The U of M Public Engagement Footprint

A: Developed as part of the University’s MPact 2025 System-wide Strategic Plan, the Public Engagement Footprint is used by faculty and staff to locate, identify and connect with others working in the same geographic area or on a similar topic. Stakeholders from outside the University can use the map to learn about University of Minnesota  service, outreach, and community engagement taking place in their neighborhoods, communities and around the globe.

A: Any University of Minnesota faculty, staff, or student involved with an outreach or engagement project or activity can contribute. Units may designate a single contact to enter multiple projects.

A: To find existing projects in the Footprint, search for the project's name or keywords in the Footprint’s search feature. The search feature is in the top, right-hand corner marked with a magnifying glass symbol. 

A: Email your listing updates to Amber Cameron, OPE director of public engagement initiatives, at [email protected].

A: No, the Footprint tracks University of Minnesota service, outreach, and community engagement projects throughout the world. As a land-grant institution, many projects do take place in Minnesota, but the goal of the Footprint is to showcase our community-based work happening across the globe.

A: The Footprint uses the University’s HR unit listing for campus, college/school, and department/unit, which is updated annually. If your unit is new or has changed in title or organizational home, please contact us at [email protected]. 

If your unit is a subunit of a department/unit, you can choose the relevant wider units from the dropdown fields and then add your specific department/unit in the text field, “Please list other university departments/units involved.

A: If more than one University unit is involved in the project/activity, please include them in the field with the subject line:  "Please list other University department/units involved (if any)."

A: An external partner includes any non-University of Minnesota organization, such as, but not limited to, non-profit organizations, for-profit businesses, health care organizations, K-12 schools, government agencies, community groups, or other higher education institutions.

A: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by United Nations Member States in 2015. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a call for action to developed and developing countries. The University’s MPact 2025 Systemwide Strategic Plan  incorporates a number of metrics that utilize the SDG framework. To align with these metrics, the Footprint Initiative Working Group has adopted the 17 SDGs as a method to categorize included projects.

A: Most activities fall into more than one SDG category–some submissions have listed a relationship to as many as five SDGs. The U’s SDG Initiative has a helpful overview with further details on particular work at the University for each goal. Contact Amber Cameron, [email protected], for any additional guidance.

A: Absolutely! The Footprint database includes all submissions, both completed and ongoing. The Footprint map, however, is designed to show work occurring in real time, so projects that have ended are no longer featured on the map. The database and reporting analytics, however, include the full scope of engaged work.

A: Faculty and staff x500 are used to link entered projects with their profile in the Experts@Minnesota database.

The first option, which is recommended, is to enter new partnership information when partners change. To do so, complete the database intake form. Alternatively, you can email Amber Cameron, [email protected], who can make the necessary changes for you.

For the second option, provide a sample of typical external partners and mark a constant geographic location, such as a University of Minnesota building or external site. This option will not provide the most up-to-date information regarding your project on an annual basis, but would eliminate the need for frequent project submissions and updates.

A: If your project is taking place at one specific location (e.g., physical address, lake, park), mark the project as ‘exact location’. If your project serves a larger geographic area (e.g., an entire county, school district, or the entire state of Minnesota), mark the project as a ‘placeholder’ and select a centralized location on the map to put the pin. It is recommended to place the pin where the actual work is happening even if the partner’s location differs from the area of the activity.

A: If your project has the same partner for all locations you have three options:

Option one, you can enter your project once, mark it as ‘Placeholder’ and describe the project locations or area(s) in the next question of the intake form (If your project/activity location is a placeholder, describe the project area. You may do this by providing names of neighborhoods, cities, counties, and other geographic descriptions.)

Option two, you can enter your project in each location and mark them as ‘Exact location’.

Option three, you can enter your project once and contact Amber Cameron at [email protected], requesting to copy the projects to your desired locations.

If your project has different partners at each location, you have one option:

You can enter the project in each location indicating different partners.

A: To best represent the activities taking place in your course, we recommend treating the course as one activity in the database. You can enter all the partners for the course, summarize students’  projects, and mark this course as a ‘placeholder’.

A: As a direct service provider, you would not enter any external partners for this activity. You can select ‘service and outreach’ in the “Type of Engagement” field and provide the clinic address as a project location.

The Public Engagement Footprint Working Group is a systemwide collaborative of key University unit representatives who convene bi-weekly to develop and implement action steps that help achieve the MPACT 2025 goal of developing a unified public service, outreach, and engagement database and map.

Co-Chairs

• Heidi Barajas, Interim Associate Vice President for Public Engagement 
• Kateryna Kent, Assistant Director of Public Engagement Research and Assessment

Working Group Members

• Amber Cameron, Director of Public Engagement Initiatives, Office for Public Engagement
• Amelious Whyte Jr., Assistant Dean, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Public Engagement, College of Liberal Arts
• Gina Baas, Associate Director, Engagement and Education, Center for Transportation Studies
• Jake Ricker, Director of Public Relations, University Relations
• Jan Fransen, Service Lead for Research Information Management Systems, University of Minnesota Libraries
• Jeff Matson, Director of the Community Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) Program, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs
• Jenny Casper, Director of Community Engagement and Career Development, University of Minnesota Rochester
• Karen Brown, Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC), Co-Lead UMN Sustainable Development Goals Initiative, Global Programs and Strategy Alliance 
• Kate Carlson, Spatial Technology Consultant, U-Spatial
• Katey Pelican, Co-Director Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative (SPARC), Co-Lead UMN Sustainable Goals Initiative, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine
• Laurel Hirt, Director, Center for Community-Engaged Learning
• Len Kne, Director, U-Spatial
• Lesley Lydell, Senior Research and Policy Analyst, Office of Institutional Analysis
• Lynne Borden, Associate Dean, University of Minnesota Extension
• Maiyia Kasouaher, Community Engagement Program Coordinator, Program in Health Disparities Research
• Makeda Zulu, Executive Director, Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center
• Michelle Christopherson, Director of Outreach & Engagement, University of Minnesota Crookston
• Noro Andriamanalina, Assistant Vice Provost, Graduate Student Initiatives, Graduate School
• Teresa Spaeth, Chair, Veden Center for Rural Economic Development, University of Minnesota Crookston
• Tom Fisher, Director, Minnesota Design Center
• Virajita Singh, Associate Vice Provost, Office for Equity and Diversity