Community-Engaged Scholarship

To name and claim community-engaged scholarship at Duquesne University, we look to our experienced community-engaged colleagues at the University and to the national dialogue about engaged scholarship. ACES makes space for these resources to coalesce. Hosted by faculty, highlighting innovative CES projects, and co-sponsored by Academic Community Engagement and the Office of Research, ACES gatherings encourage the development of a community of engaged scholars at Duquesne.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching defines community engagement as "the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity."

The Faculty Handbook (2012, p. 3) relates scholarship as an expectation of Duquesne faculty and goes on to describe how scholarship (along with teaching and service) is oriented to benefit the communities the University serves: "a basic goal of Duquesne University is to support a community dedicated to the discovery, enhancement, and communication of knowledge and to the free and diligent pursuit of truth, in order to provide society with men and women able and willing to act as wise, creative, and responsible leaders."

Thus, at Duquesne, community-engaged scholarship could be described as the discovery, enhancement, communication of knowledge, and pursuit of truth in mutually-beneficial collaboration with the larger community in a context of partnership and reciprocity.

This free Virtual Think Tank series is designed for college and university practitioners engaged in campus-wide efforts to support the success of underserved students, including students of color, students who are first in their family to attend college, and students from low-income backgrounds. These virtual discussions are intended to be useful whether participants are developing long-term strategic change efforts or thinking about immediate programming and teaching issues. Funds supporting the Virtual Think Tank series has been provided by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation as part of NERCHE’s Project Compass.