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OHIO STATE’S ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTED IN KELLOGG REPORT

   COLUMBUS -- Ohio State is among 11 colleges and universities nationwide singled out for their collaborative work with businesses and public and social service agencies in a new report released by the Kellogg Commission.

   The report, “Returning to Our Roots: The Engaged Institution,” is the third in a series examining the future of state and land-grant universities. Supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich., the commission includes 26 presidents and chancellors of universities and educational organizations.

   President William E. Kirwan is a member of the commission, and former Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee was the original chairman of the group. Previous commission reports have focused on issues of student access and the student experience.

   The report on “The Engaged Institution” highlights Ohio State’s efforts by the President’s Council for Outreach and Engagement, and its partners OSU CARES and Campus Collaborative, to increase off-campus outreach efforts in the areas of teaching, research and service.

   The President’s Council, a cross-section of 34 university representatives, was appointed in 1995 to support efforts at improving Ohio State’s collaboration beyond campus walls in areas of education, business, industry and the community.

   Campus Collaborative, a group that links 40 Ohio State units and seven community organizations, focuses on outreach efforts in the neighborhoods east of High Street, while OSU CARES -- Community Access to Resources and Educational Services -- has a statewide focus.

   Together, the two groups have awarded $200,000 in mini- grants over the past three years to Ohio State faculty and staff to encourage teaching and research efforts in the community. Kirwan has listed promoting outreach and engagement efforts as one of his top four priorities at the university.

   The Kellogg Commission report suggests that universities can serve local and national needs in a “more coherent and effective way,” and that they can be more responsive to offering practical learning opportunities for students and devoting expertise to community problems.

   Among the recommendations:

   -- Institutions “must transform their thinking” about service so that engagement becomes a priority on every campus and a central part of institutional missions.

   -- All universities should develop an engagement plan.

   -- That plan should encourage interdisciplinary scholarship and research, including interdisciplinary teaching and learning opportunities.

   -- Incentives should be provided to encourage faculty involvement in engagement efforts.

   -- Stable funding should be found to support the engagement agenda.

   “We support this report and believe it fits well with our thinking and what we’ve been doing in the past couple of years,” said Bobby Moser, vice president for agricultural administration and chair of the President’s Council for Outreach and Engagement. “Outreach is not for everyone, but universities should value it and value what their colleagues are doing with outreach and engagement if it’s a scholarly activity.”

   “The late Ernest Boyer, in his excellent commentary on the university of the future, called for the university to become ‘a more vigorous partner in the search for answers to our most pressing social, civic, economic and moral problems,’” Kirwan said. “What he called ‘the scholarship of engagement’ is precisely what the Kellogg Commission is affirming.

   “Ohio State must and will reach out to involve its scholars and students in improving the quality of life for all our citizens.”

   Among Ohio State’s outreach and engagement activities highlighted in the commission report are Campus Partners, the university-neighborhood collaborative; a newly created outreach and engagement database; new publications centering on engagement activities; an outreach and engagement leadership symposium held in November 1997; and the Roads Scholars Tour, an annual tour of Ohio businesses, farms and high schools by Ohio State faculty and students.

   Other recent Ohio State engagement activities include:

   -- Creating a new geriatric dentistry clinic for underserved elderly patients in the campus area as part of a Campus Collaborative grant.

   -- Developing an interactive Web site by the College of Education for 13 local schools.

   -- A cooperative program with the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Franklin County Department of Animal Control to provide hands-on experience for veterinary students while helping to improve the health of the local pet population.

   Other universities featured in the Kellogg Commission report are Penn State, Iowa State, Rutgers, Portland State, Arizona State, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of California-Davis, University of Vermont, Tuskegee University and Salish Kootenai College in Montana.

   The Web site for the President’s Council for Outreach and Engagement is http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~engage/ The Kellogg Commission report is available on the Web at http://www.nasulgc.org

Contact: Gail Carr-Williams, President’s Council for Outreach and Engagement, (614) 688-4615