University of Louisville
2323 S. Brook St.
Louisville, KY 40208
Background on Community Engagement
This glossary of terms was developed and recommended by the community engagement steering committee and approved by the Provost. It is designed to provide common language for the University of Louisville in community engagement. Different terms such as public outreach/engagement and civic engagement are used to identify community engagement work across higher education and consequently lead to confusion. It is the intention that having a common language across the university will minimize confusion. You will note that community-based learning (CBL) courses include a number of teaching and learning strategies. A few terms such as field placement and practicum may be defined differently based on the discipline in which they are used. As a result, no standard definition is provided for these terms. They are to be defined according to the discipline that uses such terms.