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K-State Today

November 30, 2015

K-State rolls out Engagement Benchmarking Tool

Submitted by David E. Procter

Kansas State University has a long history of engaging Kansas' citizens and communities. Engagement is fundamental to K-State's mission statement. It is one of the important theme areas of K-State's 2025 Visionary Plan, and our engagement work has been critical to achieving the designation of Engaged University from the Carnegie Foundation in 2010 and being reaccredited by the Higher Learning Commission in 2012.

To continue to understand the breadth and significance of campus engagement and to be able to report our engaged work, the Office of the Provost and the Center for Engagement and Community Development are launching the Engagement Benchmarking Tool, or EBT, the first week of December. The K-State EBT is an online survey for faculty and academic staff regarding their scholarly outreach and engagement. The EBT will be emailed directly to faculty, on-campus extension specialists and selected unclassified staff. The survey will remain open until Feb. 1, 2016.

Engagement is a form of research, teaching or service in which collaborative efforts between university and community stakeholders result in scholarly activity and community benefit around a public issue. Engagement occurs when an individual's scholarly work connects with citizens, communities and/or organizations outside the academy with the direct goal of improving outcomes for those who live and work in those communities. That is, engagement is scholarly activity conducted for the direct benefit of audiences external to the academy. Through engagement, K-State endeavors to fulfill its historic land-grant mission.

Data collected through the K-State EBT will demonstrate the university's collective commitment of time, scholarly resources and research discoveries for the direct benefit of citizens, communities and organizations in Kansas, the nation and the world. These results will help colleges and departments chart their progress toward Vision 2025 engagement, extension, service and outreach goals. Results also will be important as K-State seeks reaccreditation as an Engaged University from the Carnegie Foundation. Results from the EBT also will assist K-State in communicating to parents, students, legislators and citizen leaders the impact the university is having in areas of economic development, public health, civic engagement, food security, sustainability, innovation, arts and culture.

To help you prepare for completing the EBT, a PDF version of the benchmarking survey is available. You can download the PDF to examine the survey and pull supporting materials together in preparation for completion of the online EBT. 

David Procter, director of the Center for Engagement and Community Development, will give a lunch brown bag session on Friday, Dec. 4, in 247 Leadership Studies Building.

Questions regarding the EBT can be directed to the Center for Engagement and Community Development at cecd@k-state.edu or 785-532-6868.

David Procter, Director
Center for Engagement and Community Development
785-532-6868
dprocter@k-state.edu

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