The Carnegie Foundation has announced that St. Cloud State University is one of the 119 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective designation that indicates institutional commitment to community engagement.
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This re-classifies St. Cloud State and its commitment to community engagement after originally receiving the honor in 2010. The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification is the leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education.
“We take great pride in creating opportunities for people from all over Central Minnesota, the region, the state and the world to join St. Cloud State in building a vibrant community,” said St. Cloud State President Robbyn Wacker. “Engagement in its broadest sense at the center of our strategic plan and who we are, with the goal of becoming Minnesota’s 21st Century Engaged University through engagement with students, campus and communities.”
Since its original classification with the Carnegie Foundation, St. Cloud State has continued to elevate its focus on community through the development of Our Husky Compact; a commitment the university makes to its students and students make to their education that will set them apart and prepare them to be global citizens of the 21st Century.
This important classification is awarded following a process of self-study by each institution, which is then assessed by a national review committee led by the Swearer Center for Public Engagement at Brown University, the administrative and research home for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.
“These newly-classified and re-classified institutions are doing exceptional work to forward their public purpose in and through community engagement that enriches teaching and research while also benefiting the broader community,” noted Mathew Johnson, executive director of the Swearer Center.
Of the 119 institutions classified in the 2020 cycle, 44 are receiving the classification for the first time while 75 are now re-classified, after being classified originally in 2010 or 2015. A total of 359 campuses are currently active designees.
