Office of the Chancellor

Outstanding Community-Engaged Scholar Award

The Outstanding Community-Engaged Scholar Award was created in 2020 by the Community Engagement Council. Given annually, the award recognizes impactful community-engaged scholarship by UW Bothell faculty members. 

UW Bothell defines community engagement 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. 

This work may be short- or long-term, be undertaken with single or multiple partners, and should have been active at UW Bothell within the past three years. It may be focused on teaching and learning, research, creative work, policy, democratic participation or community building.

Eligibility 

All faculty members who have worked at UW Bothell for at least three years are eligible to apply, including tenured and tenure-track faculty, teaching faculty, full- and part-time lecturers, and artists-in-residents. 

Nomination and application procedure 

Nominations may be made by faculty, staff, students and community partners by completing the nomination form. A nomination is not required for a faculty member to apply and does not affect a faculty member’s chances of being selected.

To be considered for the 2024 award, faculty members should complete the application form by Friday, April 5, 2024.

Criteria for selection

  • Strong and productive working relationship with community partners; and/or evidence of building that relationship over time. 
  • Strong evidence of community engagement integrated within at least two of the three dimensions of scholarship (teaching, research or creative practice, and service). 
  • Alignment with UW Bothell’s strategic initiatives: Community and Campus Engagement; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and Cross-Disciplinary Teaching and Scholarship.
  • Qualities of reciprocity and mutual respect. Examples of how reciprocity and mutual respect may come across in the applicant’s materials include:
    • Involve community partners in the design, facilitation, and/or evaluation of the community engagement.
    • Listen and understand the interests and benefits the community partner is looking for in partnership.
    • Mutual understanding of each other’s missions.
    • Appreciation to community partners.
    • Collaborative problem posing and solving.
    • Self-assessment and reflection within each partner group and between partners.
    • Shared resources; fiscal, physical space, labor.
  • Community engagement scholarship has impact and/or potential for impact. Areas of impact include: students, community-based collaborators, systems or policies, intellectual contribution, institutionalization of community engagement at UW Bothell and/or higher education, UW Bothell unit/CAWG/area/department (workshops, mentoring, etc.), campus mission, values, and goals around diversity and equity and/or community partners’ mission, values, and goals around diversity and equity.

Review committee 

Applications are reviewed by a committee appointed by the chancellor that includes a faculty member, staff member and student who work with community partners. The committee uses an evaluation rubric based on the criteria above when reviewing each applicant’s materials. The committee submits to the chancellor the names of the top candidates and a recommendation for the award recipient.

Past recipients

2023: Jody Early
2022: Dong Si
2021: Gülru Özkan-Seely
2020: Deborah Hathaway