Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program 

Application Deadline is October 18

Purpose

The Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program is designed to provide an interdisciplinary team of faculty members the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of community engagement and its related work. The program will enable Fellows to participate in and benefit from an interdisciplinary community of scholars.

Program Description

The Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program is a year-long, faculty development program that will enable faculty members to strengthen their community-engaged research skills, develop community-engaged research projects in collaboration with community partners, and produce scholarly products. The Program provides an opportunity for selected faculty members to learn about community-engaged learning and community-engaged research and become recognized campus leaders in community engagement pedagogy. While desired to be a cohort of 3-5 faculty members one each from an academic unit, fellows may vary depending on the scope and capacity of the academic year. Fellows will be selected annually through a competitive process.

The program will be open to all faculty members who have a special interest in community-engaged research. Cohort members will work on a number of projects, including community- engaged research projects that will address critical community issues and potentially have direct benefit to community partners. Fellows may also pursue grant funding for future projects in collaboration with the Office of Community Engagement. The Fellowship is intended to give the faculty member time to work on research and creative work, therefore faculty members will receive a course buy-out for the duration of their time as a Fellow.

Fellows will participate in monthly meetings and professional development, where they will explore readings on community engagement. They will also participate in the 3-day Community-Based Learning Institute scheduled for June 2-4, 2025.

The Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program will be led by Dr. Henry Cunningham, UofL Director of Community Engagement, who is nationally recognized for his work in community engagement.

Topics to be Covered

1. Foundations of Community Engagement
2. Developing and Sustaining Community Partnerships
3. Conducting Community-engaged Research
4. Community-Engaged Scholarship in Promotion and Tenure
5. Institutionalization of Community Engagement
6. Publishing Community Engaged Work
   1. Engaging with popular media through op-ed writing or expert interviews
   2. New media (podcasts, blogs, video)
7. Community Engagement and Broader Impact
8. Community-Based Learning Course Development

Proposed Activities In Which Fellows will Engage:

• Organize a dialogue series for faculty about community-based learning and scholarship. Topics could include community-based research, oral history projects, civic engagement activities in the curriculum, working with community partners as co-educators, students' perspectives on community-based learning, social justice and civic action, and local action collaborations.
• Present one workshop per semester in collaboration with the Office of Community Engagement on a community engagement topic and/or present at a community engagement conference.
• Develop a strategy to further connect community engaged scholarship across campus.
• Engaged in a community-engaged research project in collaboration with a community partner.
• Identify faculty need and work with OCE staff to connect with community partners. Assist in the development of new community partners and sustaining of existing community partnership.

Application Form