Engaged KU Initiatives
Through Engaged KU, there are several strategic initiatives that strengthen KU’s community engagement efforts in alignment with the Jayhawks Rising plan. These efforts promote coordination, reporting, and promotion of engagement activities across KU units and campuses based on the Carnegie Community Engagement Framework and APLU Innovation and Economic Prosperity Guidelines.
Engaged KU Program Details:
The Community Impact and Engagement Toolkit serve as a centralized hub for communication, promotion, and access to tools that support and standardize community impact and engagement efforts at KU. The Engaged KU Community Check Box, a pilot system for documenting and reporting engagement activities, is in the suite of tools supported through the Toolkit and powered by Community Tool Box and Community Check Box Evaluation Systems. An Engaged KU Community Impact Dashboard is under development to align campus metrics, outcomes, and data systems with Jayhawks Rising and Carnegie Community Engagement Framework guidelines.
The Engaged KU Roundtables and Micro-Awards program provide units with training, consultation, and technical support through facilitated sessions to develop unit-level Engaged KU plans aligned with the Carnegie Community Engagement Framework. The unit should involve five or more participants across he unit in the planning process. Each participating unit receives an Engaged KU Micro-Award (up to $500) to support planning and implementation of strategies for documenting, promoting, and strengthening community impact efforts. The units will complete an Engaged KU Scorecard as a self-assessment tool based on the Carnegie Community Engagement Framework to guide reflection, planning, and reporting at both institutional and unit levels.
KU units that successfully complete their Engaged KU plans and show effectiveness in community engagement—based on their Engaged KU scorecards—will be eligible for Honor Roll status. Effectiveness is determined using the Carnegie Community Engagement Framework.
Engaged KU supports unit-based Engaged KU liaisons and fellows who complete specialized training through the Office of Community Impact to lead documentation, planning, and implementation of best practices in community-engaged learning, research, and/or outreach. Through collaborative teams of faculty, staff, students, and community partners, units develop and carry out community impact plans that strengthen reporting and promotion of engagement efforts. Liaisons and fellows help ensure consistent documentation and communication of unit-level activities across KU.
If you and/or your department are interested in learning more about the Engaged KU initiative, email us at communityimpact@ku.edu!