Skip to content
Community Engagement Knowledge Hub

Broader Terms

Community-Engaged Scholarship Thematic Group 1: Broader Terms

This group includes foundational categories that frame how faculty work is understood, organized, and evaluated within academic institutions. These terms describe broad domains of activity—engagement, service, scholarship, and global collaboration—that cut across research, teaching, and institutional responsibility. They are often invoked in Promotion and Tenure discussions but can be inconsistently interpreted or conflated.

Together, these concepts establish the structural context within which more specific methodologies (e.g., participatory action research, team science, sustainability science) operate. Clarifying their similarities and distinctions helps ensure that faculty contributions are evaluated appropriately, and that community-engaged and impact-oriented work is not miscategorized as service when it meets the standards of scholarship.

Similarities and Differences

All terms:

  • Operate across research, teaching, and service domains.
  • May overlap in practice.
  • Require careful documentation for clarity in tenure, promotion and merit review (TPMR).
  • Are often miscategorized when evaluative criteria are unclear.

However, they differ along key dimensions:

Term Defines Primary Orientation
Research vs. Scholarship   Epistemological scope of academic work Knowledge production
Community Engagement Relational approach with external communities Reciprocity & partnership
Service Institutional and professional stewardship Governance & responsibility
Global Engagement Geographic/international scope of activity Cross-border collaboration

 

While research refers to the systematic investigation of a question to generate new knowledge, scholarship is broader, encompassing original research alongside the integration of knowledge across disciplines, its application to real-world problems, and the study and improvement of teaching.

 

What is it?

  • Research is the systematic investigation of a question to generate new knowledge. It is one essential form of scholarly activity — often called the scholarship of discovery — and is typically evaluated through peer-reviewed publication.
  • Scholarship is broader. It encompasses not only original research but also the integration of knowledge across disciplines, the application of knowledge to real-world problems, and the study and improvement of teaching. Scholarship in all its forms is characterized by clear goals, adequate preparation, appropriate methods, significant results, effective communication, and reflective critique. It is work that is informed by current knowledge in the field, open to peer review, and shared in ways others can build on.
  • In short, all research is scholarship, but not all scholarship is research. Boyer’s expanded definition recognizes that faculty contribute to knowledge — and to the public good — through discovery, integration, application, and teaching alike.

 

Where can you learn more about it?

Community engagement has a relational orientation and describes a mode of partnership between the university and external communities that is reciprocal and mutually beneficial.

 

What is it?

  • Community engagement at the University of Washington is purpose-driven work that is mutually beneficial, equitable, and based on reciprocal partnership between members of UW and external communities.
  • It means working together to develop and share ideas, resources, and approaches that help tackle important societal challenges, strengthen research, and build a sense of civic responsibility.

 

How do you do it?

  • Evidence of sustained, reciprocal relationships with community groups
  • It means sharing knowledge in ways that benefit everyone involved.
  • It should give people the tools and knowledge they need to achieve their goals, make well-informed choices, and improve their lives.
  • Designing and teaching courses with robust community engaged elements
  • Mentoring students in public and community engaged scholarship and research
  • Direct internships with local, national, or international community partners
  • By developing, delivering, and evaluating educational materials and programs that are timely, balanced, and focused on important and emerging topics.
  • Documentation of mutually beneficial partnerships with community organizations or stakeholders
  • In the UW context, partnerships might develop locally, internationally, and with Tribal Nations.

 

Where can you learn more about it?

Academic service refers to institutional and professional stewardship and is focused on contributions that support institutional governance, disciplinary infrastructure, and public trust in higher education. It is not primarily oriented toward knowledge production.

What is it?

  • Academic service refers to faculty contributions that support the governance, functioning, reputation, and mission of the university and the broader academic profession. Service encompasses internal institutional responsibilities and external professional contributions that sustain academic infrastructure, disciplinary communities, and public trust in higher education.
  • Academic service differs from scholarship in that its primary purpose is not the production of new knowledge, but rather the stewardship, advancement, and maintenance of academic institutions and professional fields. While service may generate impact, influence policy, or engage external communities, it is distinguished from community-engaged scholarship by its orientation toward institutional governance, professional obligation, or representational roles rather than systematic inquiry or co-produced knowledge.
  • Consistent with faculty codes and guidance from upper administrations at major research universities, academic service includes contributions at the departmental, college, university, disciplinary, and public levels, and is recognized as an integral component of faculty responsibility.

 

How do you do it?

Academic service is demonstrated through documented contributions that advance institutional operations, professional communities, or public missions, including:

  • Institutional Service
    • Serving in leadership roles (e.g., department chair, program director, committee chair, faculty governance roles).
    • Participating in strategic planning, accreditation, admissions review, curriculum committees, or major institutional initiatives.
    • Contributing to faculty governance bodies or faculty councils.
    • Advancing diversity, equity, access, and inclusion through committee work, program development, or recruitment and mentoring efforts.
    • Supporting faculty affairs, onboarding, and professional development of colleagues.
  • Professional and Disciplinary Service
    • Holding elected or appointed roles in professional societies.
    • Organizing conferences, panels, or symposia.
    • Serving as a journal editor, editorial board member, peer reviewer, or grant reviewer.
    • Contributing to national or international boards, advisory panels, or professional committees.
    • Receiving awards or formal recognition for service contributions.
  • Public and Representational Service
    • Representing the university in policy discussions, advisory groups, or advocacy efforts.
    • Engaging in outreach activities (e.g., public lectures, K–12 partnerships, advisory boards).
    • Supporting philanthropic initiatives or external partnerships in a representative capacity.
  • Impact and Documentation
    • Demonstrating measurable outcomes (e.g., policy changes, improved governance processes, new programs).
    • Documenting scope, leadership level, time commitment, and institutional or professional impact.
    • Clearly distinguishing service contributions from scholarly research or community-engaged scholarship in review materials.

 

Where can you learn more about it?

Global engagement describes scholarly, pedagogical, or research work that crosses national boundaries and involves sustained, reciprocal international collaboration and can occur within research, teaching, service, or scholarship. It emphasizes cross-border reciprocity, sustained partnership, and international impact.

What is it?

  • Global Engagement refers to sustained scholarly, pedagogical, or research collaboration that operates across national boundaries and engages international partners, institutions, or communities in meaningful, reciprocal ways. It encompasses global research collaborations, internationally grounded teaching and learning, cross-border knowledge exchange, and long-term institutional partnerships.
  • Global engagement is distinguished from occasional international activity by its emphasis on reciprocity, intellectual contribution, and sustained collaboration. It may involve interdisciplinary or transnational research teams, global field sites, comparative inquiry, international co-authorship, joint teaching initiatives, or co-developed programs with institutions outside the United States.
  • In Promotion and Tenure contexts, global engagement is recognized when it demonstrates scholarly rigor, documented contribution, and meaningful international impact. Evaluation should consider both academic excellence and the complexity of cross-cultural, regulatory, linguistic, and institutional coordination inherent in global work.

 

How do you do it?

Global Engagement is demonstrated through documented international scholarly, pedagogical, or research contributions, including:

  • Leading or contributing to international research collaborations or multinational research teams.
  • Co-authoring publications with international scholars or institutions.
  • Securing grants or contracts that support global research or transnational initiatives.
  • Developing joint degree programs, global studios, or internationally collaborative curricula.
  • Conducting comparative or cross-cultural research with clear methodological grounding.
  • Establishing sustained partnerships with universities, NGOs, or community organizations outside the United States.
  • Hosting or participating in international symposia, visiting scholar exchanges, or global advisory panels.
  • Producing research adopted or cited in international policy, professional, or institutional contexts.
  • Clearly documenting individual intellectual and leadership contributions within international collaborations.

 

Where can you learn more about it?