Click to view Engaged Department Program Request for Proposals
The dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racial injustice require us to focus intently on enacting more effective public engagement efforts. The Engaged Department Program is designed to support academic units (i.e., academic departments) that wish to develop or strengthen research-focused and/or teaching-focused University/community engagement initiatives in ways that enhance the involvement of faculty, staff, and/or students in community-embedded work that advances the department’s academic agenda in response to these dual pandemics.
These pandemics require us to think differently about our relationship and collaboration with external partners. Specifically, the next phase of our engagement with communities requires us to be attentive to:
- changed conditions and capacities within the communities to partner with the University;
- amplified societal inequities faced by communities due to persistent systemic racism;
- differential and heavy impacts of COVID-19 on underserved communities;
- increased interest among students and faculty to conduct community-engaged work;
- increased desire among communities to partner with the University and other organizations to address societal challenges;
- increased demand from funders for projects that are built on established, sustainable, and reciprocal University-community partnerships;
- increased demand from legislators for the University to demonstrate its impact on the state and beyond;
- the value of having a departmental public engagement agenda; and
- the role that public engagement can play in advancing the department’s academic and scholarly goals and priorities.
Up to ten departments will be selected to plan, establish, and implement strategic initiatives (three to five action steps) that advance the integration of public engagement into the departments’ research and teaching activities that respond to the dual pandemics. The program is open to both new and previously participating departments.
Departments selected to participate will have access to a pool of resources to which they can apply to receive up to $2,000 in resource materials (books), technical assistance providers, external speakers, and access to community-based and University-based networks to enhance community-engaged research and/or teaching.
Past Participating Departments
The Engaged Department Program was initiated in 2009 to support department teams in identifying and implementing action steps for furthering the institutionalization of community-engaged research and/or teaching in the department’s academic agenda. Over the years, 46 departments have applied for the program with 29 successful applications, each of which produced and implemented strategic public engagement action plans. For information on past participating departments, please see the list below.
Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative (Twin Cities, 2011-2012)
The Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative established a long-term collaborative partnership with Presbyterian Homes and Services to improve the health and health care delivery for older adults receiving home and community-based services. Using public engagement strategies, the Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative focused on two primary goals: 1) develop and sustain community-based learning experience for pre-licensure and graduate nursing education (e.g., direct care; care coordination; evidence-based clinical improvement projects) and 2) develop a research protocol for studying nursing care issues such as urinary incontinence, fall prevention, cognitive impairment, or care transitions.
Team Members: Beckie Conway, Executive Director of Creative Independence, Presbyterian Home and Services; Nancy Dierks, Learning and Development Specialist, Presbyterian Home and Services; Karen Dunlap, Clinical Assistant Professor; Joseph Gaugler, Associate Professor; Merrie Kaas, Associate Professor; Pat Kappas-Larson, Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Advisor, Presbyterian Home and Services; Christopher Kemnitz, BSN-DNP Student; Sharon Klefsaas, Executive Director of Operations and Service Strategies, Presbyterian Home and Services; Mary Rowan, Clinical Professor; Dan Strittmaier, Specialist in Research and Special Projects, Presbyterian Home and Services; Kristine Talley, Assistant Professor; Jean Wyman, Professor; Fang Yu, Assistant Professor; Mary Zaccagnini, Clinical Assistant Professor
African American and African Studies (Twin Cities, 2011-2012)
The goal of the department of the African American and African Studies is to forge strong connections between the academy and the community. The Engaged Department grant facilitated this goal by changing core courses and connecting the students to service-learning sites. The department is infused a service-learning component into four core courses: “Black Worlds”, “Racial Formations”, “Oral History”, and “History of the Field”. The department is also continued to develop on-going relationships with community partners, such as Community Action Patrick Henry High School. The department also created public spaces and forums to discuss burning issues confronting African American communities in the Twin Cities.
Team Members: Rose Brewer, Professor; Victoria Coifman, Assistant Professor; Walt Jacobs, Associate Professor; Keth Mayes, Associate Professor; Tade Okediji, Associate Professor; Yuichiro Onishi, Assistant Professor; John Wright, Professor
American Indian Studies (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
The Department of American Indian Studies expanded its available language curricula and continued conversations and collaborative efforts with partner communities by traveling to the eleven reservation communities in the state. The department also worked to better compensate elders for their community engagement. Additionally, the department hosted a one-day, on-campus retreat to determine how it can better prepare students to meet the needs of the communities they serve. The department work focused on promoting a greater sense of community.
Team Members: Brittany Anderson, Community Outreach Coordinator; Brendan Fairbanks, Assistant Professor; Katherine Hayes, Department Chair; Neil McKay, Dakota Language Instructor
Art (Twin Cities, 2012-2013)
The Department of Art developed a program of public engagement that more closely integrates the department's curriculum and the Katherine E. Nash Gallery exhibition program, with local, national, and international communities of interest in five Engaged Learning Clusters. In addition, the department looked to create closer relationships between Department of Art courses, the Nash Gallery, and community partners and to develop new courses that more deeply integrate community engagement into the Department of Art.
Team Members: Christine Baeumler, Associate Professor of Drawing and Painting; Alexis Kuhr, Chair of the Department of Art and Associate Professor of Drawing and Painting; Lynn Lukkas, Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of Experimental and Media Arts; Howard Oransky, Director, Katherine E. Nash Gallery; Tom Rose, Professor of Sculpture
Center for Learning Innovation (Rochester, 2016-2017)
Using public engagement strategies, the Center for Learning Innovation expanded its community focus by collaborating with existing engagement teams, as well as by supporting faculty members who sought to integrate community engagement into their curriculum and/or their research. The Center for Learning Innovation worked to better understand how faculty in the department understand engagement, how they are and would like to be engaged, and what obstacles they experience that prevent their involvement. With its deeper understanding, the Center supported deeper engagement in the community by providing resources such as small grants and workshops to overcome barriers.
Team Members: Norman Clark, Administrative Director of Academic Programs; Sam Duke, Community Engagement Program Manager; Gemma Punti, Faculty; Yuko Taniguchi, Faculty
Center on Aging/Gerontology Minor (Twin Cities, 2010-2011)
The University's gerontology graduate minor program proposal built upon the existing service-learning course, Geriatrics Service Learning that gives students an opportunity to complete at least 80 hours of self-selected, directed service-learning in the community with older adults through established volunteer programs. With the help of the Engaged Department Grant the project team from the Center on Aging/Gerontology Minor developed and disseminated a new GERO course that would expand the existing service learning program and course work to multiple disciplines and students though the Gerontology minor and the post baccalaureate certificate in Aging Studies.
Team Members: Edward Ratner, Associate Professor; Lois Cutler, Director of Graduate Studies; Lisa Edstrom, Associate Director; Yu Fang, Assistant Professor
CFANS Center for Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (Twin Cities, 2010-2011)
The project team from the CFANS Center for Student Engagement and Experiential Learning has created extraordinary education experiences for CFANS students focusing on issues of healthy food supplies, preventing childhood obesity, and protecting the future of the Mississippi River. Through this program they created a system for sustaining and leveraging existing partnerships and transferrable process for how the community and University faculty partner effectively for mutually beneficial educational opportunities.
Team Members: Jay Bell, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education; Mary Brakke, Education Specialist; Jerry Combs, USDA; Metric Giles, Afro-Eco Specialist; Craig Hassel Associate Professor; Brenda Jacob, General Mills; Seitu Jones, Master Gardener; Kathy Kelly, Gordon Parks High School; Joe Lagarde, White Earth tribal member; Allen Levine, Dean; Karl Lorenz, Director of Diversity; Len Marquart, Associate Professor; Steve McCurry, Polycell; Caitrin Mullan, Assistant to the Associate Dean; Sara Nagel Newberg, Director; Connie Tzenis, Teaching Consultant; Michael White, Professor; Don Wyse, Professor
Communication Studies (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
The Department of Communication Studies trained University of Minnesota students to volunteer as judges for the Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL), which provides debate programming to 800 middle and high school students in Minneapolis and St. Paul. University of Minnesota students volunteered, provided evaluation, and reflected on their volunteer experience through essays as part of course curriculum. As a result of their participation, students witnessed the increase in self-confidence, critical thinking, and self-advocacy skills of MNDUL participants, and became knowledgeable about adjudicating debates based on logic and persuasiveness. By using public engagement strategies alongside classroom study, the department sought to address the pervasive and systemic opportunity gap within K-12 education.
Team Members: Amy Cram Helwich, MN Urban Debate League Executive Director; David Cram Helwich, Senior Lecturer; Monica Finke, MN Urban Debate League Volunteer Coordinator; Ron Greene, Department Chair; John Nordin, Senior Lecturer; Catherine Squires, Professor
Design, Housing, and Apparel (Twin Cities, 2010-2011)
This project proposal focused on involvement in the planning of and collaboration with the UMore Park. With grant funding, the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel identified how to integrate a multi-member public engagement project effectively into the department as on-going research and teaching activities. To achieve this goal the team assessed housing needs and desires at UMore Park, assessed how retail can be connected successfully with UMore Park, and explored how identity is perceived and desired at UMore Park.
Team Members: Marilyn Bruin, Associate Professor; Sherri Gahring, Professor; Kim Johnson, Professor; Brenda Kayzar, Assistant Professor; Hye-Young Kim, Assistant Professor; Barbara Martinson, Associate Professor; Becky Yust, Professor
Education (Duluth, 2010-2011)
This project expanded and supported departmental leadership opportunities in the Department of Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth and supported the creation of a Lincoln Park Family School initiative in order to meet the needs of families at risk.The anticipated result of this project served to enhance and support a civically minded department through leadership, outreach, curriculum development, and student leadership development through the Duluth campus student branch of Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI).
Team Members: Molly Minkkinen, Associate Professor; Annmarie Fellers, Student; Pam Rees, Director, Head Start; Kim Riordan, Associate Department Head; Cindy Ryan, Instructor; Jean Stevenson, Associate Professor; Callista Vetch, Student
Educational Psychology (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
The Department of Educational Psychology aimed to engage roughly ten faculty members with Anishinabe Academy, a Minneapolis Public School with a robust American Indian student population. In working with the Academy, the department of Educational Psychology created new networks within the department, thus expanding a department culture that promotes addressing issues of societal importance in a collaborative manner. The department built a model of engaged partnership work and scholarship that is intensive enough to be sustainable and impactful, and that will provide insight to beneficially influence teaching and future service.
Team Members: Geoffrey Maruyama, Professor and Department Chair; Jennifer McComas, Professor; Scott McConnell, Contributor to LENA Start early childhood initiative; Michael Rodriguez, Campbell Leadership Chair in Urban Education
English (Twin Cities, 2009-2010)
The Department of English developed an integrated curriculum around public engagement that lead students from introductory to capstone courses, with extracurricular opportunities for teaching and mentoring. They also promoted this integrated curriculum to attract increased participation from students, faculty, University departments, community partners, and funding sources.
Team Members: Beverly Atkinson, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies; Evelyn Ch’ien, Associate Professor; Eric Daigre, Lecturer; Maria Damon, Undergraduate Studies Director and Professor; Paula Rabinowitz, Department Chair and Professor; Geoffrey Sirc, Professor; Charles Sugnet, Associate Professor; Terri Sutton, Informational Representative; Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley, Assistant Professor; Michael Walsh, English Course Coordinator
Environmental Studies (Morris, 2009-2010)
This program aimed to establish community engagement as a hallmark of the interdisciplinary major Environmental Studies at the University of Minnesota Morris. They planned to integrate service-learning activities into their core introductory courses, infuse community engagement into student-faculty collaborative research efforts, and explore opportunities for further engagement in required capstone courses.
Team Members: Sheri Breen, Assistant Professor; David Fluegel, Community Program Specialist;
Troy Goodnough, Sustainability Coordinator; Arne Kildegaard, Associate Professor;Argie Manolis, Coordinator of Service-Learning; Karen Mumford, Assistant Professor; Dorothy Rosemeier, Executive Director of the West Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership; Pete Wyckoff, Associate Professor
Epidemiology and Community Health (Twin Cities, 2009-2010)
The mission of this department was to develop an educational module and curriculum guide on Community Engaged scholarship for use by faculty and students in EpiCH, School of Public Health, the Academic Health Center, the University as a whole, and interested community partners. This educational module sought to prepare students for effective fieldwork with diverse communities nationally and globally and to help faculty to initiate their community engagement activities.
Team Members: Linda Harris, Graduate Student; Wendy Hellerstedt, Associate Professor; Julia Johnsen, Director of Outreach for the Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Health Program; Michelle Parke, Graduate Student; Joan Patterson, Associate Professor; Jamie Stang, Assistant Professor
Extension (2011-2012)
University of Minnesota Extension sought to institutionalize service-learning opportunities within undergraduate courses by establishing partnerships between Extension’s centers, academic units, and community partners. The Engaged Departments team identified criteria for assessing potential service-learning opportunities and develop agreements with academic departments for restructuring courses to align with community priorities. They conducted comprehensive evaluations on each of the partnerships created as a result of their service-learning efforts.
Team Members: Scott Chazdon, Research and Evaluation Coordinator; Jodi Dworkin, Family Development Specialist; Angie Gupta, Extension Educator; Mary Ann Hennen, Extension Program Leader; Diana Martenson, Organization and Program Development Specialist; Ryan Miller, Extension Educator; Dick Senese, Associate Dean of Community Vitality and Public Engagement; Jennifer Skuza, Director of Urban 4-H Programs
Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
In connecting their mission to community engagement, the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies formalized external community partnerships through linking undergraduate curriculum and education with faculty research and local K-12 curriculum. GWSS research and teaching was greatly enhanced by implementing youth-led participatory action research and digital storytelling curricular projects on the community level. These projects built upon the department’s technological capacity, and focused on the themes of asset-based community research, anti-violence youth organizing, and race, nation, caste, and disability within the Twin Cities community.
Team Members: Jigna Desai, Professor and Department Chair; Caitlin Gunn, Graduate Student and Digital Humanities Fellow; Lena Palacios, Assistant Professor; Kari Smalkoski, Post-Doctoral Fellow
Institute on Community Integration (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
The goal of the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) was to create an infrastructure to grow and develop ongoing community engagement, and to facilitate new initiatives and promote engaged learning on community based action research. In doing so, the ICI broadened its ecological perspectives on effective community-based engagement and community-based research. Understanding the importance of early intervention in local cultural and linguistically diverse communities, the work of the ICI ultimately worked to develop community leaders to engage the community around Autism Spectrum Disorder and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Team Members: Amy Esler, Assistant Professor-Pediatrics and LEND Faculty; Anab Gulaid, Community Project Coordinator; Jennifer Hall-Lande, Research Associate; Amy Hewitt, LEND Training Director and LEND Faculty; David Johnson, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Policy; Fatima Molas, Somali Cultural Liaison; Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Project Coordinato; Liliana Torres, Latino Cultural Liaison; Pla Vang, Hmong Cultural Liaison
Interior Design (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
A goal of the Interior Design program in the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel was to develop community engagement projects in the sophomore level design studio course and to organize a workshop on social responsibility for interior design students. Additionally, the department built upon existing connections and knowledge to positively impact the health, safety, and wellbeing of the community. As a result, the department worked to enrich students’ learning and offer them practical experience of problem solving, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking in real-life settings.
Team Members: Abimbola Asojo, Professor; Elizabeth Bye, Professor and Head of Department of Design, Housing and Apparel; Tina Patel, Teaching Specialist; Stephanie Zollinger, Associate Professor
Music (Twin Cities, 2009-2010)
The Department of Music created model opportunities that demonstrated potential for community engagement, to enhance learning opportunities and research within the School of Music, and to foster a culture of community engagement and advancement of progressive urban engagement that served as a model for other universities, arts organizations, and communities.
Team Members: Doug Geers, Associate Professor; Keitha Hamann, Associate Professor; Laura Krider, K-12 Outreach Coordinator, Student Services Assistant; Scott Lipscomb, Associate Professor; Jerry Luckhardt, Associate Professor; David Myers, Professor; Kathy Romey, Associate Professor; Wendy Zaro-Mullins, Associate Professor
Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
The aim of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Science was to build upon its commitment to the health and wellbeing of underserved, rural, and indigenous communities by hosting informational forums and meetings regarding drug use. Using public engagement strategies, the department focused on three primary goals: 1) provide additional education for the medical and Carlton County communities regarding heroin and opioid use; 2) organize and implement a program to educate healthcare providers on how to avoid opioid overdose and the use of naloxone; and 3) educate middle and high school students in Carlton County about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. This project aligned many faculty interests and stimulate new scholarly contributions and collaborations while assisting Carlton County and other communities.
Team Members: Grant Anderson, Associate Professor and PPPS Department Head; Amy LaRue, Public Health Educator; Laura Palombi, Assistant Professor; Paul Ranelli, Professor; Mark Schneiderhan, Associate Professor; Tim Stratton, Professor and Senior Associate to the Dean for Assessment and Accreditation
Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems (Twin Cities, 2009-2010)
This department advanced the practice of pharmaceutical care and its role in the health care system for the benefit of patients and society throughout education, research, and service. The department collaborated with leaders from health care organizations – large systems, safety-net organizations in small rural communities and diverse urban underserved communities, and state and national organizations committed to serving individuals with certain chronic illness.
Team Members: Bob Cipolle, Professor; Christina Cipolle, Clinical Pharmacist at Community-University Health Care Center; Eric Hung Pharmacy Resident; Chrystian Pereira, Assistant Professor; Linda Ridlehuber, Quality Improvement Specialist for the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers; Todd Sorensen, Associate Professor; Charles Taylor, Senior Associate Dean
Political Science (Twin Cities, 2011-2012)
The Department of Political Science expanded the incorporation of public engagement into its undergraduate curriculum. Through the Engaged Departments program the team created a Citizenship and Mentorship Program which offers students intensive preparation for careers in public service through two department courses. The team developed curricular materials for the courses which focus on preparing students for careers in public service. Students explore potential career paths and work with a mentor as part of a fieldwork course.
Team Members: Raymond Duvall, Professor and Department Chair; Rose Miskowiec, Undergraduate Advisor; Kathryn Sikkink, Professor; Paul Soper, Internship Director; Dara Strolovitch, Associate Professor
Postsecondary Teaching and Learning (Twin Cities, 2009-2010)
An Engaged Department Grant enabled Postsecondary Teaching and Learning to build on its strengths, take a leadership role within the College of Education and Human Development and the larger University, and create an undergraduate major entitled Multicultural Community Engagement.
Team Members: Heidi Barajas, Associate Professor; Linda Buturian, Senior Teaching Specialist;
Kris Cory, Senior Teaching Specialist; Tabitha Grier, Assistant Professor; Barbara Hodne, Senior Teaching Specialist; Rashne Jehangir, Assistant Professor; Amy Lee, Associate Professor; Na'im Madyun, Assistant Professor; Bob Poch, Fellow; Sue Staats, Assistant Professor; Jill Trites, Senior Teaching Specialist
Psychology (Twin Cities, 2010-2011)
Through this grant The Department of Psychology increased the visibility of the activities the department is engaged in and increased the extent to which their students and faculty members are involved in public engagement.
Team Members: Patricia Frazier, Professor; Samantha Anders Graduate Student; Thomas Brothen, Professor; Holly Hatch-Surisook, Undergraduate Advising Coordinator; Kayla Kelsey, Student; Mark Snyder, Professor; Moin Syed, Assistant Professor
School Psychology and Center for Early Education and Development (Twin Cities, 2011-2012)
A goal of the School Psychology and Center for Early Education and Development department was to facilitate new initiatives that promote engaged scholarship on early childhood education. The team created a semester-long issues seminar that focuses on current trends in early childhood for graduate students. They developed community-University partnerships with early childhood sites to build capacities as a community-based training ground for students to test skills and contribute to research and practice links. Through the creation of a community-University advisory group, the team identified opportunities for clarifying needs associated with early childhood community.
Team Members: Karla Buerkle, Affiliate faculty member; Matt Burns, Professor; Sandra Christenson, Professor; Melissa Cooling-Chafin, Lecturer; Yvonne Godber, Research Associate; Anastasia Hansen, Lecturer; Amy Susman-Stillman, Co-Director of CEED
Social Work (Duluth, 2009-2010)
The mission of this Social Work's project was to identify and address unmet needs in the community that could increase department-wide civic engagement among students and faculty. The project served as a learning platform for students while collaborating with St. Louis County and other social services and community groups.
Team Members: Lynn Bye, Professor; Evie Campbell, Assistant Professor; Janet Haynes, Assistant professor; Melanie Shepard, Professor
Social Work (Twin Cities, 2010-2011)
Through the Engaged Department Grant the School of Social Work (SSW) developed a new Minnesota Social Work Institute on Community Based Participatory Research and Education to promote the use of community based participatory research methods in the SSW and the field of social work in general, as well as to help build the SSW’s capacity to better partner with the community to enhance the well-being of community members.
Team Members: Liz Lightfoot, Associate Professor; Jennifer Blevins, Director, Brian Coyle Center of the Pillsbury United Communities; David Hollister, Professor; Katie Johnston-Goodstar, Post-Doctoral Associate; Terry Lum, Associate Professor; Ross Velure Roholt,Assistant Professor
Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences (Twin Cities, 2016-2017)
By stimulating discussions and conversations regarding community engagement, the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences worked to create inroads towards communication with several key communities, such as Somali, Hmong, African American, and Latino communities, which lead to research and teaching collaborations with those underserved populations. Additionally, networking opportunities enhanced the department’s knowledge base, research, and teaching, and helped to keep its programs innovative to attract the best researchers and students possible.
Team Members: Arlene Carney, Professor; Mark DeRuiter, Associate Department Director; Marilyn Fairchild, Clinical Specialist; Robert Schlauch, Professor and Department Chair; Sheri Stronach, Assistant Professor
Women’s Studies (Duluth, 2011-2012)
The Department of Women’s Studies aimed to institutionalize public engagement by establishing a formally structured relationship between the Department and the community. The team identified needs in the feminist community, gaps in the skills and knowledge of students, and strategies to meet the needs of both students and the community. The work plan focused on developing a course on activism and community organization in addition to further development of an internship program.
Team Members: Beth Bartlett, Professor; Njoki Kamau, Associate Professor; Tineke Ritmeester, Associate Professor; Laura Stolle Schmidt, Department Staff; Joan Varney, Assistant Professor