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Carnegie Classification The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has been supporting the cause of higher education for just over a century. Although their classification system has now changed somewhat, when they designated ASU as a “Research 1” university in 1993, it was a major benchmark in ASU’s transformation.
That’s why in 2005, when we learned from other colleges that the Carnegie Foundation was rolling out a new Community Engagement classification, we got excited. This classification, which calls attention to institutions that have sustainable, productive, direct engagement with the communities that surround them, appeared to be in perfect synchrony with one of ASU’s major goals. If ASU were to receive this classification, it would provide local recognition of the good work going on across many departments at the school. The classification would also help call national attention to the idea of social embeddedness and the dream of building a New American University.
So UI helped to lead the charge. We submitted a letter of intent in the spring of 2006. The next step was to begin filling out the extensive documentation that the classification demands. UI coordinated this documentation. We worked with the ASU Outreach Initiatives Committee to collect information needed to complete the documentation and ensure we were inclusive of community engagement efforts across the four campuses. Dozens of faculty and staff from many different ASU colleges and schools participated. And we used the ASU in the Community database of community outreach programs that we had been building for the last few years.
In December of 2006, we found out the results of our application. The Carnegie Foundation awards two different Social Engagement classifications, Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships. ASU garnered both.
This national certification has helped ASU in many ways. It provides an external perspective that confirms we are making progress in the area of social embeddedness, and it helps create both internal and external awareness about these opportunities and ideas. Lately, we have fielded questions from peer universities about what we are doing and how we are doing it. And it’s great to know that we are part of a group of universities that are all working hard to achieve effective community engagement.
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