Administration

• Provide leadership briefings that establish shared language and clear expectations for community engagement among governance bodies and key stakeholders. 
• Reference examples from the Engaged KU Toolkit to illustrate how community engagement can be embedded at the unit level. 
• Integrate community engagement into strategic planning and budgeting processes by using templates that align engagement priorities with unit goals. 
• Review summary data from the Community Check Box that synthesize engagement activities and outcomes across units to inform leadership decisions.

Administrators play a vital role in creating the conditions that support strong academic–community engagement. They help establish the foundational policies, structures, and resources needed to advance community engagement both institutionally and within individual units. Based on the framework standards, here are some guidelines to be supported by administrators.

• Strategic Commitment & Communication: Embed community engagement in mission statements, strategic plans, and brand messaging. Ensure regular statements from leadership reaffirming community engagement as central to unit identity. Maintain and champion institutional definitions and standards for community engagement across the institution and within units.  
• Coordinating Infrastructure & Resourcing: Establish and maintain a structure for advancing community engagement within the unit with designated staffing and permanent operating budget lines supporting community engagement. Communicate and promote the amount or percentage of unit allocations of resources directly supporting community-engaged partners or efforts. Deans, chairs, and directors ensure unit-level adoption of community engagement standards and guidelines. Adopt the CE policy across all levels of the unit and review processes.  Designate a point of contact to oversee community engagement activities. Participate in data and partner feedback cycles. Develop and implement unit-level community engagement plans through Engaged KU.
• Full Participation & Representation: Adopt policies, practices, and provide resources that remove barriers and enhance opportunities to support community engagement (e.g., transportation/parking, scheduling beyond academic calendars, accessibility, digital access, remote participation, scheduling outside academic hours, translation/interpretation, childcare, safety, compensation). Establish opportunities for community representation and feedback. Ensure partner voice in decision-making and occasion opportunities for regular feedback. Facilitate opportunities for community and stakeholder participation. Recognize and promote community involvement by publishing rosters and activities in which community participation is supported. Support balanced partnerships, including community compensation, shared decision-making, and cocreation. Provide resource partner compensation for their community expertise and access to opportunities that are meaningful to the community partner(s).
• Documentation & Assessment: Implement and utilize institutional systems to track community engagement activities, outputs, outcomes, partner feedback, and improvements. Adopt and promote use of the Engaged KU Community Check Box to report unit activity and provide resources and support for an Engaged KU Liaison at the unit level. Incorporate community engagement metrics into annual reporting and review data across the unit. Publish unit-level CE goals. Submit CE data each term. Document improvements actions to advance community engagement.  Review and report on community engagement activities in analytics and annual reports.
• Recognition and Rewards: Promote recognition and reward structures that value community-engaged teaching, research, and service. Include engagement in institutional and unit-level rewards and recognition, including annual evaluation, tenure and promotion processes. Integrate engagement into performance reviews and goals. Align community engagement with unit level requirements for evaluation and accreditation.

• Use the Engaged KU Community Check Box strategic dashboard to link unit activities to Jayhawks Rising priorities.
• Assign Engaged KU liaisons for administrative and academic units to help you create leadership briefings that can help leaders of your unit, lead with confidence, integrity and success. OCI will help identify a person in your unit who can serve as an Engaged KU liaison. 
• Propose an administrative staff community engagement activity that aligns with your unit mission for team-building experience.
• Host an Engaged KU Roundtable to discuss and set community engagement goals with and across your unit.
• Refer to the Carnegie Community Engagement Framework Guidance Document when planning, implementing, and assessing community engagement across departments and units.
• Review and establish policies, practices, and programs that recognize, promote, and award community engagement.