Community Engagement

Addressing the needs and interests of our diverse communities locally, statewide, nationally and internationally.

Professional Development in Community-Engaged Scholarship

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities 

Grant Writing for Community-Engaged Scholars

Dates: November 17, February 2, March 1 and May 14

Time: 12:00-1:30

Venue: Virtual via Microsoft Teams

REGISTER HERE 

Workshop Description

The Office of Community Engagement, Office of the Provost, and Office of Institutional Equity invite faculty, staff, and graduate students to participate in this series of workshops on grant writing. This workshop will introduce the basics of grant writing from the lenses of community engagement, present the foundation for developing a letter of inquiry and a full proposal, provide approaches to engage funders, and provide insights into the review process. To gain maximum benefit, participants are strongly encouraged to attend all four workshops in the series.

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate the use of key grant terminology.
  • Create a Letter of Inquiry.
  • Create a grant proposal that includes the main parts of a proposal such as a problem statement, plan of operation, budget, goals, objectives, activities, an evaluation plan, outcomes, and a timeline of activities to be completed.
  • Use databases to search for potential funders and gather financial data to understand a foundation’s giving priorities. 
  • Use provided resources to conduct prospect research and build a strong fundraising portfolio.
  • Participate in a mock grant review and evaluate proposals in a panel session. Give insight into the grant review process in which participants can reflect on the result and engineer a proposal based on the evaluation criteria and alignment.

 

Workshop Requirements

Electronic handbooks will be provided.

PowerPoint slides and articles for each session will be provided.

 

Workshop #1 November 17th: Introduction to Grant Writing

12:00-1:30 pm

(Grant Definitions, searching for funding, private donors, telling the story of your organization, introducing the parts of a letter of inquiry/concept paper).

Homework Assignment #1: Searching for Funding and Creating the Story of your Organization and develop letter of inquiry/concept paper draft. Completion time: 1 hour. *Email assignment by week before the next session

Workshop #2 February 2nd: Workshop: TheLetter of Inquiry

  • Review the parts of a Letter of Inquiry.
  • Introduce project goals, objectives, and outcomes.
  • Developing statement of need/significance goals, objectives, and outcomes.

 

Homework Assignment #2: Write a Letter of Inquiry Completion time: no more than 1 hour. *Email assignment by week before the next session

Workshop #3 March 1st: TheFull Proposal

  • Review Parts of a Full Proposal (Activities, timeline, personnel, outcomes/logic model, budget, and evaluation).

Homework Assignment #3:

1) Complete your full proposal and email to me for review and written feedback Completion time: no more than 1 hour.

2) Read and draft technical review form of provided sample grant proposal to use for workshop #4 mock grant session.

Completion time: 2 hours *Email assignment #3 by week before the next session

Workshop #4 May 14th: Mock Grant Session(live session)

  • Break out into panel groups and evaluate grant proposals using a technical Review Form.
  • Wrap up and final questions.

 

Homework Assignment #4: Complete technical review form of grant review based on your panel discussions.Email technical review form (TRF) of grant review for feedback. Completion time: no more than 30 minutes.

 

Presenters Bio:

James Orlick

As Director of Grant Writing and Innovation at UofL, James serves as a key member of the Vice President's leadership team and ensures alignment with the University's strategic plan as an R1 university committed to DEI. James oversees the delivery of high-quality grant writing for the Office of Institutional Equity and across the University for proposals relating to DEI and institutional change. In this position, he innovates and has metrics to increases the DEI grant activity and DEI philanthropic gifts from corporations, foundations, and government agencies, building strong strategic grant proposal collaborations across the University and aligning them with the University's strategic agenda.

James serves as a peer reviewer for numerous U.S. Department of Education programs including Teacher Quality Programs, several U.S. Office of Indian Education programs, American Overseas Research Centers and International Research and Studies Program.

James has raised millions in corporate, foundation, and government grants for projects in higher education that focus on institutional change, inclusive excellence, curriculum development, and support for underrepresented students through mentoring, program support, college readiness, and scholarship support. Previously serving as the Director of Corporate and Foundations Relations at W&J College in Pennsylvania, Before W&J College, James served as the first Director of Foundation Relations and grant writer for Inclusion and Equity at Clemson University. James provided foundation and grant writing support for Inclusion and Equity projects across seven colleges, focusing on large institutional change grants. At Clemson, James developed proposals and cultivated foundations for seven-figure grant awards focusing on building equitable pathways to college. Before Clemson University, James spent more than thirteen years as a professor in technology and grant writer in New York City, South Carolina (HBCU), and lectured in the Philippines. James holds a Master of Legal Studies, Intellectual Property Law (ASU- Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law), Master of Arts (New York University-Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development), Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (Concord University), Certificate in Grant Writing (University of South Carolina), and a Certificate from the Grant Training Center in Professional Grant Development in Arlington, Virginia.

 

Whitney Sweeney-Martin

Whitney Sweeney-Martin is the Director of Faculty Inclusive Excellence in the Office of Faculty Affairs. She is an alum of the University of Louisville earning her Bachelor of Arts in Communication and holds a Master of Science in Education from Indiana University. Whitney brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for inclusive excellence and well-being to the university. Whitney works to attain institutional equity from a faculty perspective, improve faculty well-being and to advocate for systemically under-represented or underserved faculty.

 

Henry R. Cunningham, Ph.D.

Dr. Henry R. Cunningham is the Inaugural Director of Community Engagement at the University of Louisville where he co-founded and co-directed the International Service Learning Program. He initiated several programs, including Student Philanthropy, the Community-based Learning Institute, the annual Engaged Scholarship Symposium, and the development of community engagement plans by academic and administrative units to institutionalize community engagement. Dr. Cunningham is a national expert on community engagement. He serves on the Executive Board of the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, an Editor for the International Journal for Research in Service Learning and Community Engagement, and as a reviewer for the Carnegie Elective Classification in Community Engagement. He has extensive background in international and community development, having conducted developmental work in several countries. He was assigned to the United Nations where he worked with international leaders focusing on sustainable development in developing countries. Dr. Cunningham currently teaches a community-based learning course, enabling students to engage with the immigrant community. He has published articles and book chapters on community engagement. He co-edited a book Library Collaborations and Community Partnerships: Enhancing Health and Quality of Life, which was published in 2020.

Engaged Learning Reading Circle 

Reading Circles bring educators together for cross-disciplinary conversation to build knowledge, community and collaboration.

Key Practices for Fostering Engaged Learning: A Guide for Faculty & Staff by Jessie L. Moore

Join the Delphi Center, the Center for Engaged Learning, and the Office of Community Engagement as we read Key Practices for Fostering Engaged Learning: A Guide for Faculty & Staff in support of UofL’s strategic goal to support the whole student through transformative, purpose-driven and engaged learning.

The Engaged Learning Reading Circle has reached its maximum registrations. If you would like to join the waitlist, please sign up here.

Key Practices for Fostering Engaged Learning  - Book Image 

Purpose

To provide faculty and staff a space and place to explore research-based practices that support engaged learning, identify places for application within their own practice, and work collectively to meet UofL’s goal to provide each student at least one engaged learning experience.

Who May Join?

We welcome instructors and student support staff at all levels. This Reading Circle is limited to 10 participants.

Meeting Dates

We will meet for 75 minutes three times over the course of the Reading Circle. You will have the option of meeting a fourth time in a working session with your peers to apply your learning in work you do with students. All events are virtual and will be hosted via MS Teams.

  • Friday, September 22, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
  • Friday, October 13, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
  • Friday, November 3, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Optional working session:

  • Friday, November 10, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Expectations for Participation

Participants will receive a copy of the book at the beginning of September. We will convene as a group three times. We will discuss 2-3 chapters of the book at each meeting (approximately 50 pages).

Further, we ask participants to:

  • Commit to changing an element of their practice to enhance engaged learning.
  • Fill out a brief evaluation at the conclusion of the Reading Circle.

You may choose to attend the optional working session designed to help you apply what you learned and provide peer feedback on your progress.

Co-Facilitators

This Reading Circle will have a series of co-facilitators who will rotate:

Caroline Boswell, Acting Co-Associate Director of Teaching & Learning, Delphi Center

Henry Cunningham, Director of the Office of Community Engagement and Faculty Member, Pan-African Studies

Paul DeMarco, Director of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, Center for Engaged Learning, and Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Erica Gabbard, Director of Experiential Learning, Center for Engaged Learning






Past Professional Development Opportunities 

Engaged Learning Sparklabs

The Center for Engaged Learning, the Office of Community Engagement, and the Delphi Center are partnering to offer Engaged Learning Sparklabs, where instructors across disciplines have the chance to learn more about designing courses that connect class-based learning to broader contexts through hands-on experiences.

WHEN:

Friday, March 31, 12:00-1:15 p.m. Register Now Lunch will be provided

Wednesday, May 10, 12:00-1:15 p.m. Register Now Lunch will be provided

The new Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) has a goal to provide an enriching engaged learning experience to all undergraduate students. The CEL defines engaged learning as contexts in which students apply their knowledge to expand and deepen their skillset by participating in concrete experiences beyond the classroom which require reflection, perspective taking, critical thinking, and active exploration.

All UofL instructors interested in offering engaged learning experiences to their students are invited to attend. These labs are designed to spark ideas and dialogue among participants about creating and improving engaged learning experiences for all UofL students.

Topics covered:

  • What is engaged learning
  • Enhancing student learning and persistence through engaged learning
  • Integrating key instructional practices that promote engaged learning
  • Exploring different engaged learning experiences
  • Identifying faculty resources and needs
  • Creating an engaged learning action plan

During the Sparklab, you will:

  • Engage with the six key practices that promote engaged learning
  • Identify instructional resources and needs to support engaged learning
  • Create a plan of actionable steps to promote or provide engaged learning experiences to your students

Facilitators:

  • Caroline Boswell, Acting Co-Associate Director of Teaching and Learning
  • Henry Cunningham, Director, Office of Community Engagement
  • Paul DeMarco, Professor of Psychology and Brain Science, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and Interim Director of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, Center for Engaged Learning
  • Erica Gabbard, Director of Experiential Learning, Center for Engaged Learning

Accounting for Community Engaged Scholarship in the Promotion and Tenure Process with Sara Goodkind

Date: November 2, 2022

Session Description

Community-engaged scholarship is an approach in which university faculty and community partners collaborate in research that generates knowledge to meet mutually agreed-upon goals with reciprocal benefit and public impact. Such research, due to its collaborative nature, often takes longer than other common forms of academic research and generates both academic and public-facing products (for example, both peer-reviewed journal articles and public reports and presentations). Because of these differences, it is essential that schools and departments understand the principles of community-engaged scholarship and develop ways to mentor and support community-engaged scholars through the tenure and promotion process. Based on an effort to institutionalize these procedures at the University of Pittsburgh, this session will provide information and guidance for faculty, chairs, deans, and others involved in these processes.

  1. Name guiding principles of community-engaged scholarship.
  2. Identify some of the challenges facing faculty involved in community-engaged scholarship as they navigate the promotion and tenure process.
  3. Explore strategies to support these faculty at the department/school level.
  4. Describe recommendations for community-engaged faculty to proactively prepare for the promotion and tenure process.
  5. Describe recommendations for those reviewing dossiers of community-engaged scholars.

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Sara Goodkind, Ph.D., MSW, is Professor of Social Work, Sociology, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, where she teaches courses that support social workers in developing structural competence and cultural humility. Dr. Goodkind is a critical feminist scholar whose work examines the structural roots of what are too often framed as individual “problems.” Specifically, much of her research and scholarship focus on social service programs and systems that work with young people, concentrating on young people’s experiences in educational, child welfare, and juvenile legal systems. Dr. Goodkind’s research examines and exposes institutional biases and systemic inequities, tracing young people’s pathways through systems and providing evidence and recommendations for systems and policy change. Dr. Goodkind developed her research interests through her work with young people as a teacher, mentor, facilitator, and social worker, and she is engaged in collaborative community-engaged research aimed at effecting systemic change. Last year, Dr. Goodkind chaired an ad-hoc committee at the University of Pittsburgh charged with developing recommendations for schools and departments to account for community-engaged scholarship in the promotion and tenure process.


 

Understanding Community-Engaged Scholarship: A Conversation on Promotion & Tenure (September 28, 2022)

Higher education has for many years played a vital role in contributing to our society by engaging with our communities through research, teaching, and outreach. One of the challenges facing this work is the lack of legitimacy it faces within higher education itself in relation to promotion and tenure purposes. Similarly, there is the lack of knowledge from the broader community on the contribution higher education is making to society. To change this mentality higher education must transform itself. It needs to recognize and demonstrate the value, relevance, and impact of community engagement. The conversation was led by Dr. Barbara Holland, higher education scholar, a pioneer and expert in the field of community engagement along with UofL’ s Dr. Cherie Dawson-Edwards, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Dr. Henry Cunningham, Director of Community Engagement.


 

Community Engagement: Navigating Challenges and Pitfalls in Teaching and Research (February 18, 2022)

Community engagement is a common method of teaching and conducting research as university campuses implement experiential learning opportunities with a community partner to enhance learning and engage in research. However, community engagement can come with many challenges whether in teaching or conducting research. These challenges are exacerbated because of the collaborative nature of this work with a community partner which is done in a spirt of mutuality and reciprocity. This session will explore some of the challenges encountered in both local and international community engagement and strategies to navigate some of these challenges as well as how to be proactive to minimize negative impact from this work.

As a result of attending this session you will be able to:

  1. Identify some of the challenges that can be expected from community engaged work
  2. Explore strategies to overcome challenges encountered in community engagement
  3. Identify ways to be proactive in navigating university-community partnerships

Presenter Bios:

Dr. Kelly Kinahan, Ph.D., AICP, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Master of Urban Planning (MUP) program in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville, where she teaches planning and urban studies courses. Dr. Kinahan’s research focuses on community development, neighborhood planning, and affordable housing. She collaborates on interdisciplinary, community-engaged research for nonprofit and local government partners in Louisville, KY.

Dr. Muriel Harris, Ph.D., MPH is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health & Information Sciences, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Harris is an author of two textbooks and has a special interest in public health program and policy planning, implementation, evaluation, and community-based participatory research. She is the Director of the MPH Program and Chair of the Commission on Racial Diversity and Equity (CODRE). Her primary interest and the focus of her research is social determinants of health and the factors that influence the health of individuals and communities globally. Dr. Harris enjoys giving back to her community and does so in multiple ways. In her master’s level classes, students undertake projects to help prepare them for the real world. She has taken students to Ghana on multiple occasions where they engage in community-based public health projects in consultation with the local community. She mentors doctoral students both in the US and internationally. 

Dr. Henry R. Cunningham, Ph.D., is Director of Community Engagement for the University. Dr. Cunningham incorporates community-based learning in his courses. His research interests include institutionalization of community engagement and community partnership development. He has several publications on community engagement, including his most recent book, Library Collaborations and Community Partnerships: Enhancing Health and Quality of Life (Hines-Martin, Cox, & Cunningham) published in 2020. He co-founded and co-directed UofL’s International Service Learning Program, which won two national awards as the best program in international education and learning. Dr. Cunningham also served at the United Nations where he worked on educational issues for sustainable development in developing countries.

 

2021 Service-Learning Institute

The service-learning institute was a two half day program designed to assist faculty in developing a new service-learning course or modify an existing course to include a service-learning component. At the end of the two days, participants developed ideas and plans for your courses. The Service-Learning Institute was delivered fully online via Microsoft Teams synchronously. All faculty members and graduate students were invited to participate. CLICK HERE FOR FULL SCHEDULE 


Community Engagement

University of Louisville

2323 S. Brook St.

Louisville, KY 40208

(502) 852-6026

ceserv@louisville.edu

Office Hours

M-F 8:30am to 5:00pm

No holiday hours


About us