Since 2012, ICEE has employed the imagery of a river ecosystem to illustrate many (though not all) of the initiatives, activities, and structures that have built UNCG’s capacity for community engagement. Capacity, as it is used here, is the ability and will to look beyond our walls within the academy to embrace and partner with individuals, groups, and organizations from across all sectors to address the critical issues of our times, from local to global.
The purpose of this timeline, which was updated in 2024 as part of the volume “Continuity and Change in Community Engagement at UNCG,” is not to provide an exhaustive history of factors that led to community-engaged policies. Rather, the purpose is to illustrate key institutional investments and benchmarks comprising the quality and character of UNCG’s commitment to community engagement, as well as the momentum that fuels our current efforts to become even more excellent in this work.
A river ecosystem starts as a trickle, originating as headwaters. The university culture begins with its historical mission and structures. At UNCG, we were founded as the State Normal and Industrial School and then became The Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina. Since our founding, our motto has remained as one word: “service.” As a public university, UNCG was chartered to serve public interests.
The capacity of the river grows as tributaries add water to the stream. As more water flows into the river, the water becomes deeper and the current becomes swifter. Momentum generated by the force of water can become a powerful force. Capacity for community engagement comes from all the activities and efforts of faculty, students, community colleagues, groups, and organizations, university administrators, staff, and alumni. At UNCG, these tributaries include offices such as the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning, and Centers such as the Center for New North Carolinians and the Center for Youth, Family and Community Partnerships, and now the Community Engagement Initiative in the Office of Research and Engagement. It includes student-led service trips, and faculty-led service-learning. It includes community-based research grants, as well as initiatives to support economic development. This diagram is not exhaustive. It only provides some indication of the vast and myriad factors – both formal and informal, both individual efforts and collective initiatives – that have brought us to where we are today.
The capacity of a river is also enhanced by rain that falls from clouds. The swelling number of local, regional, state, national and international associations, conferences, journals, scholars, reports, recognitions, and resources for community engagement has undoubtedly contributed to UNCG’s capacity. These rain clouds are not unique to UNCG, they are shared by most, if not all other institutions of higher education. Many of these resources can be found across this website, particularly on the Definitions and Scholarly Resources pages. Tapping into local and international discourse and resources allows us to accelerate our efforts toward excellence.