Courtesy Brown University’s website
By James Bennett III
USF St. Petersburg has been designated with the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for the second time since 2010.
The university earned the classification — which serves as a recognition of the campus’ community and civic engagement ⷨ— alongside 118 other colleges and universities, including USF Tampa.
Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, director of the campus’ Center for Civic Engagement and an associate political science professor, said the yearlong 2020 application was more in-depth than in the past.
“The Carnegie Foundation made it very clear how much more rigorous the standards are this time around,” McLauchlan said in a university press release.
“They basically said that just because you had the designation before, don’t think this will be a walk in the park,” she said. “It’s striking how many universities that had the community-engaged classification in 2010 chose not to pursue reclassification.
“The Carnegie Foundation’s expectations were very daunting.”
McLauchlan added that the designation, while challenging to obtain, presented the campus with an opportunity to demonstrate its “meaningful, sustained partnerships” and reflect on the campus’ identity.
According to the certification’s website, the classification is not an award. Instead, it is an “evidence-based documentation of institutional practice to be used in a process of self-assessment and quality improvement.”
