TRUCEN

The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN), established in 2008, works to advance civic engagement and engaged scholarship among research universities. TRUCEN members are R1 institutions that share a fundamental commitment to leveraging their resources, skills, and energy to address the most challenging issues in society.

TRUCEN believes strongly that research universities have a special role to play in helping solve some of the world’s pressing problems. Through scholarly activities that combine rigorous academic standards with community collaboration, research universities can deepen our understanding of issues and aid in the development of practical solutions that will make a difference. Through teaching that combines deep understanding of issues with reciprocal engagement in communities, they can help students develop the knowledge, analytical skills, collaborative competencies, and civic dispositions necessary to address our greatest challenges.

Program components

• Annual in-person meeting
  The TRUCEN annual meeting provides an opportunity for members to share the knowledge and strategies they employ to advance higher education community engagement in their institutional contexts as well as to brainstorm new and creative approaches to common challenges and opportunities that they collectively encounter in their work.
• Quarterly virtual meetings
  Campus Compact hosts a quarterly meeting where TRUCEN representatives meet together to share information and strategies and catch up on current initiatives and progress in areas of common concern.
• Sustained opportunities for connection
  Throughout the year, network members are encouraged to continue to meet virtually to discuss issues of mutual interest and to imagine and disseminate resources and models that may be useful across higher education.
• Peer-to-peer coaching
  TRUCEN members have regular opportunities to workshop a challenge or issue they are working on through a peer coaching design framework. Members unpack their challenge with other TRUCEN colleagues and walk away with insights, ideas, tools, and potential solutions.
• Technical and organizational support
  As secretariat for the network, Campus Compact serves as a convener and disseminator of information and resources. This includes technical and organizational support for member institutions who host the annual meetings; the provision of online reports of meeting themes, activities, and resources; and the mediation of ongoing communication between TRUCEN members.