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Awards FAQs

The Faculty Outreach Award and The Community Engagement and Scholarship Award

1. What is the difference between the Faculty Outreach Award and the Community Engagement and Scholarship Award?

The Faculty Outreach Award recognizes an individual faculty member for his/her body of work in and significant contribution to outreach. They have extended their scholarship to external constituents resulting in significant impact on individuals, communities, or organizations.

The Community Engagement and Scholarship Award recognizes a Penn State project or initiative that exemplifies an engaged institution as defined in the Kellogg Commission Report Returning to Our Roots: The Engaged Institution. The report lays out seven guiding characteristics of an engaged institution: responsiveness, respect for partners, academic neutrality, accessibility, integration, coordination, and resource partnerships. See the full report for more details on the engaged institution.

2. Can I apply for both awards?

There is no restriction on applying for both; however, the two awards are recognizing exceptional but different academic scholarship with different criteria for each.

3. Can both faculty and staff be nominated for the Faculty Outreach Award?

For the Faculty Outreach Award, only full-time faculty members, including librarians, at all locations, whose primary responsibilities are teaching, research, and/or service, are eligible. See Faculty Senate rules for the definition of “University Faculty.”

4. Can both faculty and staff nominate initiatives for the Community Engagement and Scholarship Award?

For the Community Engagement and Scholarship Award, faculty or staff members, or a team of faculty and staff, may nominate a project; however, a lead faculty or staff must be identified on the application form.

5. How are these awards recognized?

Both award winners will be recognized at the University Faculty Staff Awards luncheon, hosted by President Spanier, and awarded a $1,000 stipend. Award winners are also invited to present their scholarship at a meeting of the University Council on Engagement.

The winning Community Engagement and Scholarship Award project also becomes Penn State’s submission for the Northeast region W.K. Kellogg Outreach Scholarship Award, sponsored by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU). Regional winners receive a stipend of $6,000 and advance to compete for the C. Peter Magrath University Community Engagement Award. The national award includes a stipend of $20,000.

6. Are there stories of exemplary faculty who have received the Faculty Outreach Award in the past?

Yes, the first Faculty Outreach Award winner was selected in 1998 and a stellar group of outstanding faculty has received the award since that time. Each recipient has a cover story article in the Outreach Magazine. Visit the Past Recipients of the Penn State Award for Faculty Outreach page to read these stories.

7. What Penn State projects and initiatives have received the Community Engagement and Scholarship Award?

The Penn State Community Engagement and Scholarship Award was launched in 2009, and the W.K. Kellogg Outreach Scholarship and C. Peter Magrath University Community Engagement Awards were launched in 2007.

In 2008, Dr. Lakshman Yapa, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and the initiative, Rethinking Urban Poverty: The Philadelphia Field Project, received the national Magrath University Community Engagement Award. View video.

In 2009, Dr. Eugene Lengerich, College of Medicine, and the initiative, Northern Appalachia Cancer Network: Changing Cancer Research, Changing People’s Lives, received the Northeast region Kellogg Outreach Scholarship Award. View video.

In 2010, Dr. Michael Hecht and Dr. Michelle Miller-Day, and the initiative, “Keepin’ it Real,” received the Penn State Community Engagement and Scholarship Award. View the website of the project to learn more about Keepin’ It Real.

In 2011, Dr. Kenneth Tamminga, and the initiative "The Pittsburgh Studio: Regenerative Design in Stressed Communities" received the Penn State Community Engagement and Scholarship Award as well as the Northeast Region Kellogg Outreach Scholarship Award. View video.

8. Can digitized materials be submitted in support of the Faculty Outreach Award? The Community Engagement and Scholarship Award?

Nominating forms, with supporting nomination materials, should be submitted by e-mail as one PDF file, to COEAwards@outreach.psu.edu. If DVDs, CDs, or other digitized collateral is included with the application, please send enough copies for each of the six members of the Council on Engagement’s Awards Selection Committee.

9. If our initiative is selected as a winner of the Community Engagement and Scholarship Award, what must the recipient team prepare in order to apply as Penn State’s submission for the Northeast region Kellogg Outreach Scholarship Award? If our initiative is selected as a regional winner, what are the expectations to compete for the national Magrath Award?

The request for applications for the regional award is detailed on the Association for Public and Land-Grant Universities Web site. Information concerning the national award competition are included as part of the instructions for the regional award.