Purdue’s Engaged College Program: Elevating Community Engagement Across Campus

Purdue University has long been recognized for its commitment to community engagement—defined as the collaboration with communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity, a key component of its mission as a land-grant institution. The Engaged College Program (ECP), a new initiative developed by the Office of Engagement, is a significant step forward in integrating and enhancing the impact of engagement efforts across its units. The ECP is designed to help colleges identify their engagement practices while providing the support needed for improvement.

The program is both flexible and comprehensive, allowing each college to customize its engagement objectives while aligning with the broader university engagement framework and protocol. Participating colleges will complete two key deliverables: a college engagement self-assessment and a college engagement action plan. These deliverables are designed to help colleges evaluate their current engagement practices and develop plans to enhance their impact in the future to align with Purdue’s engagement goals.

Many of Purdue’s colleges are already doing remarkable work in community engagement; however, there is currently no shared definition and/or standardized process to measure the impact of these activities university wide. The ECP addresses this gap by creating a framework that allows for better measurement, storytelling, and recognition of engagement efforts across campus. As a land-grant university, Purdue has a long-standing commitment to serving communities through community engagement. The ECP will help ensure that this effort continues by providing a clear structure for colleges to follow in their engagement activities.

The ECP is a key component of Purdue’s upcoming reclassification application for the Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement. Purdue received this classification in 2008 and was reclassified in 2015. The university must apply again in April 2025 to retain this designation. By participating in the program, colleges can demonstrate their commitment to community engagement and learn more about their community engagement efforts by providing evidence of their impact through the self-assessment and action plan. From a university perspective, it will provide community engagement data, examples, and anecdotes to enhance its storytelling.

The ECP offers resources and support to help colleges focus on their community engagement priorities. This includes building and maintaining quality partnerships, improving assessment and tracking processes, raising awareness of engagement opportunities, and recognizing and rewarding engagement activities. This initiative will also increase the visibility of engagement work within the university, allowing colleges to connect with others who are working with community partners. This collaboration can lead to more impactful engagement efforts, as well as increased support for engaged research and teaching activities.

The Engaged College Program initiative will have a lasting impact on Purdue University’s engagement efforts by telling Purdue’s story of community engagement. Colleges across campus will be key in strengthening Purdue’s engagement commitment and ensuring engagement activities are impactful.

Congratulations to the College of Veterinary Medicine for being the FIRST college to complete the ECP (self-assessment and action plan)! The task force, spearheaded by Professor Sandy SanMiguel self-assessed their college across the 25 items and five dimensions. Due to this self-assessment, for example, they learned that they need to improve data gathering around engagement and storytelling. Their action plan consists of six items across two goals.

For additional questions on the ECP, email Dr. Roberto Gallardo, Vice President for Engagement at engagement@purdue.edu.