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The Engaged Provost: Getting Higher Education Institutions to Foster Community Service
In his keynote address, Corporation for National and Community Service CEO David Eisner set the stage with strategies for top-down integration of community-based service and learning in a university setting. He challenged university administrators to think creatively about how best to leverage their considerable institutional resources to promote meaningful community service. Modeling the corporate sector's "best practices" for responsible community engagement, Eisner's nine-point plan recommended university leaders:
1) Make community-based service-learning in high school an explicit criterion for college admission
2) Create incentive programs for university staff to engage in community service, including paid leave for volunteerism, in-kind or match donations, and increasing access to university resources.
3) Treat students' Americorps service as equivalent to ROTC service, with the same level of dedicated resources, public recognition and support accorded to young people in training for military careers.
4) Broaden campus career training and job placement to embrace community service and public sector employment opportunities.
5) forge strong and enduring partnerships between universities and local community institutions, such as schools, museums, recreational facilities and libraries.
6) Make service-learning and community-based research a component of rank and tenure considerations for faculty.
7) Redirect a portion of the university's endowment to pro-social investments.
8) Lead alumni organizations to support community service and social causes.
9) Elevate the civic engagement piece of the university mission statement to a level equal with its stated commitment to research and teaching.
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