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Reflections on outreach scholarship at Penn State
Dr. James H. Ryan Vice President for Outreach and Cooperative Extension	Since the Penn State Award for Faculty Outreach was established in 1997, each spring we have had the opportunity to review the exemplary outreach portfolios of faculty nominees from throughout the University. This year, it gives me great pleasure to recognize Dr. Keith Verner as the 2001 winner of the award.   Through a variety of science and technology education programs administered by the Division of Developmental Pediatrics and Learning in the College of Medicine at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Professor Verner has produced extraordinary work and shared his expertise with communities around the state and beyond. For example, his Center for Science and Health Education’s Elementary School Science Centers involve more than 23,000 K–6 students and more than 1,300 K–6 teachers from 31 school districts. Dr. Verner is very deserving of our recognition, and his work serves as an excellent example of what can be accomplished through the integration of teaching, research and service.   It is important to remember that Dr. Verner is not alone in his commitment to the spirit of engagement. There are many other examples of faculty excellence in outreach. The Outreach Awards committee, made up of members of the Coordinating Council for Outreach and Cooperative Extension and the University Faculty Senate Committee on Outreach Activities, receives many nominations for the Outreach Award each year, and all are deserving of recognition. Their outreach scholarship ranges from service-learning programs and community-centered research to conferences and outreach teaching that gather people together and unite the University with communities in order to address shared interests. Their work extends University resources through intimate local engagements and comprehensive global responses, reflecting the broad range of the University’s many communities.   As impressive as the nomination portfolios are, I know that they represent just a small sample of the outreach efforts Penn State faculty members undertake statewide. More than a third of our 4,500 faculty do great work making life better for individuals, families, organizations and communities. Not only our faculty but our staff, as well, reach out into communities every day and make a real difference in the quality of life in the Commonwealth.   Their actions and engagement are critical during this time of rapid and radical change in our society. Virtually every one of our institutions — corporate, educational and civic — is adapting to the realities of life in a new global society shaped by the Information Revolution. The changing needs of our democratic society make an effective outreach system essential for land-grant universities to fulfill their mission.   This collection of circumstances provides Penn State with extraordinary opportunities to enhance the engagement of the University and its resources in service to society. Already Penn State Outreach and Cooperative Extension constitutes the largest unified outreach effort in American higher education, reaching one in every two households in Pennsylvania. A number of major outreach projects will further extend the University’s reach. Consider just two of our recent partnerships: Penn State has formed an alliance with the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin’s Learning Innovations initiative to facilitate development of our on-line distance learning capabilities and to promote advances in distance education nationwide. A partnership between Penn State University, Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin–Extension supports university outreach and engagement at the national level. Together, we will sponsor a series of national conferences to share and explore best practices for institutions of higher education that conduct outreach and public service.   While other institutions are trying to enhance their outreach agendas, under President Graham Spanier’s direction, Penn State has assumed a national leadership role. This spring, 13 members of the faculty and staff, including President Spanier, were speakers and presenters at the University of South Florida’s Engaging Universities and Communities: International Conference on the University as Citizen. Their presentations shared Penn State experience in structuring, developing and assessing outreach programs and organizations; encouraging collaboration and awareness of University outreach; and producing programs that meet important health and educational needs of children, youth and families and enhance economic and community development.   With much expertise to share, it is not a coincidence that we have achieved national visibility as a leader in university engagement. It is part of the Penn State culture to reach out, to understand and respect the scholarship of involvement and to be active participants in addressing the issues and challenges our communities face.   A number of other examples also illustrate Penn State’s prominence in outreach: The University is a recognized leader in Distance Education, with approximately 21,000 enrollments each year through Independent Learning and Penn State World Campus initiatives. Continuing Education programs like Management Development Programs and Services, the Justice and Safety Institute and Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center represent decades of experience in specialized continuing education programming for all ages. Last year, they had about 38,000 participants in their programs. In addition, The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel is the largest facility of its kind in American higher education today, and Conferences and Institutes helps faculty and community leaders deliver record numbers of conference programs each year. Last year, more than 50,000 participants attended one of more than 470 conferences and institutes. More than 200 adults and children received diagnosis and therapy from the College of Health and Human Development’s Speech and Hearing Clinic. The clinic provides evaluations and therapy sessions for speech, auditory training and speech reading, while it serves as a research and observational laboratory for Penn State students studying Communications Disorders. The U.S. Cooperative Extension legacy began in Pennsylvania with the first Cooperative Extension agent appointed to serve Bedford County. Today, Penn State Cooperative Extension reaches 2 million citizens in the Commonwealth, and innovative technology initiatives under development will reach many more. Last year, Cooperative Extension and Outreach faculty and staff facilitated development of a Community Information Network Task Force in Potter County. The task force developed and is implementing a technology plan that will guide growth of the Potter County Web site and development of Community Tech Centers countywide to enhance communications and encourage regional community and economic development. This initiative will be replicated in other areas across Pennsylvania. In 2000, Penn State’s Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP) provided 640 cases of technical assistance to 500 businesses in all 67 counties. PENNTAP clients reported $11.4 million in economic benefits including cost savings, sales increases, capital investments and e-business traffic and visibility. In addition, more than 100 jobs were created or saved as a result of PENNTAP assistance. Penn State Public Broadcasting’s WPSX-TV has received more than 40 station and program awards in the past several years. Through the Partners in Public Service national initiative, Penn State Public Broadcasting will continue to provide pioneering programming that will redefine the role of public broadcasters as educational partners with universities, libraries and museums. These opportunities will become especially important as WPSX-TV and other television networks nationwide expand the broadcast universe through digital technologies.   We certainly have a strong track record, but there is still more to be done to make Penn State even more engaged. Here the work of the University Scholarship and Criteria for Outreach and Performance Evaluation (UniSCOPE) learning community, the Coordinating Council for Outreach and Cooperative Extension and the Faculty Senate Committee on Outreach Activities represent a broad-based, University-wide effort to enhance the culture for faculty members who are active in outreach initiatives. Their accomplishments include the following examples: UniSCOPE 2000: A Multidimensional Model of Scholarship for the 21st Century, the UniSCOPE learning community report released last fall, articulates a multidimensional model of University scholarship. It locates an outreach component within the continuum of various forms of teaching, research and service scholarship and presents recommendations for developing a University culture that understands, appreciates, recognizes and rewards the various forms of scholarship. Created in 1997, the Coordinating Council for Outreach and Cooperative Extension has enhanced University-wide policy, program development and coordination of outreach initiatives. The group is comprised of representatives from all colleges and outreach units at Penn State and has provided leadership to support an Outreach Partnership Fund, to institute the Workforce Development Task Force and to encourage and support faculty involvement in outreach. The Senate Committee on Outreach Activities has worked to assure that University outreach is valued and present in Faculty Senate matters.   The committee recently completed a report on outreach that was endorsed by the full Senate.   Despite such progress, there are still many challenges before us. Yet, when we turn to the examples set by faculty like Dr. Verner, it’s much easier to see where this road will lead.