Emphasize the Public Affairs Mission
Launch a university-wide initiative that advances the public affairs mission, gives students professional experiences, and offers talent and expertise to employers and community organizations:
Institutionalize collaborative frameworks
- Establish a university-wide council composed of faculty, staff, students, industry leaders and community stakeholders to guide collaboration efforts.
- Create an accessible repository of partnership opportunities and engagement models
to enhance
transparency and participation across the university:- Inventory existing efforts noting the type of partnership and the scale of the partnership.
- Provide a mechanism for evaluating and prioritizing future opportunities that regularly
reviews external solicitations as well as the Community Focus Report, Missouri Department
of Higher Education and Workforce Development Fast Track eligible programs, Southwest
Missouri Council of Governments (SMCOG) reports, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
reports,
Leaders for Ozarks Regional Evolvement (LORE) reports, etc. - Investigate the feasibility of community partnerships and economic development customer relationship management (CRM) software, which tracks interactions between external organizations and internal units of the university, so we know who is doing what with whom.
- Develop policies and structures that incentivize faculty and staff engagement in industry
and community-based projects aligned with the public affairs mission:
- By 2026, develop model language for inclusion in tenure and promotion guidelines and
appraisal and development plan (ADP) revisions that recognizes the type and scale
of engagement in community partnerships and economic development in the areas of teaching,
research and service. - By 2028, identify at least one department or school in each college to update their tenure and promotion guidelines with this model language adapted to their unique academic disciplines.
- By 2030, ask each department or school to update their tenure and promotion guidelines with this model language adapted to their unique academic disciplines.
- By 2026, develop model language for inclusion in tenure and promotion guidelines and
appraisal and development plan (ADP) revisions that recognizes the type and scale
of engagement in community partnerships and economic development in the areas of teaching,
Expand practical learning experiences
- Integrate community-based learning and industry partnerships into academic curriculum:
- Develop FCTL faculty learning communities for best practices in each of these high-impact practices: service-learning, community-based learning, internships and global learning.
- Develop a process whereby faculty who develop courses with these practices apply for and earn recognition for meeting the agreedupon standards for each of the high-impact practices.
- Develop a process whereby the courses which meet these standards are recognized in Banner with new attributes.
- Expand internship, cooperative education and high-impact practice opportunities that connect students with meaningful, skill-building experiences.
- Develop and promote capstone projects and research initiatives that address community and industry challenges, fostering student innovation and civic engagement.
Expand co-curricular transcripts
- Continue to record student organization involvement.
- Add activities to include internships, service-learning, awards, etc.