UNC Charlotte earns prestigious national recognition for community engagement

UNC Charlotte has been selected for a prestigious 2008 Community Engagement elective classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The designation recognizes institutions that have internalized and sustained their commitment to collaborate with communities through teaching, research, and outreach.

“From the beginning, this University has had a rich history of community involvement,” said Owen Furuseth, Associate Provost for Metropolitan Studies and Extended Academic Programs at UNC Charlotte. “We now work with private corporations to expand the reach of our engagement while also deepening our existing relationships.”

UNC Charlotte is joined by Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, North Carolina Central University, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, UNC Pembroke, and Western Carolina University among the 119 institutions honored with the classification this year.

With the announcement, the proportion of North Carolina’s public universities deemed by the Carnegie Foundation to be “community engaged” far exceeds that of peer state systems across the country, including California, Texas, and Wisconsin.

This national recognition is a natural outgrowth of the University’s UNC Tomorrow initiative, through which all UNC campuses are seeking to increase their outreach and responsiveness to their surrounding communities and the state as a whole.

“The fact that over half of North Carolina’s public universities have been nationally recognized for their commitment to working with communities sends a strong message for the future of our state,” said Leslie Boney, UNC Associate Vice President for Economic Development Research, Policy, and Planning.

press release courtesy of UNC Charlotte Office of Public Relations