KU engagement with community honored by Carnegie foundation
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas is among select U.S. colleges and universities receiving the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for demonstrating a commitment to partnership and collaboration with the larger community.
“This classification affirms KU’s mission to lift society by educating leaders, fostering vibrant and healthy communities, and advancing discoveries that address our most pressing challenges,” said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod. “It reflects the remarkable partnerships across our campuses and with communities in Kansas and beyond through necessary collaborations that strengthen both our institution and the communities with which we partner and serve.”
Such efforts to coordinate the Carnegie Community Engagement classification and framework across KU are coalesced by the Office of Community Impact.
“Through the newly established Office of Community Impact, we will build on this momentum by strengthening engagement infrastructure and aligning with the Jayhawks Rising strategic plan to ensure collaborations drive innovation and address complex societal challenges across Kansas and beyond,” said Nicole Hodges Persley, vice provost for community impact. “This achievement reflects KU’s collaborative efforts across campuses to integrate community engagement into teaching, research and service as we continue our efforts to document how KU faculty, staff and students impact the world by addressing community needs through community engagement.”
For the past 19 years, the designation from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has been a leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education.
“Receiving the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification is an honor and reflects the significant contributions of more than 100 campus and community partners whose stories and examples of impact provided a snapshot of KU’s academic-community partnerships through our comprehensive self-study,” said Jomella Watson-Thompson, associate vice provost for community impact. “Maintaining this designation for 16 years underscores KU’s commitment to the principles and framework of community engagement, and we will strive to further strengthen our efforts through the KU Community Engagement Consortium and other strategic efforts that strengthen our collective contributions and impact.”
KU, which was also awarded the Carnegie designation in 2010 and reclassified in 2020, noted among its engagement efforts several collaborations that may serve as Community Impact Hubs. They include multistakeholder groups like LHEATS — local health action teams — across Kansas and coalitions in Kansas City such as ThrYve, which supports academic-community partnerships.
“The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification affirms our efforts in the Jayhawks Rising strategic plan priority of engagement for community impact in Kansas and the nation,” said Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, chief academic officer, provost and executive vice chancellor for KU’s Lawrence and Edwards campuses. “This designation reflects our commitment to growing community engagement with a strategic and coordinated infrastructure, fostering mutually beneficial partnerships and promoting the Carnegie framework as a guide for institutional progress.”
Putting that commitment into action, the Office of Community Impact is launching Engaged KU, which positions community engagement efforts with Jayhawks Rising. Initiatives launching this year include a toolkit to support and facilitate community impact and engagement efforts across the university, as well as roundtables and a micro-awards program.
“We will advance our goals and objectives through the new Engaged KU initiative and ensure KU’s engagement efforts lift others and elevate our mission as a leading public research university,” Bichelmeyer said.
Learn more about how to get involved in the Engaged KU: Community Impact Initiative and the KU Community Impact Hubs by emailing communityimpact@ku.edu.