K-State Applies for Carnegie Designation

The Carnegie Foundation's Classification for Community Engagement is an elective classification based on voluntary participation by institutions of higher education. The elective classification involves data collection and documentation of important aspects of institutional mission, identity and commitments and requires substantial effort invested by participating colleges and universities. There are currently 361 campuses with the elective Community Engagement Classification, which opens for application on a five-year cycle.

The classification is not an award. It is an evidence-based documentation of institutional practice to be used in a process of self-assessment and quality improvement. In this way, it is similar to an accreditation process of self-study. The documentation is reviewed by a national review panel to determine whether the institution qualifies for recognition as a community-engaged institution. Classification is valid for 10 years. Kansas State University first received the Carnegie designation in 2010 and is eligible for re-classification in 2020.

Members of K-State Carnegie Reclassification Task Force were identified and invited to serve by Provost April Mason. The membership goal of the task force was to have representation from all university colleges, university engagement centers, and from representative community partners. Provost Mason convened and charged the task force in May 2018 to serve as the primary Carnegie brainstorming group. Meeting monthly from August 2018 to March 2019, the task force provided data, examples, and other resources to answer many of the Carnegie reclassification application questions. In addition to collecting information from the taskforce, face-to-face and phone interviews were conducted with 24 additional campus engagement stakeholders. Five focus groups were conducted to solicit perceptions from community partners for the strengths, challenges, and suggestions of collaboration with K-State. Four of the five focus groups were composed of domestic partners – two on the Manhattan campus, one on the Olathe campus, and one on the Polytechnic campus. One focus group featured participants from K-State international partnerships. Putting together the application demonstrated an incredible breadth and depth to K-State engagement. To read more about K-State engagement you can view the Carnegie application at: www.ksu.edu/engagement

The Carnegie “Community-Engaged University” reclassification application was submitted on April 15, 2019 and K-State will know the decision in January, 2020.