Next month, the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification will open applications for university accreditation for the first time in Australia. The classification drives universities to show reciprocity in our partnerships with communities – where both the university and community are transformed by the partnership.
The classification is the gold standard for the assessment and recognition of community engagement in higher education, and is expanding its global reach through an internationalisation program, spearheaded by Australia.
Universities are public purpose institutions. We exist to serve and build up the communities in which we live, work and learn, said Verity Firth, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice & Inclusion) at UTS.
“It was with this is mind that we decided to co-lead the Australian pilot of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.”
UTS co-led Australia’s pilot of the classification between 2018–2020, with ten Australian universities participating and a further eight universities acting as observers to the process.
Indigenous sovereignty key to the Australian Classification
In the Australian version it is acknowledged that all Australian higher education institutions are committed to the advancement and self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and reconciliation of First Nation peoples with the wider Australian community.
The benefits of the pilot process were evident to all who participated. Pilot universities undertook a rigorous and independent warranting of their university’s commitment to, and investment in, community engagement. Each participating university was able to be part of a pilot community engaged in innovation, testing refinement, and sharing best practices.
At the national level the pilot provided a valuable, data-driven overview of the public benefit of the higher education sector in relation to community engagement. It also allowed for the Australian cohort to participate in an extensive and expanding global community of like-minded institutions to learn from, with, and through each other.
The pilot has now ended, with its success giving way to the first iteration of the Australian Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. To coordinate Australia’s classification process, the Network for Community Engagement and Carnegie Classification Australia was launched in late 2021, auspiced through Engagement Australia. Significantly, the work in Australia is accompanied by a Community of Practice and capacity building program that aims to support and grow engagement across the sector.
“We are so thrilled at the success of the pilot, and look forward to officially implementing the Australia Carnegie Community Engagement Classification in Australia from July,” said Ms Firth.
In the context of the past two years – where some of society’s biggest and most difficult challenges have come to a head – it couldn’t be a better time to adopt the classification. As we rebuild and recover, rich and mutually beneficial partnerships between major institutions and the communities they serve are of the utmost importance.
Want to grow and share your engagement capability? Join the Network for Community Engagement and Carnegie Classification
The Network for Community Engagement and Carnegie Classification works to support institutions to build engagement capability and demonstrate their partnered contribution to public good.
Our Community of Practice is free and open to all. If you are working in partnership and using research, teaching or your practice to contribute to public good, then join the network and help strengthen the sector.