National Initiatives
National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) - Council on Extension, Continuing Education, and Public Service (CECEPS)
As a member of NASULGC , Associate Provost Fitzgerald participates in the CECEPS Benchmarking Task Force. His efforts on this task force have included helping to define the qualities of university engagement and giving presentations to the Council on the assessment and documentation of outreach teaching, research, and service.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (establishment of a classification for community engagement)
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching , as part of an overall revision of its classification system, has created a new Community Engagement classification . This classification allows higher education institutions the option to describe and represent their outreach and engagement work. MSU and 12 other colleges and universities are helping to develop a set of indicators and a classification framework. Dr. Fitzgerald, the Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement, and Dr. Zimmerman, the Director of Outreach and Engagement Administration and Director for the new Center for the Study of University Engagement, are representing MSU in this project.
Wingspread
Associate Provost Fitzgerald participates in Wingspread conferences at the Johnson Foundation Conference Center, Racine, WI. The purpose of these intensive one- to four-day meetings is to exchange ideas about sustaining communities. Individuals from nonprofit organizations, public agencies, universities, and foundations attend. The visioning sessions that Associate Provost Fitzgerald has participated in include:
- Civic Engagement in Higher Education: Faculty Professional Service - The Scholarship of Practice (January, 2000): To establish a network of faculty committed to long-term university/community partnerships. Sponsored by the New England Resource Center for Higher Education and the Johnson Foundation.
- Higher Education Collaboratives for Community Improvement and Engagement (October, 2004): To identify and characterize higher education-community partnerships. Sponsored by the Atlantic Philanthropies, the National Forum for Higher Education as a Public Good, and the Johnson Foundation.
Associate Provost Fitzgerald will be attending the following Wingspread sessions in 2006:
- Engagement in Higher Education: A Confederation of Interests (February, 2006): To convene a comprehensive gathering of organizations and institutions and academic leaders to explore cooperative strategies to deepen, consolidate, and advance the field of higher education and civic engagement. Sponsored by the Johnson Foundation.
- Civic Engagement in Graduate Education: Preparing the Next Generation of Engaged Scholars (March, 2006): To explore how graduate education can better prepare future academics for civic engagement throughout the three traditional responsibilities of teaching, research, and service. Sponsored by the Upper Midwest Campus Compact and The Johnson Foundation.
