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Institute for Community and Economic Engagement | Scholarly Resources

Scholarly Resources

    UNCG is distinguished as a community-engaged university with high research activity, as recognized by the Carnegie Foundation. Community-engaged scholarship is enacted across faculty activities, including teaching, research/creative activities, and service. Resources provided here are useful to those who are new to community engagement, or who are documenting and/or reviewing community-engaged scholarship for the purpose of promotion, tenure, or reappointment. We frequently update our resource library — please contact us if you would like to contribute!

    New Resource: UNCG Community Partner Research Ethics Training (CPRET)

      This document outlines the rationale and procedures for pursuing community-based ethics training. This training and certification program has been adapted from the University of Pittsburgh, Human Research Protection Office and approved by the Office of Research Integrity at UNC Greensboro.

      This community-based research ethics training is offered as an alternative to Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI program) when it has been determined that CITI training is not the most appropriate or useful form of ethics training for community co-researchers. This could be for a variety of reasons, such as limited access to online training, intercultural differences in ethics, and language and literacy differences. In addition to serving as an alternative training format, this ethics training takes into consideration the unique principles and practices of community-engaged research, which engages community members as collaborators in all aspects of a research study, from design to implementation to analysis. There may be benefits to community-academic partnerships when they use this training, including:

      • The language is adjusted so that there’s less research jargon, and definitions are provided when necessary, which can encourage a stronger sense of collective ownership for the research project.
      • PIs and co-researchers may use specific examples related to their research project. This allows the research team to discuss ethics in a way that is specific to the project.
      • The training is flexible (e.g., location, training dates, some content), allowing for considerations that may be unique to a specific community.
      • The dialogic nature of the training process allows for greater rapport building and trust within the partnership.
      • By inviting input from community research partners during the training, the process fosters more transparency about how information will be gathered and results analyzed and disseminated.

      Step One: Determine whether the community co-researchers are eligible for this specific ethics training.

      Step Two: Add research-project specific discussion points, activities, and relevant information to the training slides.

      Step Three: Please reach out to Melissa Beck before offering the training so that her office can ensure that staff meet the qualifications for the training.

      Step Four: PI’s conduct the training either virtually or in-person. After successful completion of the training, research participants receive a certificate of completion that PIs can attach to their IRB application.

      • How long is the training valid?
        • This training is valid for three years.
      • Who conducts this training?
        • This training is offered by the study PI. Co-investigators may also assist with facilitation. ORI provides a deck of slides to guide the training, and the researchers are encouraged to use case studies or examples that are most relevant to the community researchers.
      • What qualifications do PIs need in order to be eligible to offer this alternative training?
        • PIs need to have completed CITI training to be eligible to offer this alternative training.
      • How long does the training typically take to conduct?
        • It varies depending on the scenarios, but you should plan to set aside at least 2-2.5 hours to administer the training.
      • Do interpreters require ethics training?
        • Interpreters do not need to undergo ethics training as long as they are not collecting data, will not have access to identifiable data, and will not obtain consent.
      • Can I offer this to student researchers in lieu of CITI?
        • No. This training cannot be offered to UNCG student researchers in lieu of CITI.
      • Does this training need to be conducted in person or is online an option?
        • Either option is acceptable. Attendance should be confirmed if online.
      • Do I need to seek permission or approval before offering this training to community members? If so, from whom?
        • Please contact Melissa Beck ([email protected]) before offering the training so that her office can ensure that staff meet the qualifications for the training.
      • Is there a certificate of completion for the participants?
        • Yes.
      • Is this training provided in other languages?
        • If the training needs to be offered in a language other than English, please contact ORI to make arrangements.
      • Can PI’s offer compensation to community partners for completing this training?
        • Compensation can be given at the discretion of the PI and the funding that is available.
      • To whom may I provide feedback related to this training?
        • Please contact ORI
      • What if I have additional questions?
        • Questions related directly to the training and certification can be directed to Melissa Beck ([email protected]) in the Office of Research Integrity.
        • Questions about community-engaged research, methodologies, and ethics broadly can be directed to ICEE staff. Please contact Emily Janke ([email protected]) or Sonalini Sapra ([email protected]).
      • When can the UNCG IRB serve as the reviewing IRB for a study involving community partners?
        • In order for UNCG IRB to serve as the reviewing IRB for a study, UNCG faculty/staff/students must be involved in study design, provide direct oversight for recruitment, consent, and data collection, and be involved in data analysis (i.e. they are considered “key personnel”).
        • UNCG IRB is unable to provide IRB review/oversight for research studies where the site does not have an IRB or access to an IRB and the UNCG faculty/staff/students only role is facilitating the IRB application/submission due to the site not having an IRB/access to an IRB.
        • There are IRBs that do provide IRB services for sites that do not have an IRB. Resources for these IRBs can be provided by the UNCG Office of Research Integrity upon request by emailing [email protected].

      Resources for Faculty – Documenting and/or Evaluating CE

        Partnerships & Engaged Scholarship

        Institutional Assessment from Compact.org

        • The Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Elective Classification This prestigious classification reaffirms an institution’s commitment to deepen the practice of service and to further strengthen bonds between campus and community.
        • Carter Campus Community Partnership Award This award honors a recipient where the campus community partnership addresses critical areas of public need undertaken by a college or university in partnership with a community group.
        • Civic Engagement Professional of the Year Award The Civic Engagement Professional of the Year Award recognizes a staff person at an NC Campus Compact member campus that has worked towards the institutionalization of service, created and strived towards a vision of service on their campus, supported faculty and students, and formed innovative campus-community partnerships.
        • C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Award Established in 2006 with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the awards program seeks to identify colleges and universities that have redesigned their learning, discovery, and engagement functions to become even more involved with their communities. The engagement awards program consists of two awards: The Outreach Scholarship/W.K. Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award and the C. Peter Magrath University/Community Engagement Award.
        • Ehrlich Award for Civically Engaged Faculty Campus Compact recognizes one faculty member each year for exemplary engaged scholarship, including leadership in advancing students’ civic learning, conducting community-based research, fostering reciprocal community partnerships, building institutional commitments to service-learning and civic engagement, and other means of enhancing higher education’s contributions to the public good.
        • IARSLCE Dissertation Research Award The International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement’s Dissertation Award recognizes a dissertation that advances research on service-learning and/or community engagement through rigorous and innovative inquiry. Applicants can be from any academic discipline
        • IARSLCE Early Career Research Award The International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement’s Early Career Research Award recognizes outstanding early career contributions to scholarship on service-learning and community engagement. It is designed to encourage research that systematically addresses the exploration and understanding of the field. For the purpose of this award, “research” is broadly defined to include all paradigms of scholarly endeavor, with particular emphasis on empirically-based research.
        • IARSLCE Distinguished Research Award The International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement’s Distinguished Research Award recognizes outstanding career contributions to scholarship on service-learning and community engagement. It is designed to recognize research that systematically addresses the exploration and understanding of the field. For the purpose of this award, “research” is broadly defined to include all paradigms of scholarly endeavor, with particular emphasis on empirically-based research.
        • Leo M. Lambert Engaged Leader Award Launched in 2012, in honor of NC Campus Compact’s 10th Anniversary, the Leo M. Lambert Engaged Leader Award recognizes a presidential leader who is building a campus that engages in reciprocal partnerships to impact a community’s greatest challenges. The award will be presented annually during the PACE Conference. A president or chancellor at an active North Carolina Campus Compact member institution may be nominated by a peer president within the Compact network.
        • Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty The annual Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty recognizes a faculty member who connects his or her teaching, research, and service to community engagement. The Lynton Award is designated as an award for early career faculty (pre-tenure at tenure-granting campuses and early career–within the first six years–at campuses with long-term contracts).
        • President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, launched in 2006, annually recognizes institutions of higher education for their commitment to and achievement in community service. The President’s Honor Roll increases the public’s awareness of the contributions that colleges and their students make to local communities and the nation as a whole. President Obama has pledged to make service a central cause of his administration and wishes to commemorate the significant role that higher institutions, their students, staff, and faculty play in helping to solve pressing social problems in the nation’s communities.
        • Engaged Faculty Award The Engaged Faculty Award, formerly known as the Robert L. Sigmon Service-Learning Award, recognizes one faculty person on a member campus who has made significant contributions toward furthering the practice of service-learning. Winners are based on significant service-learning experience, community and student impact and institutional impact.
        • The William M. Plater Award for Leadership in Civic Engagement Awarded by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) in recognition of exemplary leadership in advancing the civic learning of undergraduates through programs and activities that encourage greater knowledge, skills, experiences and reflection about the role of citizens in a democracy. The Plater Award is presented annually to an AASCU chief academic officer.

         Administrators or scholars might consider attending one of many conferences related to community engagement.

        • The International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) is an international non-profit organization devoted to promoting research and discussion about service-learning and community engagement. Each year IARSLCE holds a national conference dedicated to promoting the development and dissemination of research on service-learning and community engagement internationally and across all levels of the education system.
        • Imagining America is a consortium of universities and organizations whose primary focus lies in the recognition that humanities, arts, and design are indispensable to realizing the democratic, public, and civic purposes of American higher education. Annual national conferences are sites of collaboration, active dialogue, and problem solving around national issues. Each conference explores political, social, cultural, and physical contexts particular to the host city that inform local engagement initiatives, and reflect the national agenda that IA’s board and membership have defined in any given year.
        • The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities is the longest-running and largest organization committed to serving and connecting the world’s urban and metropolitan universities and their partners. CUMU focuses on strengthening institutions that are developing new responses to the pressing educational, economic, and social issues of the day.
        • The Engaged Scholarship Consortium is an annual meeting of engaged scholars and practitioners that provides institutions of higher learning with an opportunity to work together to enhance university-community partnerships rooted in scholarship and academic life.
        • Each year North Carolina Campus Engagement hosts the Pathways to Achieving Civic Engagement Conference(PACE), which provides faculty, staff, administrators and community stakeholders with valuable information and skills they can utilize in their civic engagement work. Workshops provide research, resources and best practice models for every aspect of civic engagement work. NCCE also hosts the Civic Engagement Institute, which is designed to thoroughly explore one civic engagement topic during a day-long gathering.
        • Campus Compact (national) advances the public purposes of colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. Campus Compact envisions colleges and universities as vital agents and architects of a diverse democracy, committed to educating students for responsible citizenship in ways that both deepen their education and improve the quality of community life. We challenge all of higher education to make civic and community engagement an institutional priority.
        • The mission of the Gulf-South Summit on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement through Higher Education is to promote networking among practitioners, research, ethical practices, reciprocal campus-community partnerships, sustainable programs, and a culture of engagement and public awareness through service-learning and other forms of civic engagement.

        • AAC&U: Association of American State Colleges and Universities is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education.
        • AERA: American Education Research Association is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results.
        • APLU: Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities is dedicated to advancing learning, discovery and engagement. The association provides a forum for the discussion and development of policies and programs affecting higher education and the public interest.
          • Council on Engagement and Outreach
          • Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness and Economic Prosperity
        • ASHE: Association for the Study of Higher Education is a scholarly society with about 2,000 members dedicated to higher education as a field of study.
        • The Bonner Program is a program of the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation that provides a scholarship to students in exchange for weekly commitment to intensive and meaningful service with a local community organization over the four years as an undergraduate student with our campus partners.
        • CC: Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents-representing some six million students-dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement, and service-learning in higher education.
        • CCPH: Community-Campus Partnerships for Health is a nonprofit organization that promotes health (broadly defined) through partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions through service-learning, community-based participatory research, broad-based coalitions and other partnership strategies.
        • CLAYSS: Latin American Center for Service-Learning (Centro Latinoamericano de Aprendizaje y Servicio Solidario) – CLAYSS contributes to the growth of a fraternal and cooperative culture in Latin American through the development of service-learning project.
        • CNCS: Corporation for National and Community Service plays a vital role in supporting the American culture of citizenship, service and responsibility. The Corporation is the nation’s largest grantmaker supporting service and volunteering. Through our Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and
        • HENCE: Higher Education Network for Community Engagement is a response to the growing need to deepen, consolidate, and advance the literature, research, practice, policy, and advocacy for community engagement as a core element of higher education’s role in society.
        • IA: Imagining America is a consortium of colleges and universities committed to public scholarship and practice in the arts, humanities, and design. Imagining America supports campus-community partnerships that contribute to local and national civic life while furthering recognition of the value of public scholarship and practice in higher education itself.
        • IARSLCE: International Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement works to promote the development and dissemination of research on service-learning and community engagement internationally and across all levels of the education system.
        • ICP: Innovations in Civic Participation is a non-profit organization supporting the development of innovative high-quality youth civic engagement policies and programs both in the US and around the world.
        • Learn and Serve America programs provide opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to express their patriotism while addressing critical community needs.
        • Metro State: Metropolitan State University (Center for Community-Based Learning) – The CCBL provides support for efforts, across the university, to integrate community-based learning and civic engagement with academic reflection through internships and courses which provide a meaningful experience for the participating community, organization or business and the student.
        • NCCC: North Carolina Campus Compact leverages the assets of higher education institutions in partnerships with communities to educate students and develop creative solutions to pressing public issues.
        • NYLC: National Youth Leadership Council has led a movement that links youth, educators, and communities to redefine the roles of young people in society. That movement is service-learning, and it empowers youth to transform themselves from recipients of information and resources into valuable, contributing members of a democracy.
        • OKC: Open Knowledge Commons works to make the record of human knowledge as broadly available as possible. Through the free sharing of knowledge, made practical by the Internet and digital technologies, will foster expanded creativity and innovation, advance education and research, strengthen economies, and improve lives.
        • The Talloires Network is an international association of institutions committed to strengthening the civic roles and social responsibilities of higher education.
        • TRUCEN: The Research University Civic Engagement Network (Part of a CC Initiative) – TRUCEN is a network of research universities working to implement a vision of civic and community engagement. Campus Compact serves as secretariat of this network.

        ARTICLES & CHAPTERS
        ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

        A Primer on the Benefits and Values of Civic Engagement in Higher Education by Campus Compact

        Campus Compact has also curated a list of resources around building engaged departments.

        Engaged department/unit program initiatives at other universities include:

        • Abrams, E., Townson, L., Williams, J. E., & Sandmann, L. R. (2006). Engaged faculty at the University of New Hampshire: The Outreach Scholars Academy. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 11(4), 27-39.
        • Alter, T. R. (2003). Where is Extension Scholarship falling short, and what can we do about it? Journal of Extension, 41(6).
        • Barker, D. (2004). The Scholarship of engagement: A taxonomy of five emerging practices. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 9(2), 123-137.
        • Bartel, A. S., Krasny, M., & Harrison, E. Z. (2003). Beyond the binary: Approaches to integrating university outreach with research and teaching. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 8(2), 89-104.
        • Bjarnason, S. & Coldstream, P. (Eds.). (2003). The idea of engagement: Universities in society. London: Association of Commonwealth Universities.
        • Boyer, E. L. (1996a). Stated meeting report: The scholarship of engagement. Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 49(7), 18-33.
        • Boyer, E. L. (1996b). The scholarship of engagement. Journal of Public Service & Outreach, 1(1), 11-20.
        • Bringle, R. G., Hatcher, J. A., & Clayton, P. H. (2006). The scholarship of civic engagement: Defining, documenting, and evaluating faculty work. To Improve the Academy, 25, 257-279.
        • Bringle, R. G., Hatcher, J. A., & Holland, B. (2007). Conceptualizing civic engagement: Orchestrating change at a Metropolitan University. Metropolitan Universities, 18(3), 57-74.
        • Cohen, J. (2008). A portrait of a university as a young citizen. In D. W. Brown & D. Witte, (Eds.), Agent of democracy: Higher education and the HEX journey (pp. 149-169). Dayton, OH: Kettering Foundation.
        • Cohen, J., & Yapa, L. (2003). Introduction: What is public scholarship? In J. Cohen & L. Yapa, (Eds.), A blueprint for public scholarship at Penn State (pp. 5-7). University Park: Pennsylvania State University.
        • Driscoll, A., & Sandmann, L. R. (2004). Roles and responsibilities of academic administrators: Supporting the scholarship of civic engagement. In M. Langseth & W. M. Plater, (Eds.), Public work and the academy, (pp. 51-67). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company.
        • Dzure, A. W. (2008). Democratic professionalism: Citizen participation and the reconstruction of professional ethics, identity and practice. University Park: Penn State Press.
        • Fear, F. A., Rosaen, C. L., Foster-Fishman, P., & Bawden, R.J. (2001). Outreach as scholarly expression: A faculty perspective. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 6(2), 21-34.
        • Fear, F. A., & Sandmann, L. R. (2001-02). The ‘new’ scholarship: Implications for engagement and extension. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 7(1&2), 29-38.
        • Finkelstein, M. A. (2001). Toward a unified view of scholarship: Eliminating tensions between traditional and engaged Work. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 6(2), 35-44.
        • Lynton, E. A. (1994). Knowledge and scholarship. Metropolitan Universities, 5(1), 9-17.
        • Lynton, E. A. (1995). Making the case for professional service. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
        • National Institutes of Health. (2011). Principles of community engagement (2nd ed.) (NIH Publication No. 11-7782).
        • O’Meara, K., & Jaeger, A.J. (2006). Preparing future faculty for community engagement: Barriers, facilitators, models, and recommendations. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 11(4), 3-25.
        • Peters, S. J. (2000). The formative politics of outreach scholarship. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 6(1), 23-30.
        • Post, M., Ward, E., Longo, N., & Saltmarsh, J. (Eds.). (2016). Publicly engaged scholars:  Next-generation engagement and the future of higher education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
        • Saltmarsh, J., Giles Jr., D. E., O’Meara, K., Sandmann, L. R., Ward, E., & Buglione, S. M. (2009). Community engagement and institutional culture in higher education: An investigation of faculty reward policies at engaged campuses. In B. E. Moely, S. H. Billig, & B. A. Holland (Eds.), Creating our identities in service learning and community engagement (pp. 3-29). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing
        • Saltmarsh, J., Hartley, M, & Clayton, P. (2009). Democratic engagement white paper. Boston, MA: New England Resource Center for Higher Education.
        • Schon, D. (1995). Knowing-in-action:  The new scholarship requires a new epistemology. Change: the Magazine of Higher Learning, 27(6), 27-34.
        • Simpson, R. D. (2000). Toward a scholarship of outreach and engagement in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 6(1), 7-12.
        • Webster, N., & Flanagan, C. (2003). Public scholarship: Expanding higher education’s mission. In J. Cohen & L. Yapa, (Eds.), A blueprint for public scholarship at Penn State (pp. 5-7). University Park: Pennsylvania State University.
        • Wharton-Michael, P., Janke, E. M., Bertelesen, A., Karim, R., & Wray, L. (2006). An explication of public scholarship objectives. In R. A. Eberly &  J. Cohen (Eds.), A laboratory for public scholarship and democracy: New directions in teaching and learning, Number 105 (pp. 63-72). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

        Disciplinary Resources for Promotion and Tenure

          • Modern Language Association’s Report of the MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion
          • Tenure, Promotion, and the Publicly Engaged Historian
            • This report is the product of the Working Group on Evaluating Public History Scholarship (WGEPHS) convened by the American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, and National Council on Public History. It is designed to help faculty members, personnel committees, department heads, deans, and other administrators develop a plan for evaluating historians who do public and collaborative scholarship. Drawing on a survey of existing promotion and tenure guidelines and input from public history faculty members, the report offers suggestions for evaluating public history work as community engagement, scholarship, teaching, and service. It defines a number of best practices and describes possible approaches to the hiring, review, and promotion of publicly engaged historians in the academy.

          An overview of terms, definitions, and resources for Community Engaged Scholarship in Business & Economics created for UNCG.

          • Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium Community Engagement Key Function Committee Task Force on the Principles of Community Engagement
            • The executive summary describes the publication as a primer that “can serve as a guide for understanding the principles of community engagement for those who are developing or implementing a community engagement plan, or it can be a resource for students or faculty.”
          • Community Engaged Scholarship for Health Collaborative Annotated Bibliography
            • This CES Collaborative Annotated Bibliography is intended to serve as an aid in reviewing the issues related to promoting community engagement and community-engaged scholarship at health professional schools. Documents were selected based on those works that were found to be of use to the Commission on Community-Engaged Scholarship in the Health Professions in preparing their report, and on the experience of CCPH staff in researching issues related to community-engaged scholarship The listing of citations included here provide a sample of the important works published to date. Many more works could be included here, and the list is expected to expand as the work of the Collaborative evolves. For additional references on community-engaged scholarship and related issues, please refer to the references section of the report of the Commission on Community-Engaged Scholarship in the Health Professions, and in the Community-Engaged Scholarship Toolkit.
          • Community Engagement Framework for Development of Education Training for Researchers
            • This report provides a table of values, strategies, and outcomes for investigators who want to engage communities in their research.
          • Metropolitan Universities Journal Issue 20.2, August 2009, features 9 articles from the Community-Engaged Scholarship for Health Collaborative, an initiative of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) supported by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) in the US Department of Education. Two articles were made available in PDF format:
          • Modern Language Association’s Report of the MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion
            • Over the past decade, a steady stream of national organizations have been recommending the community engagement of health professional schools as an essential strategy for improving health professional education, achieving a diverse health workforce, increasing access to health care, and eliminating health disparities. Community engagement is now widely viewed as fundamental to the mission and purpose of health professional schools.
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