In the annual MLK Challenge held on Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, an average of 200 Appalachian State University students, faculty, staff, and alumni honor the civil rights leader’s life and legacy through a day-long service event that challenges participants intellectually, socially and physically. Here, Appalachian students give an extra hand in 2015 at the Watauga Humane Society, one of 20 partnering organizations. Photo by Marie Freeman
BOONE, N.C. — Of the more than 3,000 four-year, degree granting institutions in the U.S., only 361 hold the “community engagement” classification by the Carnegie Foundation. Appalachian State University first achieved this designation in 2008, and recently received continued classification until 2025.
“This designation corresponds with Appalachian’s essential character and the value placed on the university’s commitment to our community,” said Chancellor Sheri N. Everts.
“Civic and community engagement provides critical opportunities for personal and professional growth, helps make our community and state stronger, aligns with the UNC system’s mission for each campus to make real and powerful differences through community partnerships and service, and supports a lifelong understanding of the valuable service roles each of us can fulfill within our communities,” Everts said.
What is the community engagement classification?
Community engagement is defined as the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.
In addition to Appalachian, 11 other UNC system schools hold the community engagement classification. The elective classification followed an eight-month self-assessment and review of materials submitted by a working group comprised of campus and community stakeholders.
Appalachian’s community engagement classification is based on its curricular engagement and outreach and partnerships activities. Examples include:
- Appalachian and the Community Together (ACT) partners with more than 160 local organizations that utilize faculty expertise and provide service-learning and volunteer opportunities to students.
- The university hosts community outreach, including an annual science festival, seminars and workshops for public school educators, and cultural programs offered to area public school students and the general public.
- The university has a partnership with the Blue Ridge Parkway that promotes opportunities for projects that mutually benefit students and faculty/staff as well as the Blue Ridge Parkway and National Park Service.
Area public school children attend a symphony concert on campus in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts as part of APPlause, a performing arts series for K-12 students. Photo by Marie Freeman
During a past Alternative Spring Break trip, students from Appalachian State University traveled to Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge off the S.C. coast to provide trail maintenance, beach clean-up, boundary marking, and other activities to protect the refuge’s sensitive ecosystem. Alternative Spring Break trips are among service-learning activities at the university designed to combine knowledge from the classroom with on-site field experience. Photo by Marie Freeman
Students from Appalachian State University spent a week with Jubilee Partners in Georgia during a past Alternative Spring Break trip. Jubilee Partners provides a residential program to newly arrived refugees. Appalachian students assisted residents with everything from weekly shopping trips to obtaining Social Security cards. Photo by Marie Freeman
What is its purpose?
According to the Carnegie Foundation, the purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good.
Student-focused community engagement activities are directed through the university’s Civic Engagement Program based in University College and led by Dr. Brian MacHarg, director of Academic Civic Engagement.
“Appalachian has long been a national leader in service-learning and engaged pedagogies,” said Dr. Mike Mayfield, vice provost for undergraduate education. “The Carnegie Foundation has recognized our participation in a critical and productive two-way dialogue between our campus and the community at large. We look forward to ongoing conversations on this campus and beyond on ways to continue that role in ways that support student learning and success.”
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About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
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