In March 2016, UNCW’s Chancellor Jose V. Sartarelli signed on to the Campus Compact Action Statement, which included a commitment to create a Civic Action Plan. The attached plan has been developed collaboratively between UNCW’s Office of Community Engagement and the Community Engagement Advisory Board, and we submit it with appreciation for the efforts of everyone involved in the process. UNCW’s Civic Action Plan includes:
- UNCW’s Vision, Engagement Goals, and Engagement Values
- Approach and Context including Engagement in the Strategic Planning Process
- Description of the Office of Community Engagement and the Engagement Advisory Board
- Engagement Outcomes as defined in the detailed 2016-2021 Strategic Plan
- Implementation Timeline for the Civic Action Plan
Our Civic Action Plan steps are organized under three broad categories and highlights include: Strengthen Signature Partnerships and Pathways to Engagement
- Establish and support University Signature Partnerships
- Create pathways to facilitate new UNCW-Community partnerships and use of Community Service Leave
- Increase participation in programs provided by UNCW’s outreach departments and OCE
Measure and Celebrate Impact
- Design a Community Impact Study analog to UNCW’s annual Economic Impact Study
- Create and host workshops on assessing the impact of community-based scholarship
- Increase campus awareness of engagement-related awards for faculty, staff, students, and community partners
- Improve communication about engagement efforts via newsletter, social media, website
Weave Engagement into the Fabric of UNCW
- Incorporate service learning and engaged scholarship into out Digital Measures redesign, as well as faculty Review, Tenure, and Promotion
- Include service learning in the UNCW High Impact Practice taxonomy in development
- Incorporate additional applied learning opportunities and social entrepreneurship ventures into UNCW programs and centers
- Create a mentorship network for faculty involved or interested in engaged scholarship
We reaffirm UNCW’s commitment to the Campus Compact 30th Anniversary Action Statement and look forward to our continued work to implement this Civic Action Plan in the coming years.