navigate: home: magazine: spring/summer 1998: article

Creating an agenda for an engaged university

Dr. James H. Ryan Vice President for Outreach and Cooperative Extension

Peter Magrath’s visit to Penn State in February stimulated a great deal of discussion within the University community about the concept of “the engaged university.” (Please see the article on Magrath.)   His comments and those of President Graham Spanier are the blueprint for enhancing Penn State’s progress toward becoming a fully engaged university. Thanks to the leadership of faculty and the support of President Spanier, Provost Brighton and the University Planning Council, Penn State is well positioned to serve the educational needs of the residents of Pennsylvania, as well as the nation and the world.   Let me highlight just a few examples of how we are reaching out to the public through outreach: Our Public Broadcasting network delivers educational programs to more than 470,000 children. Elementary school viewers of “What’s in the News,” the weekly TV news program, are participating in science experiments with Penn State faculty member and astronaut James Pawelczyk, who was a payload specialist on the April Space Shuttle. Our Continuing Education units throughout the University serve 22,000 precollege youths through a variety of programming, including sport camps, which annually attract children from every state. Cooperative Extension’s 4-H programs offer 117,000 young people urban and rural leadership opportunities.

Outreach is the process of extending the intellectual expertise and resources of the University through teaching, research and service to address the social, civic, economic and environmental issues and opportunities facing our Commonwealth, nation and world.

The box below further illustrates the impact of Penn State outreach during the past year. University outreach programs have served millions of people. In Pennsylvania alone, approximately one-half of all households have at least one person participating annually in a nonresident Penn State program or activity.   The scope of our outreach programming is remarkable. Since August 1996 when President Spanier outlined his plan for “Strengthening Outreach and Cooperative Extension,” we have made significant progress in enhancing the University’s outreach capabilities.   A common set of guiding principles is essential to creating an environment for a fully engaged university. These are the guiding principles now under consideration: Outreach is not synonymous with service, but a key component of all three missions of the land-grant institution: teaching, research and service. The essential work of the university revolves around knowledge creation, preservation, dissemination and application; thus enriching and sharing “knowledge” should serve as the primary focus of University outreach initiatives. Outreach should involve a reciprocal teaching/learning process. The University has as much to gain from these activities as the individuals or communities we serve. Outreach must be part of the institution’s planning and resource allocation process. Outreach should be a part of every academic unit’s mission and strategic plan; however, it is not necessary for every individual faculty member to participate. Outreach units should provide a single point of entry and access to all the knowledge resources of the University, including access via the latest information technology. Faculty need to be prepared and supported to effectively engage in outreach. Outreach activity must be measured for quality and impact. Outreach must be rewarded and recognized appropriately. Outreach initiatives should be driven by client/community needs, which can then be linked to University expertise. Outreach activities must be cataloged, reported and publicized broadly to key stakeholders. Outreach should actively engage students, which will lead to increased learning and connect theory to practice.

Impact of outreach last year Continuing Education reached 187,000 participants from all 50 states and 80 countries. Cooperative Extension reached 2 million people in all 67 Pennsylvania counties. Distance Education enrolled 20,000 students worldwide. Public Broadcasting offered public television programming to 500,000 households and public radio service to 430,000 listeners. Research and Technology Transfer Organization worked with 1,800 companies on 2,900 projects.	The concept of extending our expertise and resources is very important. It implies that faculty systematically consider how to broaden their external involvement and impact in teaching, research and service. Outreach is a two-way process through which we actively exchange information with external audiences. It enriches the University, its knowledge base, its people and its services. With our wide array of resources and expertise, Penn State has the ability to touch the lives of every Pennsylvania citizen and to improve the quality of life for all. Our objective should be to become an indispensable resource for the Commonwealth.   To accomplish this objective, we must create a greater synergy between our outreach organizations. We need to learn more about each other’s strengths and core competencies; we need to learn best practices from each other; and we need to learn from listening to our clients and customers.   Our organizations are providers of lifelong learning—reaching out to diverse constituencies, identifying issues and opportunities, engaging the intellectual resources of the University and delivering educational responses to improve society.   Here are six strategic goals that I believe galvanize our resources and focus our energies: 1. Create a seamless University outreach network characterized by strong interunit collaboration, programmatic coordination and administrative integration in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency and optimize our limited resources. 2. Develop new programs addressing the needs of our citizens and build the capacity to rapidly deploy University expertise where and when it is appropriate and adds value. 3. Increase the engagement of University faculty, staff and students in outreach programs and increase awareness, support, recognition and reward for participation. 4. Effectively catalog, measure and communicate the impact of programs. 5. Identify additional sources of revenue and support for programming—including government allocations, foundation grants, private gifts and the application of user fees where appropriate. 6. Expand public access to Penn State’s intellectual expertise and resources through information technology and by enhancing the infrastructure among all Penn State locations—campuses and Cooperative Extension offices.   To become a fully engaged university, University outreach leaders must use their imaginations and creativity to explore new ways of partnering. We must replace traditional paradigms with new models for collaboration and engagement. We must find new ways for scholars and practitioners to increase communication. And finally, we must explore new possibilities for integrating teaching, research and service.