Office of Engagement and
Community Affairs

National Updates

Registration is now open for the The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Annual Meeting

Come to the 2024 APLU Annual Meeting on November 10-12, 2024 in Orlando, Florida for an unparalleled gathering of thought leaders and innovators in public higher education. The theme of this year’s meeting is Our Public Purpose, which will celebrate and explore the value proposition and mission of public research universities in a moment filled with vast challenges and opportunities.

Learn about the issues facing public research universities across North America while reaffirming the commitment to serving the public good through education, research, and engagement. Register for the meeting online.

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)'s 2024 Conference on Global Learning

The AAC&U Conference on Global Learning explores practical and theoretical approaches to global learning at the course, departmental, and institutional levels. This conference includes opportunities to examine tactics and strategies that make global learning experiences more inclusive. It will take place on October 24 – 26, 2024, at the Westin Washington, DC.

The 2024 Conference on Global Learning will showcase the full range of global learning activities, programs, strategies, and approaches used by educators worldwide to prepare students for work, life, and citizenship in our interconnected world. Conference sessions will focus on:

• including all students in global learning;
• making the case for global learning at all levels: disciplinary, program, and institutional;
• advancing collaborative research to address global challenges through student learning;
• defining and framing global learning to meet local and global realities;
• integrating institutional inclusion efforts with global learning;
• exploring global learning in diverse international contexts;
• embedding and integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
• engaging and exploring belonging for international students with recognition of their individuality and intersectionality;
• exploring ways of integrating technology in global learning to improve the quality of learning and global engagement for students;
• connecting intercultural skills and cultural humility to student learning in academic and applied learning opportunities.

AAC&U invites students, educators, administrators, and policymakers to join us for these action-oriented, forward-thinking conversations about reimagining global learning. Register for the event.

Compact25 Conference is now accepting proposals

Campus Compact is now accepting proposals for the Compact25 national conference. They seek proposals that explore the theme: Uniting through Public Purpose: Coalition Building for Impact. Proposals are due September 27, 2024. All sessions should balance learning and exchange, represent a variety of perspectives, and meaningfully contribute to racial justice, equity, and inclusion goals. Review the details and submit your proposal.

Latest CUMU Journal is live!

Check out the newly released CUMU journal, Volume 35, Issue 2.

Presenting at the 2024 CUMU Conference? Call for Manuscripts

The Metropolitan Universities journal is accepting full manuscripts for the upcoming 2024 CUMU Conference Issue: Beyond Boundaries. The issue is scheduled for publication in summer 2025 and the call is open to presenters at the conference. Amplify your work and learn more about the submission process on the CUMU website.

Manuscripts are due December 1, 2024. Please direct any questions regarding this issue to:

• Guest editor Laurie Van Egeren, University of Minnesota, lve@umn.edu
• Patrick M. Green, Editor, Metropolitan Universities journal at pgreen@cumuonline.org

Call for proposals: 2025 CUMU Huddles

Are you interested in leading a CUMU Huddle in 2025? If so, this is your opportunity to propose your ideas. CUMU Huddles are informal, online learning communities that bring together individuals from across CUMU’s network to learn, network, and explore key topics across five virtual meetings and one in-person meeting at that year’s CUMU Conference. In addition to a presentation or shared learning experience, at least 50% of each Huddle meeting is set aside for discussion and networking to ensure that Huddle meetings are interactive opportunities for participants to get to know and learn from each other.

2025 Huddles will include a Community Engagement Huddle, an Anchor Mission Huddle, and at least two additional Huddles on topics yet to be determined. Learn more and submit a huddle proposal!

Every Student, Every Degree Committing to College Civic Learning for a Democracy in Need of Repair

Join us for "Every Student, Every Degree: College Civic Learning for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Democracy," the two-part launch of the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE) Coalition’s new report, Every Student, Every Degree: College Civic Learning for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Democracy.Part 2 of the launch of Every Student, Every Degree: College Civic Learning for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Democracy will work on feasible strategies for expanding meaningful civic learning and democracy engagement in different institutional contexts: two-year and four-year; public and private; general education and career and technical majors. Learn about how Full Participation Institutions already are making civic learning an inclusive expectation. The program also will probe ways that civic and small-d democratic learning can be combined with other key higher education priorities, specifically student success, career readiness, and high impact practice.

Agenda:

• 3:30 p.m.: Leading the College CLDE Movement in a Deeply Polarized Environment
• 4:15 p.m.: Full Speed Ahead:  Concurrent Working Sessions (Choose One): Leading Together to Make College CLDE Inclusive – and Directly Connected to Student Success – in: Community Colleges, Small and Medium Size Institutions, Research Universities. 
• 5 p.m.: The View from Philanthropy – Committed Leaders Share Views, Values, and Priorities

The webinar is on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. ET. Register online.

Centering Indigenous Knowledge Webinar Series - Fall 2024

The Centering Indigenous Knowledge Webinar Series—Fall 2024, organized by Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement (formally, Montana Campus Compact), will return in the fall of 2024 with a program highlighting Indigenous people's scholarship, academic work, and cultural contributions to higher education.

The Fall 2024 series continues under the theme "Indigenous People and Place," focusing on diverse history, literature, and philosophy. This four-part series will focus on the theme of Indigenous people and place and explore people’s millennia-spanning relationships with and the significance, history, and power of place.

• Thursday, October 3, 2 to 3 p.m.
• Thursday, October 10, 2 to 3 p.m.
• Thursday, October 17, 2 to 3 p.m.
• Thursday, October 24, 2 to 3 p.m.

Register for all four sessions!

Register for the Engagement Scholarship Consortium International Conference

Registration for the Engagement Scholarship Consortium International Conference is open! This event will take place on October 9-10, 2024 with pre-conference activities on October 7-8, 2024. The theme of this year's conference is Pathways to Prosperity: Building Sustainable Futures through Community Engagement. The conference will be hosted by Oregon State University at the Sentinel Hotel,  614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97205.

Check out the agenda, get conference prices, accommodations and more on their meeting website.

Early bird registration ends on Sunday, September 15, 2024. Standard Registration ends on Monday, September 30, 2024. Registration online.

Anchor Institutions Task Force (AITF) September newsletter is out!

Sign up to get their newsletter today!

Webinar: Quality, not quantity: Metrics made for community engaged research

Without a doubt, an intense focus on numbers and metrics is the current zeitgeist of higher education. When community-engaged researchers and their supporters meet, the question “What are our metrics?” often arises. While metrics are typically used to support market-driven goals and can oversimplify complex research-such as community engaged scholarship-they can also be valuable when used grounded in a humanizing and relational stance.

Dr. Jeremy Price, supported by the CUMU-Collaboratory Fellowship, has been developing a set of metrics that better capture the true essence of community-engaged research. These new metrics consider the full context, relationships, and efforts involved in this type of work. Drawing inspiration from Neil Postman’s constructive approach to change, Dr. Price will discuss the benefits, challenges, and opportunities that come with using these more human-centered metrics.

Join us to learn how these new metrics can help provide a platform for project evaluation and communicate the important nuances of community-engaged research to a wide range of audiences, including funders, administrators, colleagues, and communities.

This session takes place on September 19, 2024 from 2 to 3 p.m. ET. Register on the CUMU website.