Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

First offered in 2006, it has become the gold standard for assessment and recognition of community engagement by:

• recognising university contributions beyond traditional measures, such as academic rankings.
• enabling institutions to share best practice in community engagement.
• encouraging continuous improvement through periodic re-classification.

Forging an Australian community engagement classification using this framework is a game changer. Enhanced ability to benchmark, reward, incentivise and scale impact will drive the mission of universities as institutions in service of society.

The Hon. Prof. Verity Firth AM 

A total of 361 institutions in the US are classified as Carnegie Community Engaged Campuses. Ireland, Canada and Australia have all implemented pilot programs.

What is community engagement?

According to the Carnegie Foundation, community engagement is the partnership of university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to:

• enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity;
• enhance curriculum, teaching and learning;
• prepare educated, engaged citizens;
• strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility;
• address critical societal issues, and;
• contribute to the public good.

Australian University Pilot

Ten Australian universities have signed on for the Australia pilot, led by UTS and Charles Sturt University (CSU).

Participating universities

• University of Technology Sydney
• Charles Sturt University
• Australian Catholic University
• Central Queensland University
• Curtin University
• Flinders University
• Southern Cross University
• the University of the Sunshine Coast
• Western Sydney University
• Latrobe University

Observer Institutions

• University of Sydney
• University of Tasmania,
• Deakin University
• James Cook University
• Swinburne University
• Federations University
• University of Western Australia

Why is Australia participating?

• Australian University campuses are hubs for our communities. They contribute to educational achievement, community engagement, and economic activity.

The participating Australian universities have distinct institutional strengths. They represent engagement with diverse communities in metropolitan and regional centres.

• There is genuine interest in and need for institution-wide methods to evaluate community engagement in Australia.
• The classification will shape an Australian framework to magnify impact nationally.

Partners

• The Swearer Center at Brown University currently administers the classification.
• The Australian pilot is coordinated by the UTS and CSU
• Engagement Australia and the international Talloires network are supporting the Australia pilot.

Australian pilot: The process

August 2018: Participating Australian universities attended a convening on the Carnegie Classification's history, philosophy, and logic.

Mid 2020: Participants will complete and submit the existing US classification application. They will host individual campus site visits from the US Carnegie Classification Team.

Moving forward: The cohort will work together to develop an Australian-specific version of the classification.