Office of the Chancellor

Community Engagement

Faculty Positions

Funded Faculty Leadership to Build Capacity for Community Engagement

Introduction:

As part of a tri-campus effort to build institutional capacity for community engagement, UW Bothell seeks to fund two 0.50 FTE positions (or could be combined to 1.0 FTE position) for Faculty Leadership for Community Engagement. In partnership with and supported by the tri-campus Community Engagement Working Group, these positions will collaborate with teams of faculty and staff from the Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma campuses to make progress on key capacities for community engagement. These positions will be hosted within UW Bothell’s Office of the Chancellor. Efforts will take place between January 2, 2024 and September 15, 2024.

Application deadline: December 13, 2023
Application form

Overview:

Building on each campus’ comprehensive assessments of community engagement through the Carnegie Foundation, which led to each campus’ successful classification as Community-Engaged Campuses in 2020, the UW continues to grow our collective abilities to partner effectively and equitably in community. In recognition of the potential of this collective work as the core to an “impact ecosystem”, President Cauce directed resources toward improving tri-campus community engagement infrastructure. Supported by a generous anonymous gift, the goal of this new tri-campus effort is to catalyze measurable, positive progress across the University of Washington toward deeper, ethical and effective community engagement by building organizational capacities that support, improve, and celebrate community engaged work. In fall 2022 a tri-campus Community Engagement Working Group was charged to synthesize existing understanding of campus and university infrastructure, develop strategies and recommend priorities and processes toward that goal. Over the first half of 2023 the Working Group laid groundwork for strategically investing resources to build capacity for community engagement, in alignment with existing campus and institutional capacities, priorities, and needs. (See an overview of this effort (PDF).)

In spring 2023 President Cauce approved initial priorities and allocated funds to build foundational infrastructure and set the stage for additional capacity-building. The initial priorities for community engagement infrastructure to be addressed through this funding include:

  1. Develop community engagement best principles and blueprints in alignment with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  2. Support or incorporate community engagement in campus-scale strategies and planning.
  3. Remove fiscal policy/process barriers to community engagement.
  4. Improve data collection (tracking, mapping, documentation) and analysis (assessment, evaluation) of community engagement.
  5. Support faculty and staff community engagement by developing and expanding resources for professional development, promotion and tenure, and other supports.  
  6. Grow student community engagement training and professional development opportunities.
  7. Build appropriate tri-campus institutional efficiencies and coordination of community engagement to center the benefits to community partners.

As part of this gift-funded effort to build infrastructure and capacity for community engagement, in 2023-24 funding will support the equivalent of 1.0 FTE faculty and 1.0 FTE staff at each of the Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma campuses (i.e., 6.0 FTE total) to help lead these efforts at the campus and tri-campus scales. The UW Bothell faculty lead positions will work closely with 1.0 FTE staff member at UW Bothell working towards these goals together.

Roles and Responsibilities:

To accomplish the established priorities, UW Bothell would like to identify, through an application process, two faculty members (each at 0.50 FTE) to work with colleagues across all three campuses. The responsibilities outlined below will be distributed between the two positions; the work could also potentially be combined into 1.0 FTE, if suitable.

Scope of work for tri-campus and campus leadership to build community engagement capacity:

  • Lead two of the tri-campus community engagement priority charges, in partnership with the funded staff position, and contribute to all tri-campus priority work groups.
  • Work with the campus and tri-campus communities, other community engagement leaders, Community Engagement Working Group, stakeholders, and others as appropriate to make key progress on the initial seven priorities listed above.
  • Regularly share progress, challenges, and insights with the other campus faculty and staff funded to contribute to this work; UW Bothell General Faculty Organization (GFO); Chancellor’s Executive Team (CET); and other stakeholders, as appropriate.
  • Share final report(s) and/or presentations on efforts and outcomes with the GFO, CET, and other stakeholders, as appropriate.
  • Anticipate an invitation to present on your work alongside the other tri-campus Community Engagement faculty and staff in spring quarter 2024.
  • Collaborate with CE staff and other faculty CE co-leads to ensure the workload is manageable, equitable, and works towards the program goals.

Scope of work for UW Bothell to build community engagement capacity:

  • Work closely with the CE staff position to lead UW Bothell’s efforts to achieve and maintain the national Carnegie designation as a leader in community engagement. Lead institution through reclassification process for 2026.
  • Provide leadership to the CE staff position and key campus stakeholders around the development of a campus-level strategic partnership engagement plan. Support development of institution-wide community partnership with a focus on signature areas we can have reciprocal benefit and impact to the region.
  • In partnership with key campus stakeholders, create a campus-wide definition of and build campus-wide buy-in for Community Engagement work.
  • Advocate for community-engaged learning across Schools and FYPP in support of the needs of faculty, students and community partners engaged in this work.
  • Work in collaboration with faculty and staff to identify best principles and ethics in community engagement in alignment with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Identify opportunities for community engaged professional development for faculty and staff.  Collaborate with the Office of Connected Learning, the Learning and Teaching Collaborative, and others who support faculty and staff development to identify areas in which offices can support each other in this work.
  • Work in alignment with School and FYPP faculty governance bodies to support faculty policies and procedures in relation to community engaged teaching and research.
  • Work closely with CE staff and key campus stakeholders to support, develop, and implement community engagement assessment goals (faculty, partner, student, institutional), indicators, analysis, and feedback loops.
  • Support the strategic pillar and key indicators of UW Bothell’s Campus and Community Engagement strategic priority area.
  • Work with CE staff and key campus stakeholders to create infrastructure for seamless interaction for community partners engaging/exploring opportunities with UW Bothell.
  • Work with the GFO and CET to formalize regular reports and updates.
  • Develop a strategy and phased work plan to ensure long-term success for community engagement work on the Bothell campus.
  • Identify and stay up to date on new opportunities and innovations in the field of community engagement locally and nationally. Utilize assessment data; student, staff, and faculty feedback; and other data and resources to improve and inform strategic planning.

Desired qualifications:

  • 5+ years’ experience working at the University of Washington Bothell campus.
  • Expertise or demonstrated excellence in community engagement scholarship.
  • Demonstrated leadership, administrative and collaboration skills. E.g., leading a school, department, committee or council or leading a program initiative.
  • Demonstrated commitment to ethical and mutually beneficial community engagement.
  • Knowledge and understanding of principles of DEI&J and strategies for engaging equitably across groups.  
  • Deep understanding of community engagement with marginalized communities and history of institutional harm.
  • Deep understanding of institutional organization and academic culture.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be a member of the UW faculty per FCCH21 in the UW Faculty Code, and their primary appointment must be on the Bothell campus.

In addition, applicants must have the funded %FTE available within the timeframe of the work to be done without course overloads; a letter of approval is needed to show this. See “Application Process” for a template to support discussion with deans.

Application Process:

Please use this form to apply. You will be asked to upload the following:

  • A letter of no more than 3 pages, addressing:
    • Statement of why you want to participate in tri-campus capacity-building for community engagement
    • Philosophy of / approach to community engagement
    • Evidence of community-engaged scholarship, teaching, or other activities (including relevant examples of programs built, courses developed or other capacity building)
    • Evidence of commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Your CV
  • A letter documenting approval from your dean (PDF of email is fine)

Template language for email or letter of approval from your dean (to be uploaded into the application form):

I am writing to confirm that [name] is a member of the faculty in [X unit] at UW Bothell, and they are available to participate as a [#FTE] funded faculty position on Community Engagement Capacity Building during the 2023-24 academic year from January 2, 2024 to September 15, 2024. Furthermore, I am aware of and comfortable with the fact that this is a funded position as well as the deliverables associated.

Terms and Conditions:

As part of this gift-funded effort to build infrastructure and capacity for community engagement, in 2023-24 funding will support the equivalent of 1.0 FTE faculty at each of the Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma campuses to help lead these efforts at the campus and tri-campus scales. These positions will work with the other funded faculty and staff positions at each of the three campuses. The funding can be allocated as course buy-out, summer salary or another method as appropriate. Summer compensation is negotiable.

These positions will have oversight by UW Bothell’s Office of the Chancellor with accountability and support, as available, from the Tri-Campus Project Director for Community Engagement.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Shauna Elbers Carlisle (Tri-Campus Community Engagement Working Group) at ske9902@uw.edu or Jessica Graham (Office of the Chancellor) at jgraham5@uw.edu.