By: James Sears, Staff Writer
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has given Kennesaw State University the 2015 Community Engagement Classification.
The Carnegie Foundation, which helps develop pools of ideas, people and institutions to advance teaching and learning, has given KSU the 2015 Community Engagement Classification. KSU is one of 240 institutions selected to receive the classification in 2015. The Community Engagement Classification is decided by the “voluntary participation by institutions” within their respective communities and its classification process is administered by the New England Research Center for Higher Education (NERCHE).
Carnegie Foundation President, Anthony S. Bryk, said in a press release that “the Community Engagement Classification represents a significant affirmation of the importance of community engagement in the agenda of higher education.”
Northwestgeorgianews.com reports that KSU is one of 361 institutions to currently have the Community Engagement Classification and is also one of 10 institutions in Georgia to have the classification. KSU’s classification will remain effective until 2025, which then they will have re-apply for classification.
President Daniel Papp said in a press release that the classification recognizes how KSU connects with the community and helps authenticate the institution’s core mission to serve the public good.
NERCHE’s website, Nerche.org defines “community engagement” as a “collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.” The classification includes data collection and documentation citing the aspects of an institution’s mission, character and devotions. The classification also requires much effort from institutions. Documentation is reviewed to determine if the institution meets the requirements for the classification.
Students, such as freshman marketing major Mathew Takace, noted how the community recognizes KSU’s notoriety.
“I work at a Subway and people there really know about how KSU has grown as an institution and how they’re getting there name out when before it was always about UGA or Georgia Tech.,” Takace said.
Sophomore accounting major Andrew Knuckles mentioned the active attendance from non-students around Kennesaw during KSU’s collegiate sporting events.
“A lot of people from around Kennesaw will attend the games,” Knuckles said.
The Carnegie Foundation was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and works to include improvement science in education while NERCHE is the administrative partner of the Carnegie Foundation and commits itself to changing processes in higher learning to tackle social justice.
