UNCG recertified as Carnegie Community-Engaged Institution

GREENSBORO, N.C., Jan. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UNCG has been recertified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a 2015 Community-Engaged Institution. The Carnegie Foundation's Community Engagement classification is awarded for "deep engagement" at local, regional, national and global levels.

UNCG, classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a High-Research Activity University, earned its initial Community Engagement classification from Carnegie in 2008. UNCG is one of only 157 American universities and colleges that were recertified for 2015. 

"I am proud of the work of UNCG faculty and students that has resulted in this renewed recognition by the Carnegie Foundation," said UNCG Provost Dana Dunn. "This designation reaffirms UNCG's continued commitment to engaging the greater community and to providing opportunities for our students to serve while they learn and carry out their research."

The interconnections between teaching, scholarship and public service were critical to UNCG's application, said Dr. Emily Janke, director of the UNCG Institute of Community and Economic Engagement. UNCG's focus on mutually beneficial and reciprocal partnerships with communities set the university apart.

"At UNCG, we engage because we know that great accomplishments are made possible when we bring together community and university-based knowledge," Janke said. "These collaborative activities take place in and out of the classroom, as well as on and off campus." 

These partnerships are just a sampling of programs highlighted in UNCG's application:

• GK 12 -- A $2.8 million, five-year National Science Foundation grant enables UNCG graduate students to enrich science lessons for hundreds of students at three High Point schools. Graduate students in biology, chemistry and geography work with students and teachers at Montlieu Elementary, Welborn Middle and Andrews High schools to investigate the health, biological and socioeconomic effects of changing land use patterns in the region.
• City Oasis -- The City Oasis Project is building an urban farm in the Warnersville community that not only produces food but also create jobs in the low-income area. Marianne LeGreco, a UNCG communication studies professor who specializes in health communication and food policy, has played a key role in the project, which also involves UNCG students.
• Sustainable Glenwood -- Through the Sustainable Glenwood project, UNCG faculty and students are serving one of Greensboro's historic neighborhoods by offering affordable, innovative and sustainable preservation. Travis Hicks, director of UNCG's Center for Community-Engaged Design, has involved many UNCG interior architecture students in Sustainable Glenwood, working in partnership with Preservation Greensboro.

To be selected, UNCG had to provide descriptions and examples of institutionalized practices of community engagement that showed alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices. 

"The importance of this elective classification is borne out by the response of so many campuses that have demonstrated their deep engagement with local, regional, national and global communities," said John Saltmarsh, director of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE). "These are campuses that are improving teaching and learning, producing research that makes a difference in communities, and revitalizing their civic and academic missions."

View UNCG's full application at http://communityengagement.uncg.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Carnegie-Application_Public-Updated.pdf. 

For more on community engagement at UNCG, visit http://communityengagement.uncg.edu/.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is committed to developing networks of ideas, individuals and institutions to advance teaching and learning. We join together scholars, practitioners and designers in new ways to solve problems of educational practice.Toward this end, we work to integrate the discipline of improvement science into education with the goal of building the field's capacity to improve.

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is a challenging, supportive and engaged community where learning is carried forward to Do something bigger altogether. Founded in 1891, UNCG is the largest and most diverse university in the Triad, serving more than 18,000 students. Standing apart from other universities, the UNCG community is joined together by a shared value: We define excellence not only by the people we attract, but by the meaningful contributions they make.

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SOURCE The University of North Carolina at Greensboro