foundation, $38,601; Autism Action Partnership,$25,177; Girls, Inc., $38,556; and Nebraska Department of Economic Development, $250,000.

Faculty and staff in all six academic colleges as well as Academic and Student Affairs have received externalawards from local, regional, and national foundations and agencies to support engaged teaching, scholarship,

outreach, and partnerships.

Since UNO’s last classification, the Office of Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) has been established, andincludes Sponsored Programs and Research. The expanded staff in ORCA provides excellent support tofaculty and staff seeking external funding for community engagement.

In spring 2013, ORCA purchased an online grants management system—to be known as MavGrants—thatincludes a feature allowing applicants to identify if the requested grant is related to community engagement(specifically engaged teaching, scholarship, and service campus definitions). MavGrants allows UNO toimprove its tracking and assessment of submissions and awards related to community engagement.

2.c. As evidence provided for your earlier classification, you described fundraising directed tosupporting community engagement. For re-classification, describe what has changed, if anything,with fundraising activities since the last classification.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha works with The University of Nebraska Foundation for fundraising. In the2006 classification, UNO was proud to report support for the Service Learning Academy that included a onemillion dollar endowment, an annual $50,000 gift, and two gifts from local corporations to support servicelearning. The past seven years have seen a dramatic increase in both efforts and success to raise funds tosupport community engagement.

From fall 2008 to September 2009, UNO celebrated its Centennial with a theme of “Central to our City.” Thecreation of Centennial Community Engagement Fellow was one of the early steps to broaden our fundraisingefforts to support community engagement. In the summer of 2012, the first graduate student to occupy a fully-funded Fellowship began working with the planning and building of the Community Engagement Center. Theconcept of a campus facility dedicated to community engagement that included UNO units, non-profits, andcommunity spaces began around the same time as the Centennial celebration.

The University of Nebraska as a system also embarked on a capital campaign that will conclude in December2014. The campaign generally, and for UNO specifically, has exceeded its original goals. The CommunityEngagement Center was established as a campaign priority. Key successes of the capital campaign include:$24 million in capital funds and $2.8 million in programming funds (with a goal of $6 million) for the CommunityEngagement Center; the establishment of five endowed “Community Chairs” in mathematics, STEM education,Science, Information Science, and most recently, the Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Franchising(representing four of UNO’s six colleges). The endowed chairs are designed to recruit, support, and retain outstanding faculty committed to communityengagement in their own disciplines and in collaboration with faculty from other disciplines and the community.All of the chairs require recipients to have a record of “collaboration and community engagement” and acommitment to the metropolitan university experience.

Mammel Hall, the new privately funded $35 million home for the College of Business Administration, opened inthe fall of 2010 with a goal to expand community participation. In reviewing its first year of operation, DeanLouis Pol stated “over a relatively short time-space, Mammel Hall has become a gathering place of ourcommunity. Whether hosting a conference on franchising, bringing together 700 people to dedicate MammelHall, or having 600 Girl Scouts and their parents participate in an art expo, our new home has become a placeto meet, learn, participate, and collaborate” (2010-2011 CBA annual report). Chancellor Christensen, the Deans,and Nebraska University Foundation staff have been successful and continue to seek additional support.Indeed, supporting community engagement in creating facilities as well as for teaching, scholarship, andoutreach is now well-established as a fundraising priority for the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

2.d. In what ways does the institution invest its financial resources externally in the community forpurposes of community engagement and community development? Describe the source of funding,the percentage of campus budget or dollar amount, and how it is used. Provide relevant linksrelated to the results of the investments, if available.

Institutional resource expenditures for community engagement and development in 2012-2013 were in excessof $10.5 million. The funds used originated from a combination of state, revolving, and restricted accounts. Theexpenditures supported myriad community and campus initiatives, for example:

• Nebraska Business Development Center ($3.4 million annually):NBDC provides direct management and technical assistance to more than 2,000 businesses in Nebraska eachyear.

• Community-based technology centers ($55,000 annually):This is an initiative of UNO’s Information Technology Services. The community-based technology centers innorth and south Omaha provide public access to computer workstations for residents with limited access totechnology.

• Consortium for Crime and Criminal Justice Research ($84,000 annually): CCJR promotes evidence-based practices in criminal justice and substance abuse treatment throughout thestate. CCJR also provides technical assistance, and completes policy and programs evaluations for theLegislature, administrative agencies, and private organizations.

• SummerWorks Omaha ($827,000 annually):SummerWorks Omaha is a nine week summer employment academy aimed at economically disadvantagedhigh school students. Students learn employment skills by working for various nonprofit organizations, andsimultaneously developing their sense of citizenship and civic responsibility.

• College of Information Science & Technology’s Micro-Enterprise Initiative for Information TechnologyDevelopment ($108,000 annually): This program trains micro-enterprise owners on how to use information technology effectively by providingneeds-based information systems training, development services, and technical assistance and operations.

• Center for Urban Sustainability (new in spring 2013 with a first year funding of $200,000): The Center for Urban Sustainability was approved by the Board of Regents in October, 2012. The Centerprovides education, research, and partnerships across the regional and global community. In collaboration witheducational institutions, businesses and community partners, the Center for Urban Sustainability addresseschallenges of population growth, global competition, and increasing demand for natural resources.

The five mentioned examples form a small sample from a wide-range of community and development projectssupported by UNO’s financial resources. Investment to projects range from $1,000 to over $500,000 for eachproject. Indeed, support to community engagement is visible throughout UNO’s six colleges, the Office ofAcademic & Student Affairs, the Chancellor’s Office, the Athletics Department, and International Studies &Programs – and should be regarded as a testament to UNO’s institutionalized commitment to communityengagement.

Link: http://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-business-administration/nebraska-business-development-center/index.phpLink: https://itddev.ist.unomaha.edu/


3. Provide narratives addressing the following:

a. How does the institution maintain systematic campus-wide tracking or documentationmechanisms to record and/or track engagement with the community? Who is responsible forgathering data, how are the data managed, how often is it gathered, and how are the data used?

What changes are apparent in this data since the last classification? What tracking ordocumentation mechanisms does the campus still need to develop? Provide relevant web links.

At the time of the 2006 classification, UNO had piloted a locally developed system known as MyMAPP to collectdata from faculty on teaching, research, and service. The goal was to fully implement MyMAPP in 2006-2007.UNO used the system through 2007-2008 but unfortunately, the system did not work as anticipated. In the fallof 2008, MyMAPP was discontinued and the campus moved to a commercial web-based solution, DigitalMeasures, as a system to collect faculty data. Digital Measures is now the primary system for collectinginformation on faculty teaching, scholarship, and service related to community engagement.

Effective 2012, all faculty were required to submit their annual review reports in Digital Measures. Althoughmany faculty used the system from 2009 to 2012, it was not required. The Office of Academic and StudentAffairs (OASA) ensures that all faculty submit these reports, with Department Chairs/School Directors andDeans implementing this process. In 2012-2013, UNO committed to OrgSync as the mechanism to track student volunteer, service, andengagement activities outside the classroom. The system, known as “MavSync” was launched in fall 2013.Annual unit reports on service learning, student volunteering, service, and engagement are submitted to OASAfrom UNO’s six colleges, the Service Learning Academy, Student Affairs, and Athletics.

For Digital Measures data, Chairs/Directors, Deans, and OASA administrators have access to review andgenerate reports at unit, college, and campus level. Primary uses of all data gathered are to (1) monitorprogress toward the sub-goals and objectives in Goal 3: Community Engagement; (2) campus discussion andreview in annual Strategic Planning Forum, Deans’ Forum, and Chancellor’s State of the University Addresses;and (3) documentation for campus reports and applications such as President’s Honor Roll for CommunityService. At the campus level, the UNO Strategic Planning Steering and AQIP Steering Committees have primaryresponsibility for disseminating, analyzing, and using the data gathered.

In our last classification, the gathering and tracking of campus data on community engagement was in itsinfancy. The College of Education had the most systematic process and we had piloted a process withvoluntary participation. Currently, we have a systematic process that is used by all faculty.

In the near future, this system will capture student data in a campus-wide system - a contrast from UNO’scurrent practice of capturing the student data at the unit level and reporting up. Data is now morecomprehensive, it is aligned with the campus definitions for engagement, and systematic reporting is possible.

UNO’s next steps include: (1) developing publicly available community engagement dashboards to monitorprogress toward goals; (2) recognizing and celebrating students, community partners and faculty; and (3)connecting community partners to UNO’s wide range of engagement initiatives. “Coordinating and MeasuringCommunity Engagement” has been an AQIP Action Project for UNO and continues to be the focus of a SPSCTask Force, as well as campus-wide forums. UNO is working to align data gathering and assessment practicesfocused on engagement and institutional success across the campus committees.

Link: http://www.unomaha.edu/digitalmeasures/

b. Describe the mechanisms used for systematic campus-wide assessment and measurement ofthe impact of institutional engagement. Who is responsible for gathering data, how are the datamanaged, how often is it gathered, and how are data used? What assessment and measurementmechanisms does the campus still need to develop? Provide relevant web links.

UNO uses multiple methods and approaches to assess measure the impact of institutional engagement. Similarto the annual reports from the UNO’s colleges and the Academic & Student Affairs units, communityEngagement reports from Digital Measures provide information regarding type, scope, and engagementactivities.

UNO continues to develop meaningful assessment practices that respect the decentralized culture of the

institution. Impact assessments of student volunteer/service experiences and learning outcomes in servicelearning courses are primarily conducted at the unit/program level.

Assessments of curricular-based community engagement (including practica, field experiences, capstones,and internships) are included in required course evaluation and the Academic Program Assessment process.The Academic Program Assessment process (typically a 3-year cycle) is overseen by the UniversityAssessment Committee.

The UNO Service Learning Academy conducts pre- and post- course assessments for UNO students and P-12students. Each semester, these assessments solicit input from community partners in service learning courses,particularly the P-16 partners.

Similarly, the Office of Civic and Social Responsibility (OCSR) requests all participants to evaluate theirexperience of OCSR-sponsored volunteer/service activities. Next to the participants, community partnersevaluate the projects completed. Community partner evaluation include questions about how the project addedvalue within the agency and asks about suggestions for future projects. Thus, UNO ensures continues feedbackand improvement within the reciprocal relationships.

Additional campus assessments include a graduation survey, the National Survey of Student Engagement, andthe UCLA Faculty Survey (the latter two on three year cycles). Responsibility for data gathering variesdepending on the specific measurement/assessment. Oversight of the data gathering, its analysis, andreporting is done by the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.

The data are critical in measuring progress towards UNO’s community engagement strategic goals andobjectives. Furthermore, the data are utilized in various ways to measure and improve community engagementfor students, faculty, and community partners. The data are important in demonstrating personal, institutional,and community impacts.

For example, assessment data from service learning courses and UNO’s Signature Service Days are used todocument community impact and improve the courses and Service Days. Improvements particularly relate to(1) development of more effective service learning and service/volunteer programming; (2) feedback andoutreach to schools and nonprofit organizations; (3) encouragement of faculty participation; and (4) promotionof scholarship.

Development of a more coordinated, coherent, and systematic approach to community engagementassessment is a current priority at UNO.

The Sr. Vice Chancellor has established a Campus Steering Committee for Community Engagement. ThisCommittee includes the leadership team responsible for Academic Program Assessment and Review, theOffice of Institutional Effectiveness, Student Affairs, community engagement, and the Strategic Planning SteeringCommittee – and ensures the effective measurement, assessment and reporting of campus engagement. InFebruary 2014, assessment and measurement was the topic of a focused Strategic Planning Forum.

Currently, UNO is developing learning outcomes for co-curricular service and volunteer experiences. The goalis to ensure the data gathered is used to measure and improve community engagement.

c. What are the current findings from the mechanisms used for systematic campus-wideassessment and measurement: and how are these different from the findings since the lastclassification?

The University of Nebraska at Omaha works with The University of Nebraska Foundation for fundraising. In the2006 classification, UNO was proud to report support for the Service Learning Academy that included a onemillion dollar endowment, an annual $50,000 gift, and two gifts from local corporations to support servicelearning. The past seven years have seen a dramatic increase in both efforts and success to raise funds to

support community engagement.

From fall 2008 to September 2009, UNO celebrated its Centennial with a theme of “Central to our City.” Thecreation of Centennial Community Engagement Fellow was one of the early steps to broaden our fundraisingefforts to support community engagement. In the summer of 2012, the first graduate student to occupy a fully-funded Fellowship began working with the planning and building of the Community Engagement Center. Theconcept of a campus facility dedicated to community engagement that included UNO units, non-profits, andcommunity spaces began around the same time as the Centennial celebration.

The University of Nebraska as a system also embarked on a capital campaign that will conclude in December2014. The campaign generally, and for UNO specifically, has exceeded its original goals. The CommunityEngagement Center was established as a campaign priority. Key successes of the capital campaign include:$24 million in capital funds and $2.8 million in programming funds (with a goal of $6 million) for the CommunityEngagement Center; the establishment of five endowed “Community Chairs” in mathematics, STEM education,Science, Information Science, and most recently, the Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Franchising(representing four of UNO’s six colleges).

The endowed chairs are designed to recruit, support, and retain outstanding faculty committed to communityengagement in their own disciplines and in collaboration with faculty from other disciplines and the community.All of the chairs require recipients to have a record of “collaboration and community engagement” and acommitment to the metropolitan university experience.

Mammel Hall, the new privately funded $35 million home for the College of Business Administration, opened inthe fall of 2010 with a goal to expand community participation. In reviewing its first year of operation, DeanLouis Pol stated “over a relatively short time-space, Mammel Hall has become a gathering place of ourcommunity. Whether hosting a conference on franchising, bringing together 700 people to dedicate MammelHall, or having 600 Girl Scouts and their parents participate in an art expo, our new home has become a placeto meet, learn, participate, and collaborate” (2010-2011 CBA annual report). Chancellor Christensen, the Deans,and Nebraska University Foundation staff have been successful and continue to seek additional support.Indeed, supporting community engagement in creating facilities as well as for teaching, scholarship, andoutreach is now well-established as a fundraising priority for the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

d. Describe one key finding from current data and indicate how you arrived at this finding:

Service Learning at UNO is designed to enhance civic engagement, academic engagement, and personaldevelopment. Findings from the 2012-2013 post-course surveys illustrate that for a significant percentage ofstudents, service learning integrated into their course did indeed enhance their self-perceived personaldevelopment.

According to Service Learning Survey findings during the 2012-13 academic year, UNO’s service learningexperiences empowered students for success by building personal responsibility, self-awareness, and clarityabout their future. Their survey responses (N = 843) included:

• 86% agreed that “Being involved in this service learning project helped me take responsibility for my ownlearning.”• 83% agreed that “Being involved in this service learning project helped me to define my personal strengthsand weaknesses.”• 62% agreed that “Being involved in this service learning project helped me clarify my plans for aftercollege.”

As indicated earlier, UNO annually collects data for tracking, measurement, and assessment from colleges andunits such as the Service Learning Academy. Data such as the information above is typically used within theunit to document student success to funders as well as improve courses, training and support, and outreachefforts. In 2012-2013, the Sr. Vice Chancellor established the Campus Executive Committee for Community

Engagement and the Campus Steering Committee for Assessment, Measurement, and Reporting. The membersof these two groups (which have some overlapping membership) chose this finding from 2012-2013 data as agood example of the impact of service learning on students. The above results are one indicator, among many,of the impact of service learning specifically and community engagement generally on UNO students.

e. Describe one key finding from current data and indicate how you arrived at this finding:

UNO has administered the UCLA Faculty Survey every three years since the fall of 2001. Data are available for2001-2002, 2004-2005, 2007-2008, and 2010-2011. UNO’s Strategic Plan explicating its metropolitan missionand identifying the three strategic goals originally was presented and approved by the Board of Regents in thesummer of 1999. Although, a number of faculty considered the metropolitan mission limiting and weresomewhat resistant to a focus on community engagement - faculty, in general, have embraced the goals.

Campus Executive Committee for Community Engagement and the Campus Steering Committee forAssessment, Measurement, and Reporting, found the findings below especially interesting and important asthey demonstrate the growing faculty commitment to community engagement. The results also allow us tocompare UNO faculty to other four-year public institutions. Faculty endorsement of the metropolitan missionand the institutional commitment to community engagement is critical. The findings below demonstrate agrowing and strong faculty commitment to community engagement.

Key areas of increased faculty involvement in community engagement activities are:

• Taught a service learning course up 5% and more than 9% above other four-year public institutions.• Advised student groups involved in service/volunteer work up 7% and more than 6% above other four-yearpublic institutions.*• Collaborated with the local community in research/teaching up 7% and 21% above other four-year publicinstitutions.

Goals for undergraduates noted as very important or essential:

• Instill in students a commitment to community service up 13% and 9% other above four-year publicinstitutions.Issues believed to be of high or highest importance at your college or university: • To facilitate student involvement in community service up 31% and 30% above other four-year publicinstitutions. • To provide resources for faculty to engage in community-based teaching or research up 13% and 30%above other four-year public institutions.*• To create and sustain partnerships with surrounding communities up 13% and 29% above other four-yearpublic institutions.*

Note: Comparisons are to 2001 data unless noted. * = 2004.

f. Describe one key finding from current data and indicate how you arrived at this finding:

As indicated in previous statements, UNO annually collects information on service learning courses and othercurricular service activities such as field experience, practicums, and capstone courses, studentvolunteer/service in the signature service days, clubs and organizations, and athletics. The number ofcommunity service hours is computed for each of the activities. This information is used to track our progresstoward our community engagement strategic goal objectives, illustrate the value of community service ineconomic terms, and for the annual President’s Higher Education Community Engagement Honor Rollapplication.

For 2012-2013, the total number of all community service hours engaged in by UNO students was 384,805.Using Independent Sector’s 2012 value of a volunteer hour of $22.14, the value of community service providedto the Omaha metropolitan area in 2012-2013 by UNO students was $8,519,582. The community organizations

that are impacted through this service focus on a variety of community issues, including environmental,healthcare, diversity, elderly, youth, animals, civic/community, art/culture, religion, education, and media.

This finding, which UNO computes annually, demonstrates community impact in a manner that is easilyunderstood by community leaders in corporate, government, and non-profit sectors.

g. Describe one key finding from current data and indicate how you arrived at this finding:

As indicated earlier, private philanthropic gifts designated for community engagement have increaseddramatically since UNO’s 2006 classification. Funds supporting community engagement were a priority for therecent capital campaign.

In 2012-2013, fundraising was completed for the construction of a $24 million Community Engagement Center(CEC) (groundbreaking was October 2012 and dedication is scheduled for April 2014); $2.8 million was raisedfor CEC programming support; and $4 million was raised to establish four “Community Chairs” in threecolleges (fundraising was in progress to establish two more chairs, adding one additional college). CEC andCommunity Chairs funding are examples of the 2012-2013 philanthropic donations for community engagement.

The finding demonstrates that campus leadership has prioritized community engagement. The over $30 millionraised came from multiple sources, including corporations, local foundations, and, to a lesser extent, alumni.Next to being excellent in teaching, research and creative activity, each community chair is required to have arecord of collaboration and community engagement as well as illustrated commitment to UNO’s metropolitancharacter. In addition to receiving a salary supplement, each Community Chair has a programming fund tosupport its specific mission, which includes items such as program support, community outreach andoperations, and support of student activities.

In reflecting on the impact of planning for the Community Engagement Center and the establishment of theCommunity Chairs, UNO Deans collectively agreed that these efforts have fundamentally changed theinstitution. Campus leadership created an environment that fosters collaboration across disciplines and withthe community. Campus leadership has thus established excellence in community-based teaching, research,and service as a distinguishing characteristic of UNO’s most outstanding faculty.


4. As evidence provided for your earlier classification, you described the ways the institutionoffers professional development support for faculty, staff, and/or community partners who areinvolved with campus-community engagement.

For re-classification, describe what has changed, if anything, with professional development forcommunity engagement. How have the content, program, approaches, or audience for professionaldevelopment changed since the last Carnegie classification? What have been the results?

In the 2006 classification, a number of activities offered by the Service Learning Academy (SLA) weredescribed as community-centered professional development support for faculty and staff. Since then,professional development opportunities have expanded and been formalized. While not comprehensive, theinformation below illustrates UNO’s commitment to support faculty and staff.

Service Learning 101: a two-hour workshop offered 2-3 times per semester that introduces the concepts andquality standards of service learning.

Individual Consultations: SLA is available for faculty consultations on project design, implementation, andfunding. Additionally, faculty research efforts are supported via one-on-one meetings and information sessions.

Topical Workshops: Each semester SLA offers workshops on topics related to the ‘Quality Standards ofService Learning,’ for example, the ‘Advancing the Practice’ workshops.

Service Learning Seminar: Seminars are semiannual, week-long engagements offered each spring andsummer. UNO faculty/staff and P-12 teachers are provided with a professional development stipend, projectbudget, and graduate assistants for project coordination. Community partners also participate in the seminarsas experts as well as participants.

Additional professional development has been provided by the Center for Faculty Development throughfaculty/staff learning communities known as Teaching Circles, Research Triangles, and Engagement Links.Community partners participate in the Engagement Links. Engagement Links were initiated in 2008 whileTeaching Circles and Research Triangles date back to 2001. Faculty and staff receive a small professionaldevelopment stipend after submitting their annual report. In 2012, over 60 faculty members participated inEngagement Links and another 40 in either Teaching Circles or Research Triangles related to communityengagement. The Center for Faculty Development connects the faculty and learning communities to campusand community resources as needed.

UNO regularly invites experts for campus-wide and college-specific workshops for faculty/staff professionaldevelopment. For example in the fall of 2010, Diane Dobernick, from Michigan State University, was invited towork with the College of Public Affairs and Community Service on scholarship of engagement.

In October 2012, Ira Harkavy - Director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships - and Barbara Holland- Senior Scholar IUPUI and editor of Metropolitan Universities Journal - conducted multiple campus workshopsat UNO during their separate visits. Community partners met with Harkavy and Holland, and were invited to thepublic events. Both Harkavy and Holland focused on the scholarship of engagement, as well as assessmentand measurement practices. Furthermore, Harkavy’s visit was dedicated to P-16 partnerships, while Hollandfocused on CEC operational planning and the Criss Library. In May 2013, Holland returned to UNO for threedays of workshops.

Evaluation of professional development programs indicate that UNO faculty and staff are very satisfied. Forexample, according to the pre- and post- surveys of the 2012-2013 Service Learning Seminars, UNO and K-12faculty (N=66) gained knowledge about the community and service learning:

• Increased awareness of community needs and organizations serving those needs from a 45% pre-seminaraverage to a 99% post-seminar average.• Increased feelings of preparedness to plan and implement service learning projects from a 48% pre-seminar average to a 98% post-seminar average.


5. Does the institution have search/recruitment policies or practices designed specifically toencourage the hiring of faculty with expertise in and commitment to community engagement?

Yes

Describe:

UNO considers its metropolitan mission and focus on community engagement as an important recruitmentstrategy. Goal 2 of UNO’s Strategic Plan addresses academic excellence, and states that recruitment ofoutstanding faculty should be aligned with “supporting our metropolitan mission.”

At the campus level, UNO requires all members of search committees to attend a recruitment workshop priorto serving on a search committee. Search committee members are required to attend a recruitment workshopbefore or within two years of serving on the search committee. The workshop encourages participants to

before or within two years of serving on the search committee. The workshop encourages participants toinclude “metropolitan university fit and alignment with mission and strategic goals” as part of the positionannouncement and the evaluation form used to review applicants.

While it is not required, an on-campus visit typically includes meetings with both the Associate Vice Chancellorfor Academic Affairs, and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity who emphasizecommunity engagement as a distinguishing feature of UNO. Additionally, many departments also schedulecandidate visits with the Director of the Service Learning Academy.

The recruitment packet provided to all finalists before or during their campus visits includes the UNO StrategicPlan and Service Learning Academy brochure. Colleges and departments provide more specific information ontheir engagement activities to candidates, especially finalists.

All finalists receive copies of the college and department/school’s Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenureguidelines which in the majority of colleges explicitly address community engagement. Many of the recentlyhired individuals have indicated that they chose UNO because of its strong emphasis on communityengagement and the opportunities provided for the faculty.


6. In the period since your successful classification, what, if anything, has changed in terms ofinstitutional policies for promotion (and tenure at tenure-granting campuses) that specificallyreward faculty scholarly work that uses community-engaged approaches and methods?

In the 2006 classification, institutional policies for promotion and tenure rewarding community-engagedscholarly work varied across the colleges. However, all policies focused on ‘service’ rather than teaching,research and creative activity.

It is important to note that by the Board of Regents Bylaws, the UNO AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement,and the University Guidelines on Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure, the academic colleges have theprimary responsibility for how teaching, scholarly research/creative activity, and service are rewarded and theappropriate portfolio documentation.

Since the 2006 classification, there have been significant changes in the recognition of faculty that usecommunity-engaged approaches in their scholarly work. UNO created campus definitions for engagedteaching, scholarship, and service. These definitions are reflected in the Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenureportfolios, and are included in the systems and forms used for the faculty’s annual reports. The annual reportsare used to evaluate satisfactory and meritorious faculty performance.

The UNO Strategic Plan has been revised to specifically embed the culture of community engagement intofaculty’s evaluation and review processes. More importantly, all six academic colleges have revised theirReappointment, Promotion, and Tenure Guidelines to some extent (this varies by college) to incorporate abroader perspective of faculty scholarly work using community engagement approaches and methods.


7. Is there an institution-wide definition of faculty scholarly work that uses community-engagedapproaches and methods?

Yes

Please describe and identify the policy (or other) document(s) where this appears and provide thedefinition.

UNO created specific definitions for engaged teaching, scholarship, and service. These definitions arereflected in Digital Measures, the system used to gather and create faculty annual reports, and thereappointment, promotion, and tenure portfolios. The UNO Strategic Plan provides an institutional definition forcommunity engagement.

Community Engagement: UNO defines community engagement as collaboration between the University and itslocal, regional, national and global communities for the exchange of knowledge and resources. As an engagedcampus, UNO is fully committed to creating value through mutually beneficial partnerships where informationand expertise is shared and applied for the common good.

Engaged teaching is defined as activities that combine teaching with community engagement. Evidence ofengaged teaching may include descriptions of activities related to service learning classes; program basedservice learning; development and/or instruction in university-based for-credit and/or non-credit certificateprograms; other forms of other education programs; development and/or leading learning tours; developmentand/or instruction or occupational licensure classes; and sharing academic expertise through media interviews,speakers bureaus, extension bulletins, and/or broadcasts.

Engaged research has been developed, evaluated, and communicated in collaboration with communitypartners, but is rigorous in terms of its design and methodology. It is relevant to the needs of the community,and its outcomes should be valued by both academic peers and community partners. Examples of engagedresearch may include government funded research, corporate funded research; community group fundedresearch; foundation funded research; community based participatory research; evaluation research studies;and/or applied research.

Engaged service involves the application of academic knowledge to address community issues and prioritiesthrough collaboration, reciprocity, and a spirit of partnership. Examples may include: working withgovernmental, educational, nonprofit, advocacy, and other community organizations to develop policies,procedures, legislation, curricula, and other products; contributing to the design, implementation, and/ordevelopment of grants, contracts, and other collaborative projects; developing curricula, assessments, trainingprograms, and other tools in consultation with K-12 schools, community colleges, and other educationalorganizations; and contributing to economic and community development through technical assistance orapplied research.


8. Are there institutional level policies for promotion (and tenure at tenure-granting campuses) thatspecifically reward faculty scholarly work that uses community-engaged approaches and methods?

Yes

If needed, use this space to describe the context for policies rewarding community engagedscholarly work:

“The Board of Regents (BOR) of the University of Nebraska recognizes that teaching, research/ creativeactivity, and service are essential activities for university faculty and that all three are valued by the university.The allocation of faculty time to engage in these activities should reflect the role and mission of the specificcampuses” (College of Education, RPT guidelines, 2012). The BOR recognizes UNO as a metropolitan universitywith a special responsibility to “use its resources and expertise to provide leadership in solving problems ofthe community and supporting its social, cultural, and economic advantage” (Nebraska.edu/history-mission/mission-statements.html).

UNO’s institutional policies for reappointment, promotion, and tenure are guided by system-wide Board ofRegents Bylaws, the UNO AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement, and University Guidelines on Reappointment,Promotion, and Tenure (RPT). These documents require academic colleges to develop specific RPT guidelines

Promotion, and Tenure (RPT). These documents require academic colleges to develop specific RPT guidelinesand policies within the broad procedural guidelines. Units are required to evaluate and provide evidence ofperformance in broadly defined areas of teaching, scholarly research or other creative work, service to theuniversity, and service outside the university. While these documents have not been updated since UNO’s 2006classification, all are sufficiently comprehensive to support community-engaged teaching, scholarship, andservice. Each college is responsible for the specific details on how teaching, scholarly research/creativeactivity, and service activities are rewarded and the evidence to be submitted.

The context for UNO’s institutional policies on reappointment, promotion, and tenure is highly decentralized.Within that context, the UNO Strategic Plan is the primary campus/institutional document that guides thecolleges in developing their policies and practices.

The UNO Strategic Plan, first developed in 1999, provides goals and objectives that specifically recognize andreward faculty for community-engaged scholarly work. Specifically, the Strategic Plan states “UNO will provideleadership through developing and expanding the infrastructure, resources, policies, and practices thatsupport the university’s commitment to engaging with the community” (Goal 3, Sub-goal D). Specific objectivesinclude:

• Objective 2: Working with governance units across the campus and colleges, UNO will embed the culture ofcommunity engagement into its evaluation and review systems. • Objective 3: Working with governance units across the campus and colleges, UNO will expand the network ofresources for supporting and encouraging local, regional, and international community partnerships.• Objective 4: UNO will establish mechanisms for recognizing excellence in contributions and achievementsthat advance partnerships aimed at addressing the compelling needs in our community.


9.a. Is community engagement rewarded as one form of teaching and learning?

Yes

Please describe and provide text from faculty handbook (or similar policy document):

Within UNO’s decentralized practice for reappointment, promotion, and tenure, the UNO Strategic Plan is theprimary institution-wide document that guides the colleges in development of their specific RPT policies andprocesses.

The UNO Strategic Plan states: “UNO will provide leadership through developing and expanding theinfrastructure, resources, policies, and practices that support the university’s commitment to engaging with thecommunity” (Goal 3, Sub-goal D).

Additionally, the Strategic Plan has clear goals and objectives to expand “community connections by engagingwith partners in instructionally-based academic and educational activities” (Goal 3, Sub-goal A). The StrategicPlan also requires that “[w]orking with governance units across the campus and colleges, UNO will embed theculture of community engagement into its evaluation and review systems” (Goal 3, Sub-goal D, Objective 2).

The colleges, to varying degrees, have incorporated the culture of community engagement into theirreappointment, promotion, and tenure process. For example, the College of Education affirms that “[t]hescholarship of teaching is a process of seeking and imparting knowledge which makes the scholarship ofdiscovery, the scholarship of integration, and the scholarship of application meaningful” (College of Education,RPT Guidelines, p. 9). The College of Education’s Community-Engaged Scholarship is intended for projectsdemonstrating excellence in teaching.

At a campus level, consistent with the Strategic Plan, UNO has established a Faculty Service Learning Award

given each year at the annual Faculty Honors Convocation. Additionally, college and university teaching awardrecipients typically are faculty who document ‘excellence in teaching’ with extensive service-learning and/orcommunity-engaged instruction. Finally, the last two UNO winners of the University of Nebraska systemOutstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Activity Award - Joanna Holland at the College of BusinessAdministration, and Peter Wolcott at the College of Information Science and Technology - were selected on thebasis of their service learning and community-based teaching.

9.b. Is community engagement rewarded as one form of scholarship?

Yes


Within UNO’s decentralized practice for reappointment, promotion, and tenure, the UNO Strategic Plan is theprimary institution-wide document that guides the colleges in development of their specific RPT policies andpractices.

The UNO Strategic Plan states: “UNO will provide leadership through developing and expanding theinfrastructure, resources, policies, and practices that support the university’s commitment to engaging with thecommunity” (Goal 3, Sub-goal D).

Additionally, the Strategic Plan has clear goals and objectives specific to community-engaged scholarship, forexample: to “increase its research and creative activity that expand and advance the study and nature ofcommunity engagement” (Goal 3, Sub-goal B). The Strategic Plan also requires that “[w]orking withgovernance units across the campus and colleges, UNO will embed the culture of community engagement intoits evaluation and review systems” (Goal 3, Sub-goal D, Objective 2).

The colleges, to varying degrees, have incorporated the culture of community engagement in recognizing andrewarding community engagement scholarship. For example, the College of Public Affairs and CommunityService describes engaged research as research that has “been developed, evaluated, and communicated incollaboration with community partners, but is rigorous in terms of its design and methodology. It is relevant tothe needs of the community and its outcomes should be valued by both academic peers and communitypartners” (CPACS, RPT Guidelines, p. 9).

At a campus level, consistent with the Strategic Plan, UNO has established formal recognition of community-engaged scholarship with the creation of privately funded endowed ‘Community Chairs’. The Community Chairsare selected based on their excellence in research/creative activity within the framework of UNO’smetropolitan mission and strong focus on community engagement.

Endowed chairs, such as the James R. Schumacher Chair of Ethics, are designed to recognize an outstandingfaculty member committed to increasing knowledge, awareness, and application of the principles of ethics,tolerance, and understanding. Recipients are required to have “an established record of excellence with aninstructional and scholarly focus on ethics” and a commitment to service learning as it illustrates their devotionto engaged scholarship.

9.c. Is community engagement rewarded as one form of service?

Yes


In UNO’s 2006 classification, service was the primary form of recognizing community-engaged faculty work.For years, service outside the University has been a specific category for evaluating faculty for reappointment,promotion, and tenure.

In 1983, then University of Nebraska President Ronald Roskens declared “subject to specific criteria and

processes, service accomplishments shall be taken into account when reappointment, promotion, and tenuredecisions are made” (BOR Meeting, November 11, 1983).

Within UNO’s decentralized practice for reappointment, promotion, and tenure, the UNO Strategic Plan is theprimary campus-wide document that guides the colleges in development of their specific RPT policies andpractices.

The UNO Strategic Plan states: “UNO will provide leadership through developing and expanding theinfrastructure, resources, policies, and practices that support the university’s commitment to engaging with thecommunity” (Goal3, Sub-goal D).

Additionally, the Strategic Plan has clear goals and objectives specific to community engagement, for example:to “require UNO students, faculty, staff and constituencies to engage with our communities through service,involvement and support” (Goal 3, Sub-goal C). The Strategic Plan also requires that “[w]orking withgovernance units across the campus and colleges, UNO will embed the culture of community engagement intoits evaluation and review systems” (Goal 3, Sub-goal D, Objective 2).

All colleges evaluate and reward faculty for their service contributions, including community service. Forexample, the College of Business Administration RPT guidelines reads: “[s]ervice is an indispensable duty ofand privilege of all faculty” (CBA RPT Guidelines, P. 17).


10. Are there college/school and/or department level policies for promotion (and tenure at tenure-granting campuses) that specifically reward faculty scholarly work that uses community-engagedapproaches and methods?

Yes

Which colleges/school and/or departments? List Colleges or Departments:

Arts and Sciences Business Administration (CBA) Communication, Fine Arts and Media (CFAM) Education (COE) Information Science and Technology (IST) Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) Criss Library

What percent of total colleges/school and/or departments at the institution is represented by thelist above?:

100%

Please provide three examples of colleges/school and/or department level policies, taken directlyfrom policy documents, in the space below:

As an urban, metropolitan university, UNO believes that it has a responsibility of stewardship that includes highlevels of collaboration with the community. This commitment is best defined as “community engagedscholarship” (CES) (Boyer, 1996, Cox, 2008). The College of Education shares this belief and takes pride inbeing highly engaged with the community. Recently, reappointment, promotion, and tenure process have beenexamined in light of how community engaged scholarship is recognized and valued at institutions (Jordan, et al2009; Leugers, et al, 2009). “Not all activities that a faculty member undertakes will fall under the CESframework. However, those activities that do fit the CES model shall be recognized and valued as part of afaculty member’s record of activity/accomplishment and shall be considered in evaluating applications for

reappointment, promotion, and tenure” (COE RPT Guidelines, 2012, pp 1-2).

“The College [of Public Affairs and Community Service] recognizes that some faculty projects or achievementsmay cut across the traditional categories of teaching, research, and service and/or integrate all threecategories. Such work may meet the standards for the scholarship of engagement. (…) The scholarship ofengagement does not replace traditional scholarship activity but categorizes and adds value to existingscholarship efforts. Scholarship of Engagement activities are characterized by reciprocal relationshipsbetween the campus and community. (…) Faculty who intentionally pursue the integration of teaching, research,and service, and whose projects meet the criteria for Scholarship of Engagement, may therefore wish topresent and explain relevant activity/activities in their RPT materials” (CPACS, RPT Guidelines, Effective Spring2013, p.3).

The RPT guidelines of the College of Business Administration states: “Category III intellectual contributions topractices influence professional practices in the faculty member’s field. Articles and cases published in non-refereed practice-oriented journals, development of discipline-based practice tools, and published reports onconsulting all qualify as intellectuals contributions to practice” (CBA, RPT Guidelines, 2012, p. 16).


11. Is there professional development for faculty and administrators who review candidates’ dossiers(e.g., Deans, Department Chairs, senior faculty, etc.) on how to evaluate faculty scholarly work thatuses community-engaged approaches and methods?

Yes

Describe the process, content, and audience for this professional development and which unit(s)on campus provides the professional development.

Professional development for RPT evaluation and annual review portfolios is primarily targeted to DepartmentChairs and School Directors, as well as faculty who may serve on annual review committees and/orcommittees revising the college RPT guidelines.

Deans and other senior administrators also participate in professional development related to evaluation ofcommunity-engaged faculty work. The Center for Faculty Development is the primary unit responsible fordeveloping and supporting programming. The colleges, especially as they have revised their RPT guidelines,have conducted college and department workshops, as well as hosted expert consultants.

The Center for Faculty Development sponsors regular workshops and panel discussions. Example topicsinclude “performance evaluation,” “differentiated teaching methods,” “getting to know UNO’s courseevaluations,” “making the most of Digital Measures reports,” “navigating the RPT process”, and “tips for beinga good Chair.” These sessions are targeted to Chairs, Directors and faculty.

The Center for Faculty Development also conducts in-depth workshops for Chairs and Directors at thebeginning of each academic year. The sessions are focused on the evaluation of faculty in the annual reviewand RPT processes. Panel participant include experienced Deans, Chairs, and Directors. The discussionsinclude alignment with UNO’s metropolitan mission and Strategic Plan, as well as understanding the specificcollege guidelines.

The Center for Faculty Development assists the Chairs Teaching Circle in developing programming such aspanel discussions, book discussions, and webinars. At the beginning of 2012-2013, a .50 AcademicAdministrative Fellow (and current School Director) was responsible for the programming for Chairs andDirectors. In the spring of 2013, the Fellow also coordinated a campus team of 12 individuals to attend anational conference for Chairs and Directors.

In 2011, two academic administrators attended the Engagement Academy for University Leaders, an “executivedevelopment program designed for university leaders committed to developing institutional capacity forcommunity engagement” (http://www.cpe.vt.edu/engagementacademy). Currently, both of those administratorsserve on the campus Executive Steering Community for Community Engagement.

In 2012-2013, Academic and Student Affairs sponsored multi-day workshops with Barbara Holland (October 2-4, 2012 and May 5-9, 2013) and Ira Harkavy (October 21-23, 2012). Each conducted sessions on theScholarship of Engagement, as well as the Assessment and Measurement for Effective Engagement withtargeted sessions for faculty, Chairs, Directors and Deans.

Additionally, UNO faculty, Chairs and Directors are encouraged and supported to attend and present atnational conferences such as the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), the AmericanDemocracy Project, and the International Association for Research in Service Learning and CommunityEngagement.


12. If current policies do not specifically reward community engagement, is there work in progress torevise promotion and tenure guidelines to reward faculty scholarly work that uses community-engaged approaches and methods?

No

Describe the process and its current status:


13. Provide a narrative that speaks broadly to involvement of students in community engagement,such as the ways students have leadership roles in community engagement (give examples), ordecision-making roles students have on campus related to community engagement (planning,implementation, assessment, or other). How has student leadership in community engagementchanged since the last classification? How is student leadership in community engagementrecognized (awards, notation on transcript, etc.)? Provide relevant links.

Since 2006, the University’s Signature Service Days have undergone an evolutionary process. The expansionof Signature Days of Service has been driven by the continuing demand of students.UNO’s Signature Service Days, currently approximately 16 days throughout the academic year, are embeddedwithin the fabric of the University and greater community. These student-organized, promoted andimplemented days of service have expanded annually in scope. Indeed, there has been a substantial increasein the number of volunteers; the number of partnering nonprofit organizations; and number of project sites. Dueto the increased number of volunteers and requests from community organizations, the average project sitesincreased from approximately 10 sites per Service Day to currently an average of 23 project sites.

Since 2006, risk management activities have been implemented to include the training of student volunteers asvolunteer leaders. Volunteer leaders manage an assigned project site during the day of service; ensure thevolunteers’ safety; and ensure the projects are managed and completed to the satisfaction of the nonprofitpartner. This provides students with an alternative role in service, and has been positively evaluated withfeedback from volunteers and nonprofit partners. Due to the embedding of the Service Days, Student Organization & Leadership has promoted and increased itsefforts towards service. This is evident within over 100 student-led organizations. With the restructuring of theStudent Organization & Leadership office in the past 18 months, a new focus and vital partnership has beenestablished - emphasizing the value of service and engagement within the community. A significant increase in

service participation of 15% occurred in 2012-2013. UNO anticipates an even greater increase in studentparticipation and leadership during future Signature Service Days.

The Service Days offer an expanded number of students opportunities to develop their leadership skills whileproviding service within the community. An offshoot has been an increasing number of students seeking to do“seed projects”. In 2006, this was not a program available to students. In 2013, however, there were over 12students identifying projects they had developed with a community partner to address a community need; andone student was selected to attend the CGIU conference.

UNO offers students the opportunity to receive NonProfit Leadership Alliance (formerly American Humanics)certification. Students receiving certification have met academic and experiential requirements. Studenttranscripts include notations for service learning, practica, and internships. UNO annually presents the StudentService-Learning Award, and the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs OutstandingLeadership Award. In addition, UNO recognizes student service and engaged leadership by annuallynominating outstanding service learning projects for the Serve Nebraska Community Service Awards program.The Chancellor also recognizes an exemplary student by submitting an annual nomination for the nationalCampus Compact Newman Civic Fellows Award in recognition of service and impact on the community.


14. Is community engagement noted on student transcripts?

Yes

If yes, is this a change from your prior classification?

No


15. Is community engagement connected with diversity and inclusion work (for students and faculty)on your campus?

Yes

Please provide examples:

Below is an illustrative sample of the numerous service learning, community-based learning, and community-based research connected to diversity and inclusion. UNO’s 2013 results indicate that a higher percentage offirst generation first-year students participate in service learning (45-56%) and learning communities (10-19%).First generation seniors also report higher participation in learning communities (17-27%) and service learning(60-61%).

Human Relations (Teacher Education): This service learning course is designed increase multiculturalknowledge and positively impact the diversity disposition of prospective teacher candidates. It also helpsteachers become more aware of ways to motivate and positively impact the youth they will encounter in theirfuture classrooms. UNO students apply the information they learned during the course to their work with K-12students in an after-school setting. UNO students gain experience working with youth of diverse backgrounds.

CultureFest is a P-16 Initiative celebrating the rich cultural diversity. Students from pre-school through college,and their families, learn about different cultures through interactive activities and displays.

Students in UNO’s Social Work and Civic Engagement course worked with Northwest High School StudentCouncil members to make Northwest High School a “No Place for Hate” school. UNO students and Northwest

student council members worked together to gain 50% of the student body’s signatures on the Resolution ofRespect document; completed three anti-bias school events; gathered parents’ and teachers’ perspectives;and created a video for the high school television station. Northwest High School is now officially a “No Placeto Hate” school.

In the fall of 2012, UNO students in Latino Politics and Immigration courses participated in a collaborativeservice learning project to promote Latino voter participation in South Omaha.

Culture Walks is a community engagement effort from the UNO College of Education aimed at learn about thehistory and culture of Omaha neighborhoods. Since 2008, Culture Walks have taken UNO student to NorthOmaha, South Omaha, and refugee neighborhoods. During these walks, neighborhood leaders facilitatediscussions and provide a guided tour of the neighborhood.

Gender, Youth, and Civic Engagement with Local Immigration and Community Development Organizations:A project in UNO’s Office of Latino/Latin American Studies that provides workshops on gender, youth and civicengagement related to local immigration and community development policies. UNO students work as studentworkers/interns to support the projects.

The goal of the Summer Scholars Program, offered by UNO’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, is to expose highschool student to the dynamics of a college campus in a five-week summer program. The program includesSummer Scholars taking a for-credit course at UNO; a university-success seminar; interactions with universityfaculty and staff; career explorations; and participation in community service activities.

SummerWorks is a nine-week program employing 150 youth, 85% from underrepresented groups.SummerWorks prepares participants to be successful in the workplace by teaching team work; effectivecommunication; and workplace conduct. Participants also explore career and college possibilities, and interactwith UNO faculty, staff, and students. More than 45 UNO students, primary seniors and graduate students, workwith the program as team leaders and mentors.


16. Is community engagement connected to efforts aimed at student retention and success?

Yes

Please provide examples:

The examples and data below illustrate how UNO incorporates community engagement as a strategy tosupport student retention and success. UNO’s 2013 NSSE data indicate that higher percentages of firstgeneration first-year students participate in learning communities (10-19%) and service learning (45-56%).First generation seniors continue to have a higher participation rates in learning communities (17-27%) andservice learning (60-61%).

UNO Signature Service Days have provided not only service with community organizations to support theirprojects and activities, but is also designed to impact students’ success and retention. 85% of studentvolunteers indicate through service events’ evaluations that they enjoyed meeting new people through serviceevents. Over 79% indicate they have learned more about the organization and are more comfortable inexploring other parts of the community. More than 89% of the volunteers had a great time, feel good abouttheir experience, and plan to do it again.

In 2010, incoming students were given the opportunity to apply for a Maverick Service Scholarship of a one-year $1,000 stipend. The selection was based on service-based leadership during their high school years. Therequirements for receiving the stipend was the participation in service days, a service-learning class, and theattendance of a leadership seminar.

attendance of a leadership seminar.

This scholarship was designed to integrate incoming students into greater levels of college involvement duringtheir first year at UNO. Approximately 80 students were selected for this scholarship. The impact of thisscholarship was significant, as the retention rates and level of involvement in activities was higher thanaverage for the selected students.

Enhancing students’ academic engagement is a desired impact of service. It is also evaluated in theassessment of service learning courses. In 2010-2011, students in service learning courses reported that they:

• better understood course lectures (74%)• understood how the course objectives related to the community work (86%)• saw how the subject matter could be used in everyday life (87%)

UNO’s Project Achieve program, a federal TRIO student support services program, consists of academic skillsdevelopment as well as financial aid, academic, career, and personal counseling. Activities and servicesemphasize development of skills necessary for becoming more efficient and independent learners. A keycomponent of Project Achieve’s student success programming is getting students engaged in communityservice, such as the UNO Signature Service Days. Project Achieve has been recognized with a Service Dayaward for Volunteering the Most Years of Service.

The UNO Thompson Learning Community (TLC) is designed to promote the academic success of UNO studentsreceiving the Susan T. Buffett scholarship. TLC provides Thompson Scholars a sequence of common courses,special activities, advisement, and other opportunities to connect with faculty and peers. It is an entry point toUNO, helping students transition from introductory courses to the major of their choice. TLC promotesengagement, including requiring a designated number of service/volunteer hours. TLC also assists students indeveloping academic and personal knowledge, skills, and attitudes that serve as the foundation for life-longlearning, personal development, and social responsibility.

25. II. 25. II. Categories of Community EngagementCategories of Community Engagement

1. As evidence provided for your earlier classification, you described an institution-wide definitionof service learning used on campus.

a. For re-classification, describe what has changed, if anything, with the definition of servicelearning and explain the purpose of the revisions.

The underlying concepts and principles for service learning at UNO have not changed since UNO’s lastclassification. However, the specific definition of service learning has been revised and updated so that UNOcan clearly and succinctly provide community partners, students, faculty, and staff a brief, but comprehensiveconceptualization of service learning at UNO. There is an emphasis on faculty and community partners as co-educators, and on the importance of their reciprocally partnerships. The definition below is consistently used inprofessional development workshops for community partners, faculty, and staff as well as individualconsultations to develop service learning projects, and UNO faculty/community partner matches. The definitionalso helps UNO distinguish academic service learning from other curricular and co-curricular community-basedlearning.

Service learning is an experiential method of teaching. Collaborative partnerships between faculty, studentsand community nonprofit organizations create projects that are tightly linked to course content and promoteacademic learning, while meeting the needs of the community. Reflection activities before, during, and aftereach project experience facilitate critical thinking and problem solving. Community partners become “teachersof context” by sharing the perspective of constituencies in the community that they represent, thus expandingstudents’ world views.

b. If there is a process for identifying or approving a service learning course as part of a campuscurriculum, explain the process; if there have been changes in that process since the lastapplication, please explain the changes.

The UNO Service Learning Academy (SLA), working with the academic departments/schools, the Office ofInstitutional Effectiveness and the Registrar’s Office, ensures that service learning courses are designated as“includes service learning component” in the course offerings for each semester prior to students’ registration.The SLA monitors the courses each semester to ensure that all service learning courses are indicated. If acourse is modified to either include or exclude service learning between registration and the beginning of thesemester, SLA facilitates changes to the course schedule.

Since the 2006 classification, this process has been refined and is more systematic. Prior to teaching a servicelearning course for the first time, faculty typically participate in one or more of the professional developmentopportunities offered by the Service Learning Academy. Additionally, in developing the course syllabus toinclude service learning, faculty regularly work with a SLA staff member and community partner.

The service learning (SL) designation on the course schedule is used by the UNO Office of InstitutionalEffectiveness for reporting on SL classes such as number of courses, students, faculty, departments, etc.Students may also search on the same SL designation in the course schedule to identify for service learningcourses for themselves. This is a new feature since our last classification. While the Service Learning Academycontinues to have the primary responsibility for monitoring service learning courses and designations at UNO,the process of identifying service learning courses has been refined since UNO’s last classification.

26. II. Categories of Community Engagement26. II. Categories of Community Engagement

2. Fill in the tables below using:

a. data from the most recent academic year (2012-2013) b. data based on undergraduate FTE

Table 1

Number of servicelearning courses

Change in number ofcourses since last

applicationPercentage oftotal courses

Percent change in coursessince last application

Responseline 177 72 2.9 68.6

Table 2

Number of departmentsrepresented by service

learning courses

Change in number ofdepartments since last

application

Percentageof total

departments

Percent change indepartments since last

application.

Responseline 30 10 75 23.7

Table 3

Number of faculty whotaught service learning

courses

Change in number offaculty since the last

application

Percentageof totalfaculty

Percent change in numberof faculty since last

application

Responseline 90 28 18 4.8

Table 4

Number of studentsparticipating in service

learning courses

Change in number ofstudents since last

applicationPercentage oftotal students

Percent changesince last

application

Responseline 2750 890 19.3 6.1


3. Provide a description of how the data in question 2 above is gathered and used (how it iscompiled, who gathers it, how often, how it is used, etc.). Provide relevant links.

The data in Question IIA-2 reports the specific number of course sections offered each semester with a servicelearning designation. These are the courses that meet the campus definition of service learning that areessentially registered with the UNO Service Learning Academy. Data are collected each semester for the UNOService Learning Academy by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. The total counts for the 2012-13academic year were calculated from the following annual reports generated by the Office of InstitutionalEffectiveness:

• Academic Department Indicators, Academic Year 2012-2013• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 12-month Enrollment Report• UNO Fact Book

The data are used by the campus, colleges, academic departments, and the Service Learning Academy tomeasure trends across time focused on the number of courses; student participants; faculty; and academicdepartments. This information is one type of measure and impact indicator for service learning. Thisinformation is included in annual reports to the campus; funders; grant proposals; conference presentations;and articles. For instance, the number of service learning courses, students, and faculty are requested in theannual President’s Higher Education for Community Engagement Honor Roll applications. The Office ofInstitutional Effectiveness’ Academic Department Indicators report the total number of service learning coursesby campus, college, and department. The Academic Department Indicators are used by Deans, SchoolDirectors, and Department Chairs for reporting purposes and the assessment of their units.

There was a significant change in how UNO counts the total number of courses. In fact, UNO is not able toreplicate the methodology used in the 2006 classification. Due to the change in methodology - reportscurrently generated by UNO’s Student Information System’s counts twice as many courses offered in 2006 aswas reported in the original classification. Above we reported the percentage based on our current reportingcapacity. The percentage reported in the 2006 classification is not comparable to the percentage reported inQuestion IIA-2.


4. As evidence requested for your earlier classification, you were asked whether you haveinstitutional (campus-wide) learning outcomes for students' curricular engagement with community.

For re-classification, describe what has changed, if anything, regarding assessment of institutionallearning outcomes associated with curricular engagement. What are the outcomes, how are theseoutcomes assessed, and what are the results of the assessment? Provide relevant links.

In the 2006 classification, UNO focused on departmental (disciplinary) learning outcomes for students’curricular engagement. In UNO’s decentralized structure, the establishment of student learning outcomes andthe assessment of those outcomes have been the responsibility of the academic programs. The UniversityAssessment Committee, which has responsibility for guiding academic assessment across campus, was

restructured in 2012-2013 to invigorate academic assessment. This work is in process.

At the time of the last classification, UNO did not have a common general education curriculum. Individualcolleges and departments could determine what counted as general education. Since the 2006 classification,UNO established University General Education Committee responsible for creating, changing, and assessing auniversity general education curriculum. The new university general education curriculum, effective in the fall of2011, includes goals; student learning outcomes; and approved courses that are accepted by all academicprograms. The goals and student learning outcomes for the university general education curriculumencourages civic participation and engagement. Assessment of the new university general educationcurriculum will begin in 2014-2015.

For service learning courses, enhancing students’ academic engagement, civic engagement, andpersonal/professional growth have been identified as over-arching outcomes for the service learning programat UNO. Pre- and post-project service learning survey data are collected each semester and analyzedannually. The data are used to document the impact of service learning experiences as well as improveproject implementation and professional development. Additionally, course-specific student learning outcomesare detailed in course syllabi and aligned with community needs. These learning outcomes are assessed byproject and are documented in specific academic program assessment plans.


5. For each curricular activity listed below, indicate whether or not community engagement isintegrated into it, and then describe what has changed since the last classification. Providerelevant links if available.

IsCommunity

Engagementintegratedwith thisactivity?

What has changed sincelast classification? (Word

limit for each activity:500)

Web Link (if available)

Yes No

The most significantchanges that havefostered student

research atundergraduate and

graduate level, are theimplementation of astudent fee to fund

student research, and thecreation of an annualStudent Research and

Creative Activity Fair. Inthe fall of 2011, UNO

implemented a studentfee designated to

support student research.The new Fund for

Undergraduate ScholarlyExperiences (FUSE)provided funds to 31

students in 2011-2012and 52 in 2012-2013. The

number of studentresearch supported bythis fund continues to

StudentResearch

grow. In 2008, the Officeof Research and CreativeActivity (ORCA) began toexamine undergraduatestudent research, andhow to encourage and

support it. In the spring of2009, the first annual

Student Research andCreative Activity Fair was

held. Each year,undergraduate andgraduate students

present their results inoral presentations or

poster sessions. In thespring of 2013, the Fairincluded 172 projects

from 75 undergraduatestudents and 97

graduate students -representing 48

departments, 84 facultyadvisors, and all sixacademic colleges.

Awards are given forundergraduate and

graduate oralpresentations and

posters. Communityrepresentatives fromover 20 corporations,

nonprofits, andgovernment agenciesserve as the judges atthe fair. A significant

number of the research iscommunity-based

research. For instance, in2013, two of the top four

undergraduatepresentations involvedcommunity-engaged

research, and the bestgraduate poster was

titled: “Translatingresearch to the

community: Can acommunity-based bookclub increase physicalactivity among womenlong-term.” In the 2006

classification, UNOreported that 14% of

UNO graduating seniorsparticipated in

undergraduate researchwith a faculty member. Inthe spring of 2013, NSSE

data indicates 17% ofgraduating seniors

participated inundergraduate researchwith a faculty member.

with a faculty member.While only a slight

increase, UNO believesthe newly implement

FUSE grants and annualStudent Research and

Creative Activity Fair willcontinue to increase

student participation inresearch.

StudentLeadershipCourses

Curricula focused onleadership has expandedin disciplines across thecampus. For example, in

the fall of 2011, UNOapproved a new

concentration in “CivicLeadership” in the

Bachelor of GeneralStudies program. It is aninterdisciplinary programdrawing on courses and

faculty from BusinessAdministration,

Communication, PoliticalScience, Philosophy, and

Public Administration.Core requirements

include courses withservice learning and an

internship/practicum.Political Science has

restructured itsundergraduate curriculumto include a concentration

in “Government Affairsand Civic Engagement.”

The renamed andrefocused Stephenson-Harrington Internship isnow administrated and

taught by staff in the UNOService Learning

Academy. The programincludes a course in

professional andleadership development

skills, and providesinternship placements in

the community withnonprofit partners.

Private funds provide forthe paid internships and

other professionaldevelopment

opportunities. UNO offersthe Nonprofit Leadership

Alliance (formerlyAmerican Humanics)certification. Students

complete comprehensiveacademic and

experiential requirementsdesigned to prepare

designed to preparethem as leaders in thenonprofit sector. The

curricular content for thecertificate includes 6

hours of required content—nonprofit organizationand management, andnonprofit fundraising -

along with 9 credit hoursof selective courseworkwithin their major areaand identified area of

nonprofit specialization.Additionally, each studentis required to participatein a 300 hour internship

within a nonprofitorganization. Thus upon

the completion of theprogram, a full

understanding of the thirdsector, and thedevelopment of

professional foundationskills and competencies,

is ensured.

Internships/Co-ops

UNO has continued toemphasize internships as

important applied andcommunity-based

learning. NSSE 2013results indicate that 50%

of UNO seniorsparticipate in anInternship or field

experience. Internshipsare required for many

UNO degrees andoffered in the majority ofacademic programs. For

example, 87% ofEducation, 74% of

Communication, 53% ofBusiness, 46% of

physical and computersciences, and 43% ofarts and humanities

seniors reportparticipating in aninternship or field

experience. Of the May2013 graduating class,20.4% reported having

an unpaid internship and22.1% reported having apaid internship as part of

their UNO experience.Percentages in paidinternships included

76.7% in the College ofInformation Science andTechnology, 43.9% in the

College of Business

College of BusinessAdministration, and 26.1%

in the College ofCommunication, Fine Arts,and Media. In 2012-2013,UNO began the process

of restructuring its CareerCenter to the Academic

and Career DevelopmentCenter (ACDC) to bettersupport and coordinateinternship opportunities

across the campus.ACDC and the academic

programs activelysupport internshipplacements in the

nonprofit and servicesectors.

Study Abroad

As part of its GlobalEngagement priority, UNO

has been expandingstudy abroad. UNO hasalso been expanding

opportunities toincorporate service

learning and communityengagement in studyabroad experiences.

February 2012, the GlobalEngagement Task Forcedeclared that UNO will

embrace the University ofNebraska system’s goal

of offering everyundergraduate studentthe opportunity for ameaningful academic

experience abroad withinthe context establishedby UNO’s Strategic Plan

(“Campus Priorities,Charting a Clear Vision

for 20/20”, p. 19).Engagement oriented

study abroad experienceare provided in short-

term faculty-ledexperiences in Belize,

Cuba, Italy, Israel,Nicaragua, Peru, Turkey,and the United Kingdom.In 2012-2013, 392 UNOstudents participated in

study abroadexperiences compared

to 292 in 2008-2009.NSSE 2013 results

indicate that 11% of UNOseniors have participated

in study abroadexperiences. As an

example, the Office ofLatino/Latin American http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/docs/2012-

Study Abroad Latino/Latin AmericanStudies in collaboration

with the Service LearningAcademy has offer

International ServiceLearning and Study

Abroad in Peru since2008. As part of a course

on the aspects ofurbanization in Latin

America, UNO studentshave visited MachuPicchu; constructed

modules and repaired achild care

center/preschool in SanJuan De Miraflores; andmet with policy advisorsand officials to discussthe history and future ofPeru. In the fall of 2012,UNO signed a MOU withthe Universidad Antonio

Ruiz De Montoya toestablish mutually

beneficial partnershipsbased on service

learning and community-based research. In thespring and summer of2013, UNO studentsenrolled in the ’Latin

America Study Abroad’;‘Peru and Study Abroad’;

and ‘Water Quality inLatin America’ courses

returned to Lima to with afocus on global health

issues and conduct waterquality research. UNO

received funding from theUniversity of NebraskaFoundation to support

this international servicelearning initiative.

campus-priorities-2020.pdf

Other. (Pleasespecify in the"What haschanged..."text box to theright.)


6. For each curriculum area listed below, indicate whether or not community engagement beenintegrated into the curriculum at the institutional level, and then describe what has changed sincethe last classification. Provide relevant links if available.

IsCommunity

Engagement What has changed since the last classification? (Word limit for each Web Link(if

integratedinto thisarea?

area: 500) (ifavailable)

Yes No

CoreCourse UNO does not use the term “core curriculum”. See General

Education below for more information.

GeneralEducation

The most significant change to UNO’s University General Educationprogram was the establishment of a campus committee with theauthority to develop, change, and assess a general education

curriculum that meets the requirements of all academic programs.The goals and student learning outcomes for general education

address the role of education in preparing informed and engagedcitizens. One indicator of the integration of community engagement

into the general education curriculum, is that 49% of first-yearstudents have taken at least one service learning course in 2012-

2013 (UNO NSSE 2013).

First YearExperienceCourses

Since the 2006 classification, UNO’s First Year Experiences (FYE)courses have undergone multiple restructurings. In 2012-2013, the

FYE courses required students to participate in at least two campusevents and strongly encouraged students to participate in a

community service event such as Three Days of Service.Furthermore, every semester at least one course that includes a

formal service learning component is offered.

Capstone(SeniorLevelProject)

Capstone courses are required for a little over one-third of all UNOacademic programs. Capstone courses include an applied learningrequirement, typically a community-based project. For example: •Graduate and undergraduate programs in the College of Business

Administration include capstone courses requiring community-basedprojects in corporate and nonprofit environments. • Marketingprograms incorporate a formal service learning component by

linking nonprofit clients with students who develop marketing plansaddressing nonprofits’ specific needs. • The College of Information

Science and Technology also requires capstone courses at theundergraduate and graduate level. The capstones, initiated in 2008,

deliver working prototypes to clients. These community-basedprojects are designed to help local community partners such asmicrobusinesses or nonprofits. Clients have included Family, Inc.;

Project Harmony; and Douglas County Health Center.

In theMajors

Most students enrolled in undergraduate majors cannot graduatewithout at least one community-based learning experience.

Academic programs have incorporated engaged learning throughformal service learning courses; field experiences; internships; and

capstones. Most majors include a formal service learningcomponent, either required or encouraged. This is demonstrated

with 75% of all academic departments offering formal servicelearning courses. Additionally, a majority of programs have alsoincorporated internships and field experiences into the major.

GraduateStudies

Community engagement is integrated into many UNO graduateprograms. For example, 11 programs offered formal service learning

courses at the graduate level in 2012-2013. Capstone courses arecommonly required in UNO graduate programs. These capstonecourse typically include a community-based project. Examples ofcommunity-based capstones are: IT for microbusinesses in theCollege of Information Science and Technology; the requiredinternational business consulting project in the Executive MBA

program; and advanced research required courses in Social Workwhere students evaluate social service programs in a collaborativepartnership with an area nonprofit. Furthermore, coursework is often

designed to get students thinking about the community’s needs andwhat they can do to give back to the community. For example, thenew MBA course in Executive Civic Leadership requires students to

complete a project with a nonprofit organization. The projectaccounts for 30% of the student’s grade.

Other.(Pleasespecify inthe "Whathaschanged..."text box tothe right.)

University Honors Program: Since 2006 classification, the UNOUniversity Honors program has added a culminating experienceoption. This allows honors students to choose a service learning

option that requires two service learning courses and the submissionof a written paper. The paper serves as the basis of the final public

oral presentation for the Honors Symposium.


7. How have faculty not only incorporated community-based teaching and learning into courses,but turned that activity into research to improve teaching and learning through the scholarship ofteaching and learning (SoTL), i.e., publishing articles, making presentations, conducting studies oftheir courses, conducting workshops, etc.. Provide five examples of faculty scholarship to improve,critique, promote, or reflect on community engaged teaching and learning. Also, describe how thisscholarship has been supported since your last classification.

UNO faculty, staff, and community partners are actively engaged in the scholarship of engagement. Throughannual private donations, an endowment, and grants, the UNO Service Learning Academy supports SLA staff,UNO faculty, students, and community representatives to present their innovative approaches to servicelearning and civic engagement at regional and national conferences.

In 2012-2013, the Service Learning Academy supported faculty, staff, students, and partners at the AmericanDemocracy Project annual conference; International Conference for Teacher Education and Service Learning;Nebraska Campus Compact conference; International Association for Research on Service Learning andCommunity Engagement; Heartland Campus Compact Annual Conferences; Gulf South Summit; AmericanCollege Personnel Association Annual Conference; and the National Service Learning Conference. Faculty mayreceive University Committee on the Advancement of Teaching travel grants and professional developmentfunding from their colleges and departments.

In the spring of 2013, UNO completed the agreement to move the library collection of the former Learn andServe American National Service Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) to the UNO Criss Library. UNO’s commitmentto maintaining and expanding this library collection, both physically and online, demonstrates its institutionalcommitment to supporting faculty scholarship in this area. The library collection will be named the Barbara A.Holland Collection for Service Learning and Community Engagement, and is considered to hold the world’slargest collection of scholarship on community engagement.

Publications

• Backer, Amanda M.; Allen, Joseph A.; and Bonilla, Daniel L., "Identifying and Learning from Exemplary VolunteerResource Managers: A Look at Best Practices in Managing Volunteer Resources", International Journal ofVolunteer Administration, Vol 24, Issue 2, Pg 65 – 72, (Nov 2012).

• Delkamiller, Julie; Swain, Kristine D.; Leader-Janssen, Elizabeth M.; and Ritzman, Mitzi J., "Examining InclusivePractices in Nicaraguan Schools", Social Welfare: Interdisciplinary Approach, Vol 3, Issue 1, Pg 8-18, (2013).

• Eikenberry, Angela M., "Social Networking, Learning, and Civic Engagement: New Relationships betweenProfessors and Students, Public Administrators and Citizens", Journal of Public Affairs Education, Vol 18, Issue 3,

Pg 449-466, (Summer 2012).

• McWilliams, Susan M., "Early-Childhood Teacher Candidates’ Service Learning with Family Book Celebrations",Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, Vol 79, No. 3, Pg 34-41, (Spring 2013).

• Santo, Jonathan Bruce and Casas, Juan F., "Cross-contextual examination of current Latino issues:International/Intranational research and pedagogy", The Journal of Latino / Latin American Studies, Vol 4, Issue2, Pg 1 – 7, (Fall 2012).

Presentations

• Dierberger, J., Sather, P., & Strasser, R. (2012). P-16 Service-Learning Initiative: Training and Collaboration withIn-Service teachers. 3rd International Conference on Service Learning and Teacher Education, Duke University,North Carolina.


8. Provide a summary narrative describing overall changes and trends that have taken placerelated to curricular engagement on campus since the last classification. In your narrative, addressthe trajectory of curricular engagement on your campus--where have you been, where are younow, where are you strategically planning on going? Provide relevant links.

Expanding, strengthening, and deepening commitment to curricular engagement is an overarching trend sinceUNO’s last classification. Four examples are: (1) Service learning supported by the Service Learning Academy;(2) curricular-based engagement in addition to service learning; (3) supporting scholarship and research; and(4) the conceptualizing, planning, fundraising, constructing, and opening (March, 2014) of the $24 million UNOCommunity Engagement Center (CEC).

Service learning at UNO has grown each year in the number of classes, students, faculty, community partners,and staffing. The P-16 Initiative, which begun in 2010 and incorporated K-12 schools and faculty, expanded in itsreach, impact as well as service learning complexity. In 2013-2014, SLA will support over 180 service learningcourses with over 3,000 students enrolled, and more than 80 P-16 partnerships with UNO, K-12 faculty, andcommunity partners. As an anchor CEC occupant, SLA and its faculty, staff, K-12, and community partners willhave access to state-of-the-art collaborative meeting facilities, technology, and project rooms. With fundscontinuing to be raised, SLA will receive additional funds to expand its reach and scope on campus and in thecommunity.

Expanded curricular engagement includes course offerings in all colleges, and in many instances therequirement of community-based learning through internships, field experiences, practica, and capstones. An“Engaged Scholar” official transcript designation (similar to “University Honors Program”) is in progress, andwill be in place by 2015. Students will complete requirements for service learning, other community-basedlearning, service/volunteer experience and leadership, with a culminating experience.

Two indicators of UNO’s commitment to community-engaged teaching/learning scholarship and research ishosting the 2013 IARSLCE annual conference, and the acquisition of the former Learn and Serve AmericaNational Service-Learning Clearinghouse library. The library is renamed the Barbara A. Holland Collection forService Learning and Community Engagement for the UNO Criss Library. UNO is committed to maintaining andexpanding the collection physically and electronically.

UNO’s Community Engagement Center is designed to be a catalyst for meaningful and reciprocal engagement.The mission of the CEC is to contribute positively and measurably to the community’s quality of life by creating,supporting, and expanding mutually beneficial partnerships, engaged scholarship, and academic and studentprogramming that create tomorrow’s leaders and agents of change. Examples of programing include Civic

Participation Projects grants to faculty for course-based initiatives, and faculty-in-residence as CommunityResearch Fellows.

CEC campus partners to be based in the building are focused on engaged teaching, learning, and scholarship.Campus partners plan to use their own offices and the CEC physical, technological, and staffing support toexpand their activities. Campus partners include: Nebraska Watershed Network; Office of Latino/Latin AmericanStudies; Volunteer Program Assessment-UNO; Support and Training for the Evaluation of Programs; Spirituality,Public Health, and Religious Studies; and Social Media Lab for Research and Engagement.

UNO continues to expand its efforts to ensure meaningful, systematic, and on-going measurement andassessment. Underlying all of these expanding efforts is an institutional commitment to measuring impact andimproving our performance to ensure maximum value to UNO students and the community.

Link: http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/index.php


1. What changes to outreach programs (extension programs, training programs, non-creditcourses, evaluation support, etc.) have taken place since your last classification? Describe threeexamples of representative outreach programs.

The outreach programming in place at the time of UNO’s last classification continues and is thriving. Newprogramming has been developed, such as the UNO Certified Public Manager (CPM) program in the College ofPublic Affairs and Community Service, and the Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Franchising in theCollege of Business Administration.

The most significant changes for UNO’s outreach programming are the new, renovated and expanded facilitieshousing the programming. Each of the construction projects were strategically and intentionally designed tosupport, enhance, and expand community-outreach and partnerships. Since the last classification, and during asignificant economic downturn, UNO has:

(1) Renovated and expanded a former engineering building into the home of College of Public Affairs andCommunity Service (CPACS). Dedicated in 2008, the building brought all the CPACS academic and outreachprogramming together for the first time in its almost 40 year history. The building includes spaces such as the“CPACs Collaboration Commons” which is extensively used for outreach programming.

(2) Built a new home for the College of Business Administration. The $35 million dollar, LEED Gold certifiedMammel Hall was dedicated in the fall of 2010. Mammel Hall was designed to enhance and expand theoutreach and partnership programming, not only for the College of Business Administration (CBA) - but for theentire campus.

(3) Renovated and expanded Roskens Hall, the former home of CBA, for the College of Education (COE).Dedicated in the fall of 2011, the newly renovated Roskens Hall allows COE improve and expand its extensiveprogramming for educators in addition to for-credit courses.

(4) Renovated the Peter Kiewit Institute, home to the College of Information Science and Technology (IST) tobetter support academic, outreach, and research activities.

With the exception of CPACS, all of the new, renovated and expanded construction was done with privatefunds. Approximately one-third of the CPACS funding came from private funds.

Examples of community outreach and partnerships:

Consortium for Organizational Research and Evaluation (CORE) brings together extensive resources inorganizational and program performance analysis, planning and applied research. CORE links facultyconsultants from the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) with governmental and nonprofitorganizations to add value to their operations and services, and ensure successful outcomes.

The Center for Economic Education (CBA) improves the economic literacy of current and future Nebraska andWestern Iowa citizens by providing educational and training programs and materials for teachers of K-12classes. Services include: Workshops for teachers; Professional development activities with school districts;and Consultation on course offerings and content.

The Community Counseling Clinic is a service provided by the College of Education's Department ofCounseling. The clinic, in existence since 1977, offers confidential counseling service. It offers services to theOmaha community at affordable, low costs. Available services include: individual, group, marital, and familywork with children. The clinic is staffed by advanced, graduate level UNO counseling students under closesupervision by the UNO Department of Counseling faculty.


2. What changes have taken place regarding institutional resources (co-curricular student service,work/study student placements, library services, athletic offerings, etc.) that are provided asoutreach to the community? Describe examples of representative campus resources.

Key outreach areas such as athletics, co-curricular programing, and library services have undergone dramaticchanges since UNO’s last classification. Other areas such as ‘AIM for Stars’, with its 15 year history ofproviding hands-on informal science and math-oriented summer camps to hundreds of youngsters each year,continue to offer and expand quality community-outreach programming.

UNO’s transition to Division I began in the spring of 2011 with the acceptance of an invitation to join the SummitLeague and the elimination of football and wrestling. The transition included the addition of men’s soccer; therenovation of the former football stadium into an outstanding new soccer field; and the approval and initialconstruction of an $80 million University/Community arena (to be completed in the summer of 2015).

The arena will be used for UNO men’s ice hockey, basketball, and volleyball. The UNO Community arena willnot only provide a campus home for UNO athletic events, but will also be available for community use such asopen skating events; commencements, and sport competitions. A minimum of one-third of the ice time isdevoted to community use.

While UNO athletes have always been active in community service - with the transition to Division I, the athleticdepartment was also restructured to better focus on service activities and service integration with studentleadership development. The renovated Health, Physical Education, and Recreation building (completed in2010) has increased UNO’s capacity for outreach with units such as Mav Kids Youth Program and OutdoorVenture Center.

Service Days and student organizations providing volunteers and community service are more extensive andbetter structured. For instance, in 2012-2013 over 60% of student organizations sponsored service activities.UNO’s Signature Service Days began in 2003 with Seven Days of Service. Currently, UNO offers 16 SignatureDays of Service, coordinated by the Office of Civic and Social Responsibility within the Division of StudentAffairs. UNO students, faculty, staff, high school students, and community volunteers participate in ServiceDays. In 2012-2013, 6,800 volunteers contributed over 97,000 service hours.

The expanded UNO Criss Library created spaces to enhance outreach. Examples of Criss Library outreachinclude developing library resources for two locations of Girls, Inc. of Omaha; exhibits in the Osborne Family

Gallery; poetry readings; book fairs; community use of library computers; and public lectures. For example, forthe exhibit "Technicolor Dreaming," a collection of psychedelic posters from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fameand Museum, music professor Tomm Roland led a lecture and discussion on the music of the psychedelic era,as well as the connection between the youth and drug culture of that time.

The College of Communication, Fine Arts, and Media (CFAM, established in 2005) offers extensive culturalofferings to the community in theatre, music, creative writing, and art. In establishing the college, KVNO-Classical 90.7, a public radio station, was brought into the college. With increased faculty and studentinvolvement, the programming has expanded to community outreach such as Classical Kids and Arts@ 8:30.

Link: http://www.unomaha.edu/athletics/arena.php


3. Describe representative new and long-standing partnerships (both institutional anddepartmental) that were in place during the most recent academic year (maximum 15 partnerships).Please follow these steps:

• Download the Partnership Grid template (Excel file) and save it to your computer;• Provide descriptions of each partnership in the template; and then,• Upload the completed template here.

2015 Partnership Grid.xls


4. In comparing the "partnership grid" from your previous application/classification and the gridfrom #3 above, please reflect on what has changed in the quality, quantity, and impact of yourpartnership activity.

The partnership grid, in the last classification and now, reflects a relatively small sample of the collaborativerelationships UNO offices, faculty and staff have with community partners. The current partnership grid reflectsthe longevity and stability of many UNO partnerships, as well as new and innovative partnerships. Key themesfor UNO partnerships include professional training and development; improving the capacity of children tosuccess; improving policymaking and planning for state government; improving evaluation of nonprofitagencies; and improving school children’s connection to the community.

The stability and longevity of partnerships such as the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium (MOEC),with its over 30 year history, indicates UNO’s long-standing commitment to community partnerships and theability to sustain efforts across leadership changes. Community groups value UNO as a neutral partner, actingonly in and for the best interest of the community as whole. This was demonstrated when one of the schooldistrict partners initiated law suits to define its boundaries in such a way that it would be taking schools fromother districts. MOEC, with its UNO-based leadership and facilitation, was able to continue to bring the districtstogether to work on common issues and concerns. When a legislative solution was crafted, MOEC wasinstrumental in bringing the districts’ leadership together to move forward.

The increase in number, scope, and funding of partnerships since the last classification illustrates thecommunity’s perception of UNO as a community resource. Chancellor Christensen’s consistent emphasis oncommunity engagement to all audiences—campus and community—provides a clear message that UNO wantsto partner with all sectors. In his 2009 State of the University Address, Chancellor Christensen talked aboutUNO as always being “of” the community and then challenged the campus to “raise the proverbial bar” andensure that “the art and science of engagement must permeate the academy.” As he raised millions of dollars

http://nerche.org/images/stories/projects/Carnegie/2015/2015_Partnership_Grid.xls

http://surveygizmoresponseuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/fileuploads/51277/1229809/13-997740f2ed10742046afcb6509d53072_2015+Partnership+Grid.xls

for new, renovated and expanded facilities, Christensen emphasized how those facilities would be communityresources and enhance campus/community partnerships. For example, when a group of local foundations weredissatisfied with how a summer youth employment/career development program had been handled, theyreached out to UNO to partner in an approximately one million dollar annual program. That program is now inits fourth year.

Planning the Community Engagement Center has also enhanced existing partnerships, facilitated newrelationships, and set the stage for the next era of UNO/Community partnerships. The building will be dedicatedApril 17, 2014 and will have 11 community nonprofits operating in the building. Of those, only three had formalexisting partnerships with UNO. In addition, 10 UNO organizations, including 3 student-run programs, will be inthis space, where they will interact with their nonprofit neighbors and expand their outreach partnerships in thecommunity.


5. What actions have you taken since the last classification to deepen and improve partnershippractices and relationships—in initiating, sustaining, and assessing partnerships? How did thesepractices encourage authentic collaboration and reciprocity with community partners?

In 2010, UNO redefined Goal 3 of its strategic plan, to be more intentional about what it meant in regard topartnerships: “As an engaged campus, UNO is fully committed to creating value through mutually beneficialpartnerships where information and expertise is shared and applied for the common good." While all of thesub-goals were re-written in 2010, Sub-goal D now specifically focuses on campus resources in support ofdeveloping partnerships with corresponding objectives:

Sub-Goal D: “UNO will provide leadership through developing and expanding the infrastructure, resources,policies, and practices that support the university's commitment to engaging with the community. UNO will:”

Objective 1: “UNO will have a Community Engagement Center on campus that provides offices, learningspaces, meeting spaces, and community areas in support of work with community partners.”

Objective 4: “UNO will establish mechanisms for recognizing excellence in contributions and achievements thatadvance partnerships aimed at addressing the compelling needs in our community.”

Objective 5: “UNO will create communication strategies through which campus and community needs andopportunities are articulated and disseminated to internal and external constituencies.”

Objective 1 will be achieved in March of 2014 with the opening of the 60,000 square foot UNO CommunityEngagement Center, believed to be the first stand-alone, comprehensive, campus-based engagement centerin the United States. Along with extensive meeting space and offices for UNO’s signature outreach programs,the CEC includes office space for 21 university and community partners who incorporate community andcampus engagement, respectively, in their everyday operations.

The planning around the CEC and its ultimate construction was a key driver in UNO’s re-thinking its approachpartnerships. In holding 20 forums, UNO asked community and university partners to envision what a physicalspace would look like that would house campus/community partnerships, and in doing so uncovered multiplebarriers that were hindering partnerships (I.e., parking, campus accessibility, difficulty in locating appropriatecampus resources/personnel with whom to partner, and need for reciprocity).

UNO’s strategic planning events allowed campus and community participants to develop shared visions ofwhat an effective campus-based engagement center would look like and what it might need to be successful(shared office space, shared governance, accessible spaces for meetings and workshops, easy parking forvisitors to meet on campus). Not only did these dialogues set the vision for the engagement center, but they

clarified expectations for effective campus-community partnerships.

The Engagement Center’s decision making processes are founded on a set of specific values, determined bya campus/community advisory committee. The campus/community advisory committee includes funders,nonprofit professionals, community volunteers and campus representatives from Academic and Student Affairs,SLA, and Multicultural Affairs. The committee has authority for advising the Sr. Vice Chancellor on all occupants—campus and community as well as establishing usage priorities. The campus/community advisory committeedeveloped the values using a collaborative decision-making process facilitated by UNO’s Center forCollaboration Science. These values: diversity, communication, collaboration, dynamic building culture, andrespectful reciprocity have shaped selection of partners and will guide evaluation of its programs andpartnerships.


6. How are partnerships assessed, what have you learned from your assessments since your lastclassification, and how is assessment data shared?

At this time, formal partnership assessments are typically done by the specific programs/partnerships andshared with the appropriate campus and community partners, and funders. For example, virtually all formalpartnerships such as SLA’s Building Bright Futures/P-16 Initiative; SummerWorks Omaha; Nebraska BusinessDevelopment Center; and the Juvenile Justice Institute, systematically assess specific projects and provide anannual report.

In planning for the CEC, the campus/community advisory committee developed criteria both for the selection ofoccupants as well as to evaluate the partnerships in a systematic manner to determine the on-going benefit ofthe partnership.

The CEC is not an effort to centralize UNO’s outreach and partnerships. UNO is committed to its decentralizedapproach that allows individual and collaborative outreach programs to emerge somewhat organically.However, in the planning for the CEC, UNO has recognized the need to create a more coordinated andcoherent framework that will allow the campus and community to recognize, celebrate, and evaluatecampus/community partnerships.

A task force of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee is a campus-wide measurement of all engagementactivities. As described earlier, the units, faculty, and staff participated in these partnerships also submit annualreports which provide a summary or annual assessment/reflection of the partnerships. UNO anticipates thatuse of Digital Measures to collect annual data will improve assessment in this area.


7. How have faculty collaborated with community partners to produce scholarly products of benefitto the community that are representative of co-created knowledge between academics andcommunity partners resulting from outreach and partnerships (e.g., technical reports, curriculum,research reports, policy reports, publications, etc.). Provide five examples of faculty scholarshipconducted with partners for community benefit or to improve, critique, promote, or reflect onpartnerships. Also, describe how this scholarship has been supported since your last classification.

Faculty are encouraged to produce scholarly work in collaboration with and for the benefit of communitypartners related to outreach and partnerships. Collaborative scholarly work is explicitly rewarded in thereappointment, promotion, and tenure requirements for the College of Education, Business Administration,Information Science and Technology, Public Affairs and Community Service, and the Criss Library.

Mission statements of units such as the Office of Latino/Latin American Affairs (OLLAS), the Center for PublicAffairs Research (CPAR), and the Consortium for Crime and Criminal Justice Research (CCJ) addresscollaborative and community-based scholarly work. For example, CCJ’s mission is: “to collaborate with federal,state, and local government agencies, as well as with public and private social service organizations, inresearch, evaluation and implementation related to the promotion of public safety.” Due to the required use ofDigital Measures, with definitions and targeted questions for engaged research - departments, schools,colleges, and the campus will be able to report and describe collaborative activities.

Examples of collaborative scholarship are:

Adams, T., Kelley-Gillespie, N., and Rohlk, C. (April, 2010). Report to Immanuel Health Care System’s IdentityCommittee: Center for Healthy Aging, Ministries, Programs, and Services (CHAMPS) 2006-2010.

Decker, C. (2012,) " Research Report: The Impact of the 2012 Ak-Sar-Ben’s River City Rodeo and Stock Showon the City of Omaha, September 27th-30th, 2012: Survey Results and the Impact on the MetropolitanEconomy," Knights of Ak-sar-ben, Omaha, NE.

Decker, C., with Deichert, J., and Gouveia, L., (2012) The Economic Impact of Latin American & other Immigrantsin Iowa, Nebraska & the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. OLLAS report.

Ramos, A., Rajaaram, S., Gourveia, L. Doku, Y., Toure, D., Zhang, A. and Manske, S. (2013), Health Profile ofNebraska’s Latino Population. Collaborative work of UNO’s Office of Latino/Latin American Studies and theUniversity of Nebraska Medical Center’s Center for Reducing Health Disparities. OLLAS report.

Spohn, R. and UNO Consortium for Crime and Justice Research, (2013). Nebraska Sex Offender Registry Study:Final Report, prepared for the Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

A different type of collaborative scholarship is the biennial conference on Aging with Passion and Purpose. Thefirst conference was held in 2007. In October 2011, the conference “Aging with Passion and Purpose: AConference on Aging—‘IT’ Happens!” was held at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. It was a collaborationbetween the UNO School of Social Work, Department of Gerontology, Immanuel Communities, NebraskaRespite Resource Network, Financial Visions, LCC, Mass Mutual, and the Center for Healthy Aging, Ministries,Programs, and Services (CHAMPS). The theme of the conference in the fall of 2013 was “Living Well in the Ageof Technology.”


8. Provide a summary narrative describing overall changes that have taken place related tooutreach and partnerships on campus since the last classification. In your narrative, address thetrajectory of outreach and partnerships on your campus – where have you been, where are younow, where are you strategically planning on going? Provide relevant links.

Many factors have contributed to the expansion of outreach and partnerships. These factors set the stage forthe future.

Service Learning: As more faculty become engaged with service learning, greater awareness of the benefits ofall community-based learning and service with their students, fellow faculty, and administrators, is created.

Nonprofit incubation: UNO became more involved nurturing nonprofit organizations and direct capacity building.In 2006, CPACS launched partnerships similar to the 2000 Neighborhood Center initiative with Project Interfaith,Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless, and Omaha Table Talk. UNO became more involved incapacity building initiatives for nonprofit organizations, such as the Omaha Community Foundation and theNonprofit Association of the Midlands. UNO also provided facilitation through the Center for Collaboration

Science.

Capital projects: The CPACS incubator sparked the interest of donors, who financially supported CPACS’renovation and expansion of a vacant building into its new 90,000 square foot home. Construction for otheracademic buildings, such as CBA’s new Mammel Hall, Education’s renovated and expanded Roskens Hall, andrenovated and expanded Criss Library intentionally included space for outreach programs.

The two most notable capital projects are the UNO Community Engagement Center, completed in March 2014,and the UNO Community Arena to be completed in summer 2015. The UNO Community Arena, an over 80million dollar project with $40 million originating from private donations, is designed to support UNO athleticprograms and to elevate UNO’s community connection.

The CEC, a $24 million, 70,000 sq. ft. building, constructed with private funds, provides 12,000 sq. ft. ofcommunity/university partnership space. The CEC also greatly expanded space for the UNO Service LearningAcademy, has generous space for the soon-to-be-launched Student Volunteer and Leadership Collaborative(“the Collaborative”); multiple collaborative workspaces, meeting areas, board and conference rooms, andflexible resource rooms. The CEC is now home to 21 university and community partner organizations. Allmeeting spaces are available and free to the public/university community for purposes deemed to be for the“public good.”

Expanded student service opportunities: Since 2006, more students have become involved in a broader rangeof community service activities. The campus now has a range of Signature Service Days. UNO students firstparticipated in the Clinton Global Initiative in 2013 and officially joined the Initiative in 2014. UNO has broadenedits focus to engage students from community colleges and high schools.

Reorganizing to support engagement: From a “forward leaning” perspective, improving and connecting a co-curricular learning agenda to institutional learning outcomes is a declared organizational priority. Proof isevident in the structural integration/alignment of academic and student affairs. The Division of Student Affairswas recently reorganized to support this priority. Departments and offices have reorganized to focus onspecific student success outcomes. These outcomes include improving graduation/completion rates andenhancing student learning outside of the classroom. Identified co-curricular learning outcomes will focus onthe development of:

• Intercultural, social, and emotional competencies• Volunteer, recruitment, training, and development skills• Leadership identity and collaboration skills• Project management skills• Communication skills

41. III. 41. III. Wrap-UpWrap-Up

1. (Optional) Please use this space to describe any additional changes since your last classificationnot captured in previous questions.

In the spring of 2013, UNO created the Office of University Communications with responsibility for coordinating,supporting, and integrating all institutional marketing, communications, and media relations. In less than a year,the Office’s responsibilities have expanded to government relations and event coordination. The Office, inpartnership with Information Technology Services, has primary oversight and responsibility for a completerenovation of the UNO website - www.unomaha.edu. The website renovation includes developing a governancestructure for UNO sites, approved templates, and a content management system (CMS). The renovation beganin spring of 2013 and is on-going with units being brought into the new system in phases. This new office andthe website renovation are significant for several reasons.

First, “telling our engagement story” to internal and external audiences has been a challenge without a centraloffice supporting marketing, communications, and media relations and without well-organized and maintainedcampus, college, department/school, and offices websites.

Second, UNO websites are in such flux that we have provided few direct links in this application. UniversityCommunications created a specific page to maintain some key documents referenced as well as providesome other resources. For example, to illustrate the scope of the changes, three colleges have moved to thenew format and CMS at the top level and are working on moving through all of their site. The new CEC websitewill go live after its dedication. The Service Learning Academy website will launch its new site before the fall.

Third, the web redesign intentionally highlights UNO’s commitment to community engagement in all areas. Forthe first time, engagement is part of the main navigation (http://www.unomaha.edu/engagement/index.php). Ascolleges, departments, schools, and offices are brought into the new format, the process includes planninghow each unit will address community engagement. University Communications has also developed newinternal communications for faculty, staff, and students. The Maverick Daily, for faculty and staff, featurescampus engagement initiatives such as “Service Learning Today,” and at the end of 2013 provided a “Best of2013: Community Engagement Initiatives.” (http://www.unomaha.edu/news/2013/12/homepage/eoydec31.php).

University Communications is strategically and intentionally working to promote UNO’s community engagementactivities and commitment to external audiences.

With the implementation of mechanisms to gather faculty activities (Digital Measures) and student activities(Mav/Org Sync) - development of oversight for community engagement and assessment generally, andestablishment of University Communications - UNO is now positioned to effectively measure, assess, report,and tell its story of community engagement.

Finally, in addressing specific questions, it is difficult to capture how community engagement permeates thecampus culture. Throughout his distinguished career at UNO, especially since 2006 when he became interimChancellor, John Christensen has inspired, advocated, and challenged the campus to be “a national prototypefor innovative interactions with our community” (State of the University, 2009). He has reallocated anddeveloped resources to ensure that faculty, staff, students, and community partners could do the worknecessary to meet his lofty vision for UNO. UNO’s faculty, staff, and students as well as its community partnershave embraced that vision.

42. III. 42. III. Wrap-UpWrap-Up

2. (Optional) Please provide any suggestions or comments you may have on the documentationprocess and online data collection.

43. Request for Permission43. Request for Permission

Please respond to A or B below:

Yes No

A. I consent to having the information provided in the application for the purposes of research. Inproviding this consent, the identity of my campus will not be disclosed.

B. I consent to having the information provided in the application for the purposes of research. Inproviding this consent, I also agree that the identity of my campus may be revealed.

44. Application Submission Confirmation44. Application Submission Confirmation

Receipt Confirmation: 2015 Community Engagement Re-Classification Application

Apr 14, 2014 09:33:42 Success: Email Sent to: [email protected]

To NERCHE

Apr 14, 2014 09:33:43 Success: Email Sent to: [email protected]

Partnership Name Community Partner Institutional Partner Purpose

1 P-16 Initiative Building Bright Futures Service Learning K-12 student engagement

2 Project Interfaith Project InterfaithCollege of Public Affairs &

Community ServiceInterfaith understanding

3 Omaha Community Partnership Omaha Community Partnership UNO Youth Juv. Justice and Welfare

4 Nonprofit Capacity Initiative Omaha Community Foundation School of Public AdministrationSupport small nonprofit

development

5 MOEC 12 public school districts College of Education P-16 collaboration

6 KANEKO-UNO Creative Library

Kaneko, a 501C3 public non-

profit cultureal organizaiton

founded by artist Jun Kaneko

Criss Library

KANEKO-UNO Library seeks to

inspire people to expand their

awareness and knowledge

iwthin an atmosphere of flexible

learning.

7Nebraska Business

Development Center

Multiple partnerships with Small

Business Development Centers

throughout the state and many

businesses

College of Business

Administration

Business start-ups, training,

leadership, business technology

and consultation

Page 1 2015 CE Partnership Grid


8Nebraska Certified Public

Manager (CPM) Program

The program is designed to

benefit current government or

non-profit supervisors,

managers, and persons with

significant responsibilities (e.g.,

municipal or county clerks) and

also persons who are interested

in supervisory or management

positions in a government or non-

profit organization.

School of Public Administration

The CPM program aims to foster

and encourage the highest

possible levels of performance

and ethical practice of public and

non-profit sector managers.

9Nebraska Municipal Clerk

Institute and Academy

League of Nebraska

Municipalities and the Nebraska

Municipal Clerks' Association

School of Public AdministrationAnnual education professional

seminar

10Center for Public Affairs

Research (CPAR)

Nebraska Data Center/US

Bureau of the Census

College of Public Affairs and

Community Service

Research and community

outreach

11

Center for Innovation,

Entrepreneurship &

Franchising (CIEF)

various by project College of Business

Administration

The Center supports

entrepreneurial education and

collaboration, innovative hands-

on learning experience, as well

as faculty research, conferences

and mentorship.



12 SummerWorks OmahaCity's public parks system and

local nonprofits

Office of Civic and Social

Responsibility (Studenet Affairs)

SummerWorks provides

opportutnities for high school

students to explore career and

post high education

opportunities, and increases

their sense of citizienship and

civic responsibility.

13 Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI)Nebraska juvenile justice

system,

School of Criminology and

Criminal Justice

JJI explores the most effective

and practical juvenile justice

strategies and programs.

14 NASA Nebraska Space Grant

NASA and 11 Nebraska college

and universities as academic

affiliates

UNO Aviaition Institute

Development of research

infrastructure and enhancement

of the quality of aerospace

research and education

throughout the state.

15William Brennan Institute for

Labor Studies

William Brennan Institute for

Labor Studies

College of Public Affairs and

Community Service

Mission is to foster creative and

critical thinking among labor

leaders, potential leaders, and

interested members by providing

relevant information and training

in the skills needed in today's

changing economy and

workplace.


1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Length of Partnership Number of faculty Number of students Grant funding

5 years 80 in 12-131097 UNO & 256 K-12

in 12-13 yes, $500,000 plus annually

5 years 4 15 $700K

17 years 4 1

3 years 3 3 $30K

Over 30 years 65120,000 K-12 students

& 1,300 UNO students no

4 years

1 director and

rotating UNO library

staff

not applicable no

25 years

1 faculty member

and many

professional staff

members

State-wide impact on

students and

professionals

Federal


8

9

10

11


7 years17 academics and

public managers

10 working

professionals

45% of funding comes from program

fees; 54% from UNO and 1% from grant

37 years6-8 UNO fauclty per

year not applicable no

50 years 4 203

It is 99% funded through the fees and

university and 1% contribution from the

Nebraska Municipal Clerks Association.

3 years

1 full-time, additonal

CBA fauclty involved

by project

varies by project/event

includes UNO and High

school students

yes, receieved 1 million endowment in

Fall 2013


12

13

14

15


3 years

1 Director and 45

summer hires for

porgram

implementation an

assessment

150 high school

students$1.343 Million

11 2 no yes, varies by project

22 years 117 1,107 $575,000

33 years 3 staff members

Over 2700 community

attendees for

contracted, invited, and

open coures

yes


1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Institution Impact Community Impact

increased student learning

K-12 retention, graduation, direct

benefit/service to nonprofit

partners

Student internships, interfaith programmingInterfaith programming and

workshops

Engagement and influence on policy

decisions, collaborative decisions

Ensures collaborative decision

making among justice,

educational, gov. leaders

Faculty overload, student internships and

assistantships

Evaluation of effectiveness of

capacity building for new/small

nonprofits

Multiple collaborations Seamless P-16 education

library outreach, unique space and collection

for faculty, staff, and students to explore

creativity

Support Kaneko's and UNO's

goals to inspire people to

expand their awreness and

knowledge in an atmosphere of

flexible learning

Access to workshops/expertise

Economic benefit,

entrepreneursip, NE

Manufacutirng Extension

Partnership


8

9

10

11


the consortium has selected the University of

Nebraska at Omaha School of Public

Administration to be the exclusive provider of

CPM training in Nebraska. The Nebraska

Certified Public Manager ® Program

enhances performance by teaching

Nebraska supervisors and managers to

apply recognized management theories and

best practices to the challenge they face.

Well-trained public managers

provide better service to the

public.

public service of School of Public

Adminsitration, extending UNO expertise

to community

The program provides training

for municipal clerks, deputy

clerks, treasures, city

clerk/administrators and

municipal staff

The program is designed for municipal

clerks, deputy clerks, treasurers, city

clerk/administrators and affiliated municipal

staff. The Institute encompasses all activities

organized by the Institute staff and Nebraska

Municipal Clerks’ Association (NMCA)

including the educational sessions, vendors

displays, evening networking events, silent

auction, NMCA business meeting and all

other meetings and events held on site

during the Institute week. The Nebraska

Institute is one of the largest and most active

in the country.

Assembling, identify and analyze

census data for local

government, businesses and

nonprofits.

Support for education, collaboration, learning

experience, and faculty research,

conferences and mentorships.

CIEF provides advisory services

to start-ups and small business

entitites


12

13

14

15


Extensive collaboration with nonprofits and

outreach to high school students

employment, career, and

coillege preparation for 150 high

school youth and direct benefits

with parks clean-up, commuinty

arts projects

JJI provides UNO students with unique

educational and research opportunities.

The JJI promotes best practices

in juvenile justice by providing

technical assistance and

completing policy and program

evaluation for state nad local

agencies, as well as private

organizations.

Educational opportunities for students,

teachers and faculty in STEP disciplines.

Provides scholarships,

internships, and higher

education mini-grants to

promote aerospace workforce

development across the state.

Public service, outreach and research

mission of CPACs

The William Brennan Institute

educates individuals on labor

issues,


engagement classification (re-classification applicants ... · commendable record on this score....

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