By Alex Sorrells / The Jambar
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized Youngstown State University for its work in creating partnerships with local communities.
The Carnegie Foundation Elective Classification for Community Engagement was awarded to YSU on Jan. 12 and is valid through 2032.
These engagement efforts were centralized through PenguinPulse, which is YSU’s community engagement platform that hosts 145 community affiliates. The university has also designated community-engaged learning to 61 courses that provide students with opportunities to participate and engage with the community.
Amy Cossentino, associate provost of Experiential Learning and Engagement and dean of Sokolov Honors College, said the Carnegie application was introduced to the strategic plan in 2020, with major work for the application kicking off in 2022.
“Having this designation … affirms that [the] university has community engagement embedded into our mission, into our culture, our leadership, operations and that these partnerships are measurable, that they’re addressing public need and that they ultimately result in mutual benefit,” Cossentino said.
Cossentino said anyone in the community who wants to partner with YSU must go through the Office of Community Engagement.
“This was our very first time applying for this designation, and oftentimes, the first time an institution applies, it’s really kind of used as their self-study,” Cossentino said.
Cossentino said there were 237 institutions awarded this classification throughout the nation, bringing the total number to 277 as 40 were added in the 2024 cycle. She said the university plans to reapply in 2032 after the six-year certification concludes.
“Just because we now earned this, doesn’t mean we take our foot off the gas pedal. We’re still working to build that infrastructure and enhance that infrastructure so that what we have set in place will continue to grow,” Cossentino said.
Although the certification doesn’t directly award the university with funding, Cossentino said it can increase opportunities for grants or support for faculty and staff.
“When we have faculty or staff that are out there looking for grants, they’re looking for philanthropic support and partnership by going ahead and saying … ‘We hold that community engagement elective classification,’” Cossentino said. “It’s so widely known by federal agencies and foundations that it really does give a lot of national recognition for us.”
Cossentino said this was a rigorous application and gave credit to everyone across campus who contributed.
“This was an institution-wide effort. We had people from the dean to the provost, the president to the chairs, the faculty, our students — in every division across campus, they helped in some way to ensure that their area and what they were doing … they were evaluating it for community engagement,” Cossentino said.
To continue expanding the university’s outreach, a community engagement symposium will take place April 10 and accept proposals until Feb. 2.
“We do want to get as many students, faculty and community partners presenting at the symposium [as possible]. It’s a really great opportunity for them to highlight the wonderful things that they’re doing with the community partners,” Cossentino said.