Burlington Standard

Today's students increasingly demand engaged learning and research opportunities directly relevant to climate change, social justice, and other environmental and sustainability challenges. But they often find the traditional university model can be ill-equipped to deliver that worldly engagement. 

Now a new book—The Guidebook for the Engaged University—provides a comprehensive roadmap for administrators, faculty and students who want to make their institutions of higher education systematically more welcoming to engaged research—and avoid accusations of ivory-tower irrelevance. 

The Guidebook was written and published by Beyond the Academy, an international network of researchers—with two University of Vermont contributors—working to make universities more supportive of engaged scholarship with real-world impact. It highlights best practices for universities to foster and support engaged scholarship—aligning their structures, incentives, and outcomes with solving the defining problems of our generation. 

“This report is a road map for universities to get outside of the ivory tower to become more engaged with everyday society," said Beyond the Academy contributor Taylor Ricketts of UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment and Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

A First of Its Kind, Three Years in the Making 

The Guidebook is the first blueprint of its kind to building “The Engaged University,” an institution that systematically supports engaged scholarship and service. Beyond the Academy members spent the last three years exploring how universities are already reforming their systems in ways that promote action-oriented research. Academic leaders from across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom shared ideas, research, resources and examples. 

"Business-as-usual approaches to academic research and teaching aren't enough to solve these challenges," says Bonnie Keeler, director of Beyond the Academy and faculty member at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “We hope the Guidebook encourages others to advocate for reforms in their own institutions and serves as a reminder that change is not only possible but happening at universities all across the globe." 

Chapters of the Guidebook cover solutions for some of the major challenges to engaged scholarship at length, from the way research impact is measured, promotion and tenure practices, graduate training, and recruitment and retention of engaged scholars. 

The Guidebook also showcases dozens of examples from universities around the world of how these solutions have been put into practice. For instance, UVM’s Gund Institute partners with government, industry and NGOs to develop and scale up research solutions, provides training to faculty and students to engage successfully with government, business and communities, and catalyzes innovative research by funding and leading world-class research on the most pressing environmental issues. 

"Academia can do so much more to help tackle real-world problems society faces, like climate change, inequality, and food security. With strong relationships and engaged communities, our research can make a global impact,” said Stephen Posner, the Gund Institute’s Policy Director, who co-authored several chapters of the book and engages with such partners as Ben & Jerry’s, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, the U.S Dept. of Agriculture, and more.

The Next Step: Scaling Up Engaged Scholarship 

But Keeler says the next phase of academic reforms must build on these experiments and best practices toward broader institutionalization of engaged scholarship in academia. 

“Universities today risk global irrelevance unless they adopt an Engaged University approach as we’ve outlined—one that systematically supports and encourages scholar and staff engagement with society,” Keeler said.  

“Shifting to that model will require deep transformation in universities. They must better align their structures, incentives and outcomes to acknowledge, value and incentivize scholarly and staff engagement with these issues. But examples of positive steps exist in nearly every institution. We must scale and share these steps as quickly and widely as possible.”   

The entire Guidebook is available for free on the Beyond the Academy website.

Original source can be found here.