The Daily Bulletin Archive

Buffalo State faculty and staff members are invited to a workshop on departmental engagement with Kevin Kecskes, associate professor of public administration at Portland State University, on Thursday, April 9, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Butler Library 210.

The academic department sits squarely in the middle of academe: at a crossroads between students' experiences and senior leadership concerns. In addition, it is situated between university disciplinary association priorities and individual faculty scholarly agendas. Complex indeed. Add community engagement to the mix and a powerful opportunity emerges: a richer, more nuanced form of engagement that creates opportunities for deep learning, substantive scholarship, and healthier communities. An engaged department agenda invites faculty—and by extension, community partners and students—to think and work more collectively toward greater impact for all.

The exploration of this theme in a focused workshop format is designed to provide participants with opportunities to share initiatives and ideas, consider department-level community-university partnerships, and further integrate our collective work toward the common good.

Participants will:

• revisit the history of the higher education community engagement movement and consider why the time has arrived to collectivize our impact by focusing on the academic unit;
• explore various tools, strategies, and examples for initiating or supporting departmental engagement;
• envision and plan for specific next steps within academic departments to continue to build the community-engagement agenda.

This workshop is free to Buffalo State faculty and staff as members of the Western New York Service-Learning Coalition. Please register online.