97 

The University Next Door: Developing a Centralized Unit that 

Strategically Cultivates Community Engagement at an Urban 

University 
 

Valerie L. Holton, Jennifer L. Early, Meghan Resler, Audrey Trussell, & Catherine 

Howard 
 

Abstract 
 

Using Kotter’s model of change as a framework, this case study will describe the structure and 

efforts of a centralized unit within an urban, research university to deepen and extend the 

institutionalization of community engagement. The change model will be described along with 

details about the implemented strategies and practices that fall within each of the eight steps. The 

paper concludes with reflections and future efforts.  
 

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is physically, socially and economically intertwined 

with the City of Richmond. From the university’s inception, community engagement has been an 

integral part of VCU’s values and mission (VCU, 2014). In the process of creating VCU as a 

public institution of higher education for the city of Richmond, the Wayne Commission (1967) 

established that VCU would be “an urban-oriented university . . . unique in that its basic 

philosophy concentrates on meeting the needs of an urban population living and working in an 

urban environment (p. 12).” It is in this context that VCU has come to develop and refine its 

relationship with the region. 

 

Since its founding in 1968, VCU has worked to live up to its calling as a public urban university. 

An early focus on professional programs in social science and health fields were VCU’s entrée 

into bridging the educational goals of the university and the societal needs of its urban 

community. Overtime, the vision for VCU expanded as an institution that not only serves urban 

community members directly but also fosters partnerships across governmental and educational 

boundaries that provide the highest quality of service to its students and to the wider Richmond 

region. [For more information on the history of the university and its commitment to engagement, 

see Bonis, Koste, Lyons and Curtis (2006); Howard and Allison (2004); and Trani and Holsworth 

(2010).] As a result, numerous organizational changes and initiatives have been undertaken that 

reflect VCU’s commitment to institutionalizing community engagement as a means to educating 

the citizenry and generating new knowledge while also having a positive impact on its 
communities. 

 

Evolution of Engagement Infrastructure at VCU. 
 

In 2006, VCU established the Division of Community Engagement (DCE), a centralized 

administrative unit that resides in the Office of the Provost and is responsible for institutional 

progress related to community engagement. Prior to that, efforts and programs related to 

engagement were housed in a larger administrative unit along with other programs and offices 

such as continuing studies, summer programs, and international education. As community 

engagement gained prominence across the university and was increasingly seen by the leadership 

as core to VCU’s mission and values, Dr. Eugene Trani, the president, and other senior leadership 

established the DCE as the first unit with a sole focus on engagement and a university-wide scope 

of responsibilities. While the DCE has gone through a series of name changes, the word 

“community” has been included in each as a signal to the university and broader community that 



 98 

VCU values engagement. The DCE has grown and strengthened its role as the primary 

coordinating structure for supporting and advancing community engagement for all academic and 

academic support units across the university. Using Kotter’s model of change, this paper will 

review the strategies used by the DCE to extend and deepen VCU’s engagement with and impact 

on our communities.  

 

Kotter’s Model for Organizational Change  

 

John Kotter (1996) identified a set of principles for leading organizational change. These 

principles, outlined in eight steps, are based on his many years of leading long-lasting change 

initiatives in large companies: (a) create a sense of urgency, (b) form a powerful guiding 

coalition, (c) create a vision, (d) communicate the vision, (e) empower others to act on the vision, 

(f) plan for and create short-term wins, (g) consolidate improvements and produce still more 

change, and (h) institutionalize new approaches.  

 

In general, the steps are considered to occur in a sequential order leading to institutionalized 

change. Skipping a step, or getting too far ahead without a solid base, can create problems. At the 

same time, the dynamic nature of complex organizations often necessitates tackling multiple steps 

at once. Therefore, Kotter (1996) emphasizes the importance of the first four steps for preparing 

organizations for transformation. Steps five through seven introduce new strategies and practices 

to the organization. The final step anchors, or institutionalizes, the change into the organizational 

culture (Kotter 1996).  

 

Although Kotter’s steps do not seamlessly translate from corporate to academic settings, the 

framework is useful for examining and describing change implementation, spread, and 

institutionalization in higher education (Furco & Holland, 2013). The model has been used to 

effectively describe the transformation processes of universities and colleges that have redesigned 

their promotion and tenure systems (Seifer, et al. 2009; Harris, et al. 2003); enacted curricular 

reform (Susman & Pascoe, 2001, Bland, et al. 2000, Guze, 1995); and facilitated educational 

innovation (Viaggiano, Shub & Giere, 2000). We employ Kotter’s change model as a framework 

to describe the DCE’s strategies and practices that have enabled and deepened the 

institutionalization of community engagement at VCU. To do this, we describe each of the eight 

steps in the change model, situate each step within the context of VCU, and describe 

implemented strategies and practices within each step.  

 

Create a Sense of Urgency 

 

Kotter suggests that most successful change efforts begin when an individual or group examines 

circumstances of the organization and its environment, such as potential threats or developing 

opportunities. When these circumstances are broadly and dramatically outlined, especially with 

respect to potential crises or great opportunities, a sense of urgency is created (Kotter, 1996). This 

sense of urgency is crucial to gaining the needed cooperation and motivation (Kotter, 1995).  

 

The establishment of the office that later became known as the DCE occurred during a time when 

the United States saw an increased interest in and exploration of the connections between 

institutions of higher education and their communities (Welch & Saltmarch, 2013). Several 

articles released over this time captured and helped to propel this movement. Ernest Boyer’s 

seminal work, Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate (1990) challenged the 

traditional notion of scholarship and proposed an emphasis on engaged teaching and research. In 

Returning to Our Roots: The Engaged Institution, The Kellogg Commission on the Future of 

State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (1999) outlined both the challenge of public 



 99 

engagement and the ways in which institutions must mobilize to respond. Soon after, the 

American Association of State Colleges and Universities released, Stepping Forward as Stewards 

of Place (2002) to serve as a guide for leadership to integrate public engagement throughout the 

institution.  

 

A new mechanism for institutions to be recognized among their peers began in 2006, when the 

Carnegie Foundation awarded its first cohort of colleges and universities with an elective 

classification for community engagement. Receipt of this classification continues to be based on 

evidence-based documentation of institutionalization of engagement, and offers an opportunity 

for validation of efforts that are not necessarily recognized in other ways, such as through U.S. 

News rankings (Jaschik, 2006). Similarly, multiple professional organizations were launched to 

advance the national dialogue around the role of higher education in their communities. For 

example, Campus Compact, a national collation of nearly 1,100 colleges and universities 

committed to the public purposes of higher education, first convened in 1985 (Campus Compact, 

2015). In 1989, the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) was founded to 

advance the integration of urban universities with their immediate environment. Today, it is the 

longest running and largest organization committed to serving and connecting the world’s urban 

and metropolitan universities and their partners (Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan 

Universities 2015). Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) was started in 1997, 

and continues to promote health equity and social justice through partnerships between 

communities and academic institutions (Community-Campus Partnership for Health, 2015). And 

finally, Imagining America was formally launched in 1999 to encourage campus-community 

collaborations in humanities, arts, and design and advance public scholarship. Today it contains 

over 100 college, university and community organizations (Imagining America, 2015). 

 

Combined, these individual and organizational thought leaders created a sense of national 

urgency regarding the value of public engagement in the mission of higher education. 

Concurrently, a sense of urgency was developing locally. One issue was related to the rapid 

growth in VCU’s student body and its physical footprint, which placed increasing pressure on the 

surrounding communities. For instance, in the early 1990s VCU prepared a master plan that 

involved expansion north into the Oregon Hill community. The residents adamantly opposed this 

expansion north and protested as the incoming president, Dr. Trani, came to campus. Dr. Trani 

responded by throwing out that master plan and establishing a community advisory board to 

foster better communication between the university and its neighbors (Howard & Allison, 2004).  

Physical expansion also significantly impacted another neighboring community. As described in 

detail in Howard and Allison (2004), VCU’s relationship with the Carver community created both 

a need and opportunity for an intentional and mutually-beneficial partnership between the 

university and Carver. This partnership received significant support from Dr. Trani and other 

senior leadership and faculty across the university.  

 

A part of this expansion was the desire for VCU to be seen as a critical and integrated part of the 

region’s success. As such, Dr. Trani and other senior leadership saw the need for the faculty to be 

present in the community and recognized as solving real-world problems through their research. 

Similarly, it was important for VCU to be known for graduating the next generation of an 

engaged citizenry that was prepared to meet the challenges facing the region and world. Here we 

highlight two initiatives that developed from this: service learning and the community associates 

program. Service learning was seen as a way for students to have meaningful learning 

opportunities while contributing to the community. A faculty member was hired to develop 

service learning at the university, including its definition, approval process, and the training of the 

first cohort of service learning faculty. At the same time, the community associates program was 



 100 

developed to support faculty who wished to engage in research and teaching that specifically met 

needs in the community (Howard & Allison, 2006).  

 

Finally, it is important to note that these initiatives occurred during a time when there was 

increased funding to support engaged efforts. These funding opportunities allowed for and 

encouraged individual faculty and universities to initiate and build the infrastructure to sustain 

engagement efforts. For instance, VCU received funding from Campus Compact to support 

service learning and received a grant from Department of Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD)’s Community Outreach Partnerships Centers Program (COPC) to support the Carver-

VCU Partnership (Howard & Allison, 2006).  
 
Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition  

 

Forming a strong guiding coalition involves assembling a group with enough power and 

legitimacy to lead the change effort. While major renewal programs might start with just one or 

two people, in order for a successful transformation to occur, a leadership coalition must form 

and grow over time (Kotter, 1996). This coalition develops a shared commitment to excellent 

performance in the area of change. In the most successful transformations, the coalition is 

comprised of individuals with powerful titles, information, expertise and reputations (Kotter 

1996).  

 

One of the continual challenges of community engagement efforts at large universities is 

coordinating efforts so that they become part of the institutional culture. Universities are often 

characterized as loosely coupled systems where units are somewhat responsive to each other but 

retain unique goals and values (Weick, 1993). In order to create a cohesive culture of change, 

universities must develop rational systems to coordinate constituent units' values and goals (Orton 

& Weick, 1990).  

 

The challenges of the loosely coupled system manifested for VCU. As a large, urban university 

with two main campuses and an academic medical center, it was difficult to know the full breadth 

and depth of the engaged scholarship and outreach occurring across the university. Academic and 

administrative units separately organized and carried out their community efforts. Additionally, 

considerable engagement-related work was being led by individual faculty, staff and students. 

While the university was committed to excellence through engagement, no central mechanism 

charged with supporting this goal existed. Such a central mechanism was seen by the president as 

having the potential to not only be a champion of community engagement, but also facilitate 

internal capacity building for engagement among VCU faculty, staff and students; coordination of 

community engagement projects among multiple units; linkage of community interests with 

VCU’s teaching, research and service interests; and enhancement of the quality of these efforts.  

 

To address this, in 2006 VCU developed two organizing bodies around which to develop guiding 

coalitions: the Division of Community Engagement (DCE) and the Council for Community 

Engagement (CCE). Both were envisioned as aligning and supporting VCU’s then strategic plan, 

VCU 2020: A Vision for Excellence and its goal of “maintaining VCU as a model for university-

community partnerships.” While this case study primarily examines the efforts of the DCE in 

influencing change, this section will also include a brief discussion of the CCE and its activities 

since the DCE provides the administrative support for the CCE. 

 

Division of Community Engagement. The DCE was established as the primary coordinating 

structure for supporting and advancing community engagement across all academic and academic 

support units. It began as a small office, and over the past ten years has grown and strengthened 



 101 

its role. It currently operates with a budget of $2.5 million—nearly three-fourths of which come 

from education and general funds.  

 

Housed in academic affairs, the DCE was, and continues to be, led by a vice provost who reports 

directly to the provost. This organizational location has provided visibility and credibility within 

the university, as well as a “seat at the table” with other university leadership. This has enabled 

the DCE to advance engagement through critical opportunities such as strategic planning 

processes, development of policy, and strategic university initiatives. 

 

As the needs of the university and community have changed over time, so has the DCE. It 

currently employs over twenty full-time faculty and staff members appointed directly to the 

division, who are experts in community engagement, along with other part-time staff and 

students. Currently, the DCE organizes its work around improving the impact within three core 

elements of VCU’s mission: 1) outreach, 2) teaching/learning, and 3) research. To better evaluate 

and understand VCU’s efforts in each of these domains, the DCE also leads and contributes to 

institutional research regarding university-wide community engagement activities and impact. 

Here we highlight selected the DCE programs that are currently active and show how they relate 

to other institutional initiatives and priorities (see Figure 1). 

 

Figure 1 

 

Current Structure 

 
 

 
Community Outreach  

 

Community outreach involves the application and provision of institutional resources, knowledge 

or services to directly benefit the surrounding community (VCU Community Engagement Terms 

and Definitions 2013). As an urban university, VCU's people and programs literally and 

figuratively blend into the cultural fabric of its surrounding neighborhoods and the broader 



 102 

region. Therefore it is critical that the university work collaboratively with its contiguous 

communities to develop mutually-beneficial relationships through various community outreach 

programs.  

 

Neighborhood Outreach 

 

The DCE employs a full-time neighborhood outreach director to work closely with the 

community. This position originated through the previously mentioned COPC grant through 

HUD in 1998, and has been sustained by the university since then. Currently, the director works 

with the five surrounding neighborhoods and in partnership with the VCU Neighborhood Team. 

With liaisons from each of the surrounding neighborhoods, this team strives to share information 

and resources, pursue common goals and develop activities that enhance the communities. They 

meet regularly to facilitate communications between university and neighborhood leadership in 

order to align and connect efforts and voice needs and opportunities. Additionally, they 

participate with other community members in the annual VCU Neighborhood Forum that is 

hosted by VCU’s president and is open to the public. 

 

Mary and Frances Youth Center. The Mary and Frances Youth Center, opened in 2007, maintains 

two private tennis courts and classrooms designed for youth programming and youth-centered 

training. In partnership with the The United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg, the Center 

also manages the implementation of the Youth Program Quality Intervention (YPQI), a quality 

improvement process for out-of-school-time service providers across the region. Utilizing 

the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality system, the process encourages and 

supports education and human service leaders to adapt, implement and scale best-in-class, 

research validated quality improvement systems to advance child and youth development (Mary 

and Frances Youth Center, 2015). 

 

VCU AmeriCorps Program. The DCE has also hosted the VCU AmeriCorps Program, the 

longest-running and largest AmeriCorps program in Virginia, for the past two decades. The VCU 

AmeriCorps Program has a literacy focus with the goal of helping improve the academic skills of 

students attending Richmond Public Schools. The Program provides VCU students an 

opportunity to make a difference in local communities through a commitment of one year of 

service.  

  
Community-Engaged Teaching/Learning 

 

Community-engaged teaching connects students and faculty with activities that address 

community-identified needs through mutually beneficial partnerships that deepen their academic 

and civic learning (VCU Community Engagement Terms and Definitions, 2013). The first cohort 

of faculty was trained in service learning, one example of community-engaged teaching/learning, 

in 1998 and has since become one of the university's signature pedagogies. The Office of Service 

Learning was established within the DCE with the hiring of its current director in 2008, and is 

responsible for increasing the number of high-quality service learning courses for undergraduate 

and graduate programs. The DCE also led the development of ASPiRE (Academic Scholars in 

Real Environments)—a living-learning program promoting community engagement through 

academic coursework and co-curricular experiences. The mission of VCU ASPiRE is to enrich 

and deepen students’ understanding of their capacity to create positive change in communities 

and address critical societal needs through long-term sustainable partnerships (VCU ASPiRE, 

2015).  

 

http://www.yourunitedway.org/
http://www.cypq.org/


 103 

The Office of Service Learning is guided by the VCU Service Learning Advisory Council, 

composed of faculty, staff, students and community members who have expertise in service 

learning pedagogy and are committed to making a positive difference in the community. This 

council meets twice a year to oversee the implementation of the Service-Learning Office’s 

strategic plan and to provide the Service-Learning Office staff with guidance and advice. 

Annually, all council members give presentations within their academic units to increase their 

colleague’s knowledge and awareness of service-learning at VCU. 

 

Community-Engaged Research 

 

Community-engaged research (CEnR) is a collaborative process between the researcher and 

community partner that identifies the assets of all stakeholders and incorporates them in the 

design and conduct of the different phases of the research process (VCU Community Engagement 

Terms and Definitions, 2013). The goals of CEnR are to create and disseminate knowledge and 

creative expression, while contributing to the discipline and strengthening the well-being of the 

community. The DCE's Office of Community-Engaged Research was established in 2012. Under 

the full-time direction of a faculty member, the office works in collaboration with other units to 

support and advance CEnR activities across VCU’s schools, centers, and institutes. A major goal 

of this office is to stimulate collaboration, identify synergy, remove barriers and broadly promote 

the science of CEnR.  

 

Institutional research. The DCE's Office of Community-Engaged Research is also responsible for 

institutional research related to university-wide community engagement efforts. It is therefore 

responsible for developing infrastructure to identify and assess the impact of community 

engagement activities within the DCE and across the university, as well as the university’s impact 

on its surrounding community. Included in this responsibility is the management and evaluation 

of the Council for Community Engagement (CCE) grants program and VCU’s annual application 

to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. 

 

Cross-Unit Entities. While the DCE organizes its work internally around outreach, 

teaching/learning, and research, it also facilitates two cross-unit bodies, each charged with 

supporting and promoting community engagement. These two entities are the Council for 

Community Engagement and the Federation for Community-Engaged Research. 

 

Council for Community Engagement 

 

In 2006, the DCE partnered with the Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, 

which oversees the academic medical campus and center, to form the Council for Community 

Engagement (CCE). The CCE is comprised of appointed representatives from all schools and 

colleges, as well as key support units, research centers and institutes. Each CCE member is 

charged with supporting and promoting community engagement within their home units 

 

The CCE helps the DCE to promote collaboration and coordination of engagement activities 

across the university by facilitating the exchange of information and resources across units and 

campuses. As an illustration of the value placed on engagement across the university, the CCE is 

co-chaired by the vice provost for community engagement and associate vice president for health 

sciences, student initiatives and inclusion. Under their direction, the CCE (1) builds and maintains 

a network of liaisons across units, (2) receives and disseminates information and resources that 

promotes and supports community engagement, (3) gathers information from the community on 

critical needs and opportunities, (4) recognizes accomplishments of university-community 

partnerships, and (5) assists in the coordination of events designed to engage the VCU 



 104 

community with community partners to address community-identified needs. Currently the work 

of the CCE is organized in under three standing CCE committees: Grants and Gifts, Awards and 

Recognition, and Community Connections.  

 

Grants and Gifts Committee. The CCE's Grants and Gifts Committee administers funds to 

encourage engagement and to initiate innovative collaborative programs and research that address 

community-identified needs. This and other grant making programs are described later in our 

discussion of how the DCE addresses barriers to engagement.  

 

Awards and Recognition Committee. The CCE's Awards and Recognition committee helps bring 

attention to the community engagement activities of VCU faculty, staff and students. The 

committee oversees the nomination, selection and celebration of outstanding university-

community partnerships through the annual Currents of Change awards program. Established in 

2005, these awards are given in the categories of teaching, research, outreach and student-

initiated. Recognizing outstanding university-community partnerships serves to publicly honor 

community-engaged programs at VCU and as a stepping-stone to external awards and grant 

funding. For example, VCU won the prestigious C. Peter Magrath University Community 

Engagement Award in 2014 for its Pharmacist Collaborative Care and Outreach in the 

Community program—a program led by the School of Pharmacy that received the Currents of 

Change Award in 2010.  

 

Community Connections Committee. The CCE Community Connections Committee creates the 

bridge between the CCE and the community. The committee develops and oversees service 

opportunities for VCU employees and actively promotes the use of community service leave 

(CSL). In accordance with state policy, twelve-month VCU employees are granted up to sixteen 

hours per year of paid CSL to provide volunteer services to eligible community-based agencies. 

Additionally, the committee collects VCU employees’ CSL stories and pictures to use for news 

articles on the DCE’s and university's website.  

 
Federation for Community-Engaged Research 

 
VCU also has a separate cross-unit entity to specifically support community-engaged research. 

The Federation for Community-Engaged Research is charged with promoting internal alignment 

of CEnR activities at VCU. The Federation is comprised of senior representatives from many 

VCU schools, centers and institutes with high levels of CEnR, including the schools of Medicine, 

Nursing, Education, Social Work and the Arts as well as the Office of the Provost. The 

Federation is co-chaired by the DCE's director of community-engaged research and the director 

of the community engagement core of VCU's NIH funded Center for Clinical and Translational 

Research (CCTR). The Federation’s organizational structure is displayed in Figure 2. 

 

Figure 2: Federation for Community-Engaged Research 

 

 



 105 

 
Create a Vision 

 
In order for change efforts to have direction, a clear vision must be created with defined strategies 

for achieving that vision. The vision presents a picture of the future that is relatively easy to 

communicate, appeals to stakeholders, and goes beyond numbers and data. A clear vision 

elucidates the general direction for change by simplifying hundreds or thousands of more detailed 

decisions and motivating individuals to take action in the right direction. It also coordinates the 

actions of those individuals (Kotter, 1996). 

 

One way that complex organizations like VCU create a vision for multiple small units is to 

develop a strategic plan. As previously described, the DCE was established to support and 

advance community engagement as specified in the 2006 strategic plan, VCU 2020. Soon after 

the arrival of the new president, Dr. Michael Rao, VCU launched its current strategic plan, Quest 

for Distinction, in 2011. This gave even greater prominence to community engagement and 

helped to maintain a sense of urgency and vision.  

 

Quest for Distinction strengthens VCU’s commitment to community engagement by explicitly 

committing to becoming a national model for community engagement – one of four strategic 

planning themes. Under this theme, VCU's goals are to (1) Expand community-engaged 

scholarship and service learning, (2) Create university-community partnerships with a focus on 

the key targeted areas of K-12 educations (with a focus on middle school), access to health and 

economic development, and (3) Provide strategic leadership in addressing sustainability 

challenges through curricular and service innovations and green facilities and operations. In 2015 

Quest for Distinction was recalibrated, with community engagement remaining a primary theme 

(Table 1). 

 
Table 1 

 

VCU’s refocused themes and goals 2015-17  

 

Theme III 

Become a national model for community engagement and regional impact 

Goals and strategies:  
1. Advance focused and strategic university-community engagement that addresses 

critical needs and opportunities in the region 

a. Leveraging university strengths and assets and address community-identified 
needs and opportunities 

b. Ensuring all students have access to innovation/entrepreneurial pathways that 
support regional economic development, cultural vitality or community well-

being 

2. Leverage the efforts of our students, faculty and staff to enhance, integrate and 
disseminate community-engaged scholarship, student service-learning opportunities 

and outreach 

a. Embed, support and promote community engagement within university 
cultures, practices and structures 

 
  



 106 

Vision Alignment  

 

In 2013, the DCE developed its own strategic plan to align with that of the university. The 

planning process included a review of similar units in peer institutions, particularly their structure 

and functions. In addition, input was gathered from nearly 100 university staff, faculty, 

administrative leaders and partners through interviews and input sessions. Five broad goals for 

the DCE were identified: (1) Develop, demonstrate, research and disseminate high-quality 

community engaged outreach programs, (2) Develop, implement, research and disseminate high-

quality community engaged learning experiences, (3) Support rigorous community-engaged 

research that advances disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and contributes to the well-

being of communities, (4) Develop, implement, research and disseminate the DCE Model of 

Excellence for University-Community Partnerships, and (5) Develop and align human and fiscal 

resources that support innovative programs and new initiatives that reflect the DCE Strategic 

Plan. This process also yielded updated mission and vision statements and operating principles 

(Table 2).  

 
Table 2 

 

Division of Community Engagement Vision, Mission and Operating Principles 

 

DCE Vision 

 VCU is a community of engaged citizens, working together, changing lives. 

DCE Mission 

 To mobilize university-community partnerships that generate innovative solutions to societal 

challenges and prepare the engaged citizens of tomorrow. 

DCE Operating Principles 

1. To value and respect the knowledge and expertise that exists within communities. 
2. To support collaborative university-community partnerships built on trust and reciprocity. 
3. To seek out, engage, and value diverse perspectives and experiences that forge practical 

and innovative solutions. 

4. To advance and disseminate new knowledge and best practices through community 
engaged scholarship. 

5. To develop and adopt a model of best practices in community engagement – The DCE 
Model of Excellence for University-Community Partnerships. 

 

Each program within the DCE and the CCE then created logic models to coordinate with the 

goals of the strategic plan and provide a clear purpose with measurable outcomes. As a result, the 

DCE and CCE shared a unified vision for community engagement that aligned with the larger 

university’s vision and strategic plan. 

 

Communicate the Vision 

 
A vision that is only understood by a few people cannot lead to transformation. Similarly, 

transformation is impossible without the help of others. Thus, credible efforts utilizing multiple 

communication vehicles must be employed to convey the new vision and strategies to others 

(Kotter, 1996). A high level of consistent and clear communication of the vision is necessary for 

others to develop a common understanding and develop a shared sense of a desirable future 

(Kotter, 1995). In turn, these common understandings can help motivate and coordinate efforts 

that lead to transformation. 

  



 107 

The vision of VCU as an urban, research university that prioritizes community engagement as a 

means to achieve its mission and positively impact communities is a consistent message, both 

internally and externally. For instance, the value of engagement is found across university’s web 

presence and is a reoccurring theme in presidential blog posts and university-wide 

announcements (blog.president.vcu.edu/). The DCE’s website, community.vcu.edu, is featured as 

one of only six direct navigation portals on VCU’s main website. This location gives it 

prominence among over 600 VCU websites.  
 

The DCE serves as a model and consultant for best practices in communicating internally and 

externally about the division's and university's engagement activities. The DCE website, social 

media, print materials and other communications provide opportunities and support for units 

across the university to integrate university-community partnership language and vision into their 

own communications and operations. Similarly, the DCE has provided training so that others are 

exposed to best practices. The DCE’s news blog provides stories and snapshots of university-

community partnership activity across the university and encourages units to share their 

community-engaged stories in order to elevate the importance of community engagement at 

VCU. To establish a common language, the DCE, CCE and the Office of Planning Decision 

Support (OPDS), the university's institutional research unit, established VCU’s official 

community engagement terms and definitions, which are included in university's glossary of 

terms. [For more information on the development of the community engagement terms and 

definitions, see Holton, V., Jettner, J. F., Early, J. L., & Shaw, K. K. (2015).] 

 

Finally, the DCE promotes the use of engagement language in all aspects of university operations. 

For example, VCU's recruitment of potential students, faculty and staff notes that “We seek and 

support students who demonstrate intellectual curiosity, community engagement and out-of-the-

box thinking” (Undergraduate Admissions, 2015) and “We take pride in our…engagement with 

the communities we serve…” (About VCU, 2015). This may help to establish a community-

engaged foundation for VCU's identity even with someone's first impression of the university. 

Beginning with this initial exposure to VCU's engagement vision, the DCE then purposefully 

cultivates a continuum of opportunities and supports that shape approaches and expectations for 

teaching, learning, outreach and service among all students, faculty and staff. In short, the DCE 

fosters the expectation that community engagement is central to one's experiences at and with 

VCU. This, in turn, necessitates that the university to actively promote and remove obstacles to 

engagement. 

  
Empower Others to Act on the Vision  

 
According to Kotter (1996), even when urgency is high, a guiding coalition has been created, and 

a collective vision has been well communicated, many barriers may still exist to implementation. 

These barriers inhibit employees from carrying out the vision. The purpose of this stage in the 

change process is to empower a broad base of people to take action on the vision by removing as 

many barriers as possible. Here we will focus on DCE's efforts to mitigate or eliminate structural 

barriers, skills barriers, and systems barriers.  

 

Removing Structural Barriers. Structural barriers stem from an organization’s existing structure, 

particularly in terms of the structure’s ability to support the vision once implemented. Faculty and 

staff constitute the most significant portion of the university's organizational structure. 

Recruitment and hiring practices shape their composition. 

 

Hiring practices can influence perceptions of an organization’s vision, as well as recruit potential 

employees who are committed to the realization of the organization’s vision. When filling 

http://blog.president.vcu.edu/
http://community.vcu.edu/


 108 

leadership positions within the DCE, such as program or office directors, the DCE has preferred 

to hire individuals with earned doctorates. This practice both lends credibility to and legitimizes 

the offices within the university context in two ways. First, this qualification preference or 

requirement signals that VCU values these positions insofar as it must financially support higher 

salaries associated with terminal degrees. Second, the doctorate requirement signals that the 

directors have expertise in that area and are able to advance the scholarship associated with their 

respective fields, which allows the DCE to position itself as a leader in engagement. 

 

More broadly, VCU prominently displays its designation as community engaged by Carnegie in 

its job advertisements for leadership positions. By highlighting its community-engagement status 

in these advertisements, VCU communicates to potential employees that it (1) values and 

practices engagement, and (2) would be a good fit for potential employees who themselves value 

engagement. The effect of these practices has been positive, with a record of successful 

leadership hires who value and advance community engagement. 

 

Removing Skills Barriers. Empowering others to act on the vision ensures that as many people 

possible are equipped with the skills they need to follow through, and to be able to do so with 

some degree of autonomy and expertise. This type of empowerment requires that skill, or 

competency, building opportunities be provided by the organization on a regular and ongoing 

basis. The DCE has employed a continuum of competency-building opportunities as a key 

strategy to promote its vision of high-quality, high-impact community-engaged scholarship. 

These opportunities exist to ensure the university and its community partners are equipped to 

fulfill the DCE’s vision of engagement.  

 

The DCE views competency-building opportunities as falling along a continuum of exposure, 

experience and expertise (see Figure 3), which allows for the progressive professional 

development of VCU's faculty, staff, students and community partners. Community-engaged 

competencies can be developed through (a) individual skill-building opportunities that are both 

broadly available and targeted towards certain individuals, (b) learning networks and mentorships 

that make additional assistance available as well as promote interdisciplinary work, and (c) 

readily available guidance (Klein & Sorra, 1996). Aligned with the DCE’s grounding in academic 

affairs, the DCE primarily targets its competency-building activities towards faculty and staff, 

with fewer opportunities for students and community partners.  

 

Figure 3 

 

DCE Continuum of Support Strategies 

 

 
 

 

Learning Networks and Skill-Building Opportunities. To move individuals along the competency-

building continuum, the DCE convenes people virtually and in-person to build learning networks 



 109 

and skills around topic areas pertinent to engagement. Skill-building opportunities (e.g. 

workshops and trainings) provide specific opportunities for participants to increase their 

knowledge in certain topic areas. At the same time, participants in skill-building activities often 

develop learning networks with their peers. These networks, ideally comprised of diverse 

members with varied levels of interest in and experience with the topic area skill-building 

opportunities, enrich learning by providing feedback, support, and guidance to peers. While 

opportunities for creating learning networks are sometimes lacking at academic institutions 

(Israel et al. 1998), the DCE has considered its role of convening others as a strategic approach to 

introducing and refining community-engaged scholarship competencies in order to empower 

others to act on and move the DCE’s engagement vision forward.  

 

Interest Groups and List-serves. The DCE operates multiple listservs as a means of connecting 

with university and community partners. These listservs utilize email as a communication 

mechanism to build awareness, help facilitate potential collaborations, provide information on 

efforts to support and encourage engagement activities, and elicit suggestions to further deepen 

the work of university-community partnerships. Combined, these listservs reach over 1,200 

members across the university. Additionally, the CEnR listserv is currently in the process of 

expanding its communication format to include a blog page with a public forum. 

 

Annual Institute & Workshops. The DCE, along with the Center for Clinical and Translational 

Research, hosts VCU’s annual Community Engagement Institute. The Institute helps faculty 

members, community partners, and graduate students to develop a basic understanding of 

community engagement. Participants are exposed to service learning and community-engaged 

research presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities. This annual, week-long event is 

offered free of charge to approximately 50-70 individuals.  

 

Similarly, the DCE offers short workshops throughout the year that address a wide range of 

topics. These workshops have focused on competency related to community-engagement in 

general, as well as topic areas specific to service-learning and CEnR. For example, workshops 

related to partnership development for effective community engagement have focused on how to 

identify and develop partnerships, how to engage in community-university partnerships across 

one’s career, and conflict resolution. Workshops related to service learning have included topics 

on the development of reflection activities and the syllabi and preparing students for service 

learning. CEnR workshops have been given related to CEnR grant search strategies, specific 

CEnR methodologies, and issues related to conducting ethical research.  

 

Faculty Learning Communities and Faculty Fellows. The DCE co-sponsors a variety of 

opportunities for faculty to engage in learning as a cohort. Employing both faculty learning 

community (FLC) and faculty fellows models, the DCE has offered cohort experiences for faculty 

to collaboratively learn together, document what they have learned, and share their gained 

knowledge with VCU at large. Depending upon the nature of the topic addressed by the cohorts, 

the DCE has worked with co-sponsors from other VCU units to provide stipends for faculty 

participants.  

 

Faculty Mentoring Programs. Faculty mentoring programs offered by the DCE provide guidance 

and support to faculty members who are developing or teaching new service-learning courses. 

Mentoring programs pair faculty mentees one-on-one with mentors who are experienced in 

service-learning pedagogy. The service learning mentor program is voluntary, with no stipend 

paid to either mentees or mentors. In partnership with VCU's Office of Research and the Center 

for Clinical and Translational Research, the DCE is developing a similar program for pairing less 

experienced community-engaged researchers with faculty with more experience. 



 110 

 

Readily-available guidance. In order to build and maintain competence in engagement activities, 

resources to guide effective engagement endeavors must be offered and readily available at an 

institutional level (Calleson, Jordan, & Seifer, 2005). Employees must know where to turn for 

technical assistance, tools, and strategies for operationalizing the ideals of community-engaged 

activities within an academic institution. Guidance documents, bibliographies, and videos have 

been developed to provide permanent reference resources. These have been developed in 

collaboration with other units, and include topics relevant to partnerships (e.g. finding community 

partners, principles of engagement), service learning (e.g. what is service learning, incorporating 

service learning into a syllabus) and CEnR (e.g. what is CEnR, compensation of community 

partners, FAQs about CEnR and the IRB).  

 

The DCE stores these resources in Scholars Compass, an open access publishing platform that 

hosts the intellectual output of VCU’s academic, research, and administrative communities 

(http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu). Its goal of providing wide and stable access to VCU’s scholarly 

products aligns well with the DCE’s goal of ensuring a readily available and widely accessible 

collection of engagement guidance documents. The DCE, therefore, worked closely with the 

University’s library to support the implementation of this online repository of materials. The DCE 

continues to populate the repository by regularly updating it with publications, scholarship, 

presentations, infographics, and videos developed within the DCE as well as materials from the 

Community Engagement Institute. 

 

Courses. The DCE has offered several courses under a Community Studies designation. These 

courses are offered to both undergraduate and graduate students and develop student’s 

knowledge, skills and abilities working in and with communities outside of the academy. There 

are also courses to develop students as service-learning teaching assistants. Through these 

courses, teaching assistants develop new skills, work closely with faculty, develop relationships 

with community leaders and participate in a wide variety of community initiatives. More recently 

the DCE has offered a doctoral-level, open-access course that explores the philosophy and 

techniques of CEnR using a connected learning framework 

(http://rampages.us/communityengagedresearch/).  

 

Removing Systems Barriers 

 

Systems barriers to change emerge when the existing systems and processes within an 

organization do not support the vision. Systems must therefore be in place to reinforce the idea 

that fulfilling the vision is not only expected, but will be supported and rewarded by the 

organization.  

 

Promotion & tenure. Professional reward structures, manifested in higher education largely 

through promotion and tenure policies, reinforce institutional vision by explicitly outlining the 

types of activities expected, supported and rewarded by the institution and socializing faculty 

members to the values of the institution (Pelco & Howard, 2015). Some academic institutions do 

not regard community-engaged scholarship as equivalent to other categories of academic 

scholarship and achievement in their promotion and tenure strategies (Ahmed, et al., 2004). This 

presents as a major barrier to encouraging community engaged work by faculty, especially those 

seeking tenure. Thus, an important strategy for validating community-engaged scholarship is to 

explicitly recognize this work in promotion and tenure policies.  

 

In 2011, VCU began the process of reviewing and revising its university promotion and tenure 

policies. The provost charged an ad hoc committee to 1) assess and highlight best practices in 



 111 

higher education regarding promotion and tenure; 2) review current VCU guidelines to address 

dated materials and accuracy; and 3) suggest revisions to bring policies in line with the new 

strategic plan, including the stronger emphasis on community engagement. The DCE organized 

presentations exposing administrators to community-engaged scholarship, teaching and service, 

and retained an external expert consultant to work with key campus stakeholders around topics of 

community-engaged activity, including meeting with the deans to help them understand the 

nature and role of community-engaged scholarship within their disciplines. In May of 2013, a 

new university promotion and tenure policy was approved which explicitly includes the 

recognition of community-engaged research, teaching, and service as acceptable approaches to 

scholarship at VCU. The work to revise individual academic school- and unit-level policies to 

align with the university-level policy is almost complete.  

 

Intramural funding. When offered as intramural grants, institutionally supported seed grants are 

effective incentives for faculty to partner with community members. These seed grants provide 

immediate gains for furthering the institutional vision, as well as long-term benefit. Past research 

has shown that faculty awarded these grants are more successful in obtaining other grants 

compared to those who are not awarded seed funding (Zuiches, 2013). Institutional support is also 

critical for successful partnerships with high levels of sustainability (Chadwick & Pawloski, 

2007). In an evaluation of two seed grant programs at VCU, Leisey, Holton, and Davey (2012) 

found that grant funded projects had positive benefits for faculty, students, and community 

partners and were associated with enhanced service delivery, high-quality learning experiences, 

and published community-engaged scholarship. As such, the DCE has endeavored to ensure that 

intramural funding to support engagement activities is regularly available. 

 

As mentioned above, the CCE oversees a grant making program with an annual funding pool of 

$100,000. Grantees receive one-year awards of up to $20,000 that support interdisciplinary 

university-community programs, or initiate new university-community partnerships, or continue 

the development of long-standing collaborations. Grants are intended to yield community-

engaged scholarly products and to leverage external funding. The DCE provides administrative 

support for this program, including a yearly evaluation of its impact. In partnership with the 

CCTR, the DCE supports a CEnR Pipeline to Proposal Program through which CEnR Partnership 

Development awards up to $10,000 are intended to specifically support building and supporting 

research partnerships. Recipients of the Partnership Development grant are invited to apply for 

additional intramural funding through either the CCE community-engagement grants or through 

the CCTR’s Endowment Fund. The CCTR’s Endowment Fund provides individual research 

awards up to $50,000 and multi-school research awards up to $130,000 for health sciences 

research. Additionally, the DCE manages and awards Travel Grants in the amount of $1,000 to 

support the scholarship and professional development of service-learning instructors. 

 

Plan For and Create Short-Term Wins 

 

While major change takes time, Kotter asserts that most employees need to see compelling 

evidence within twelve to twenty-four months that transformational efforts are producing 

expected results (Kotter, 1995). Thus, it is recommended that short-term wins be systematically 

planned for and created. Short-term wins help to maintain the momentum necessary for the 

renewal of efforts required to implement the long-term changes necessary for real transformation 

to occur (Kotter, 1995).  

 

Recognizing and rewarding organizational actions that enable the vision is one way to create 

short-term wins. The DCE has helped VCU to leverage both internal and external award 

opportunities. Internal awards and recognition communicate to organizational members that 



 112 

community engagement is valued, respected, and celebrated (see earlier section on the Council 

for Community Engagement for a description of the internal rewards opportunities). External 

awards also communicate the value of community engagement efforts while creating a sense of 

pride for the organization and its members. Additionally, external awards also convey VCU’s 

efforts to a broader audience. 

 

VCU has been recognized by several national entities that recognize community engagement. 

VCU was among the first cohort of institutions recognized as community-engaged by the 

Carnegie Foundation in 2006 and was reclassified in 2015—with the DCE leading the application 

process each cycle. VCU is one of only 54 universities to be designated by the Carnegie 

Foundation as “Community Engaged” with “Very High Research Activity.” Also in 2014, again 

with DCE's leadership, VCU was admitted to the President’s Higher Education Community 

Service Honor Roll for the eighth consecutive year and is one of 121 schools nationwide that 

earned the recognition of Honor Roll with Distinction. It was the second consecutive year for 

VCU to be named to the Honor Roll with Distinction.  

 

Each year the DCE releases annual reports to celebrate the work of the DCE. This report 

highlights the “outstanding community engagement of VCU faculty, students, and staff” 

(Division of Community Engagement 2015, 1). The report outlines successes from the annual 

Community Engagement Institute and spotlights Community Engagement Grant and Currents of 

Change awardees. The annual report also highlights annual outcomes for efforts within ASPiRE 

and each of its outreach programs, as well as in the areas of service-learning, neighborhood 

outreach, and community-engaged research. The report is distributed broadly to both internal and 

external stakeholders. 

 

Another way to recognize and advance organizational vision is to plan for visible performance 

improvements that can be measured and evaluated (Kotter 1995). To that end, the DCE has led 

the development and implementation of infrastructure to identify, track and assess VCU’s 

community engagement activities and impact (see Holton, Jettner, Early, & Shaw, 2015; Holton, 

Early, Jettner & Shaw, 2015). Additionally, the DCE collaborated with the OPDS to apply an 

anchor dashboard framework to use as a reference in the broader conversation about maximizing 

VCU’s positive impact on our community (Holton, Jettner, & Shaw, 2015). These efforts have 

enabled the DCE, in partnership with the OPDS and others, to launch two visible displays of 

information. The online community engagement data dashboard (www.community.vcu.edu) 

includes and describes community-engagement activities across the university by year and unit. 

Additionally, the DCE is leading the development of a partnership map that displays all the 

partner organizations (VCU and community-based) and partnerships by geographic focus, 

activity, topic focus area and VCU unit (http://communitynetwork.vcu.edu/partnerMap). Finally, 

in collaboration with the OPDS, the DCE has launched a task force to further develop the 

community engagement data infrastructure and ensure that the information is used to support 

strategic decision-making.  

 

Consolidate Improvements and Produce Still More Change 
 

Leaders of successful efforts use the credibility afforded by short-term wins to take on larger 

challenges (Kotter, 1995). This might include developing new programs that can continue to 

implement the vision (Kotter, 1995). These programs reinvigorate the change process, and might 

even be larger in scope than earlier projects. Additionally, successful leaders tackle systems and 

structures that have not yet been considered, or are not consistent with the transformation vision 

(Kotter, 1995). 

 

http://www.community.vcu.edu/
http://communitynetwork.vcu.edu/partnerMap


 113 

The DCE is a dynamic unit that leads the development of university-wide infrastructure. It has a 

strong record of incubating programs until they are self-sustaining. One such example is the 

Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence (PNE), an independent non-profit that helps to build the 

capacity and enhance the impact of other non-profits in the region. Three of the PNE’s four 

programs were initially created and housed for several years under DCE. These include (1) 

ConnectVA, a one-stop communication network linking individuals with ideals, information and 

resources, (2) HandsOn Greater Richmond, a service that matches people and their interests to 

meaningful volunteer opportunities that create positive change in Central Virginia, and (3) 

Nonprofit Learning Point (NLP), a program that offers affordable classes, coaching, and 

programs for professional and leadership development for the nonprofit community.  

 

The DCE also helps existing, successful projects and programs to improve. For example, as noted 

earlier, most professional development opportunities, such as the Community Engagement 

Institute, have targeted faculty and staff members or students. Upcoming CE Institutes will be 

designed for the explicit purpose of introducing university and community partners to one another 

to create opportunities for future work together. Organized opportunities for shared interest 

exploration and initial partnership development activities will be deliberately orchestrated 

throughout the event.  

 

Another opportunity for expanding the purpose of the CE Institute is to begin to move away from 

promoting the compartmentalized community-engagement work of faculty, and towards a more 

integrated concept of “community-engaged scholars” at VCU. Faculty members have 

traditionally been identified as those who teach service-learning or conduct CEnR, but not 

necessarily as having expertise in multiple domains of community-engaged work. In the future, 

the CE Institute will be designed as a springboard to support faculty who are interested in 

multiple domains of community engagement. University-based participants, including graduate 

students, will co-learn the founding principles of community engagement alongside community 

members. Topics addressed might include foundational topics that apply to any manner of 

community-engaged work to include initiating and sustaining partnership, techniques for 

successful collaborations, and the importance of community engagement. These foundational 

topics will also be developed and presented as online learning opportunities, ideally as open 

source content. Once the CE Institute has concluded, participants will have the opportunity to 

continue taking learning modules, in either face-to-face or online formats, to build their 

community engagement competence, culminating in earning a community engagement 

certification. This curricular revision aligns with a national trend towards the development and 

recognition of integrated community-engaged faculty. 

 

Institutionalize the New Approach 

 

According to Kotter, “change sticks when it becomes ‘the way we do things around here,’ when it 

seeps into the bloodstream” of the entire organization (Kotter, 1995, p. 67). Once this kind of 

transformation occurs, practices that were once considered ‘new’ become rooted in organizational 

culture, including its members' norms of behavior and shared values, and operate as a powerful 

social force (Kotter, 1996; Kotter, 1995). In other words, deep institutionalization occurs when 

the vision is embraced by all organizational members and units. VCU actively seeks to achieve 

this stage, and, with DCE's leadership, is in the process of implementing several initiatives to 

deepen its institutionalization of community engagement. We conclude by highlighting three 

examples of these efforts. 

 

Attract and Retain Individuals Expecting Engagement. By taking steps towards embedding 

engagement throughout the university culture and practices, VCU will achieve true 



 114 

institutionalization of community engagement, manifested in its ultimate goal of VCU being 

largely recognized as the “best place” for engagement. In other words, faculty will recognize 

VCU as the best place to conduct community-engaged scholarship, students will recognize VCU 

as the best place to learn about community-engaged scholarship, and community partners will 

recognize VCU as a positive ally that benefits the community.  

 

Establish Strategic, Focal Efforts. VCU is also exploring ways to leverage its strengths and 

resources in a way that aligns intentionally with community-identified needs and opportunities. 

One approach is to anchor, or embed, the values of engagement into institutional practice. This 

builds from the concept of “anchor institutions” which recognizes the organization itself as a 

powerful actor, and the role it can play as an economic and cultural driver in community well-

being (Axelroth & Dubbs, 2010). VCU is currently exploring how its values of engagement are 

embedded within many of its institutional practices such as procurement, real estate development 

and hiring through the application of an anchor framework to measure VCU’s impact (Holton, 

Jettner & Shaw, 2015) and participating in the larger national conversations with HUD’s Anchor 

Task Force and the Democracy Collaborative. The concluding section on the future of the DCE 

describes another approach it is considering to establish strategic, focal efforts. 

 

Ensure Consistent Recognition for Community-Engaged Work. VCU continues to consider how 

to best ensure recognition of engagement work for the purposes of promotion and tenure. While 

official university policy recognizes community-engaged research, teaching, and service as 

valued approaches to scholarship, individual departments and units continue to develop their 

capacity for considering such work in their promotion and tenure practices. To ensure that the 

changes in promotion and tenure policy impacts the assessment of all faculty at VCU, a national 

expert has been invited to engage the university in critical conversations about the role of 

community-engaged scholarship in the academy as a whole, and specifically in the review of 

faculty for promotion and tenure.  
 

The Future of DCE’s Role in Deepening and Extending the 

Institutionalization of Community Engagement 
 
As VCU approaches the 10-year anniversary of the DCE, it is a time for reflection on the past as 

well as intense planning for the future. Using Kotter’s framework for change, this case study 

highlights the role of the DCE within VCU in institutionalizing the value of community 

engagement. Next we briefly reflect on the current infrastructure before considering the 

upcoming challenges that the DCE hopes to address that will be important for fulfilling the 

university’s mission and values. Welch and Saltmarsh (2013) conducted a review of the 

infrastructure of over 100 community engagement centers across institutions that received the 

Carnegie community engagement designation in 2010. Based on this review, the DCE has the 

essential components of a community engagement center as identified by other center directors: 

budgeted institutional funds, administrative support, programming staff, faculty development, 

faculty leadership/buy in, student leadership/decision making, assessment mechanism/procedures, 

full-time administrator, academic affairs reporting line, database/tracking system, adequate office 

space, define/designate courses, fund-raising mechanisms, communication/outreach, 

transportation coordination/policy, cross-campus collaboration, and course development grants.  

 

These components will provide the ongoing infrastructure and support that will enable the DCE 

to continue to deepen and extend the institutionalization of community engagement. However, it 

is important to note that opportunities to enhance the division’s infrastructure continue to exist. 

For instance, as public universities are facing an ever-increasing need to generate revenue, the 



 115 

DCE is exploring ways to garner additional grant funding to support community engagement 

efforts through its office as well as across the university. Consistent with Welch and Saltmarsh’s 

(2013) findings on the expanding role of engagement centers, the DCE is also assuming a greater 

role in risk management, which is requiring the development of expertise in a new area. For 

example, in collaboration with the university council and office of compliance, the DCE has led 

the development of an administrative policy regarding minors on campus. This policy addresses 

issues such as mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect; background checks, training, and 

supervision of faculty, staff, students, and volunteers involved in youth programs; and registering 

and tracking of all youth programs and activities on campus. To enhance awareness of and 

compliance with this policy the DCE developed an interactive online training that overviews the 

policy, assesses understanding through situational quizzes, and provides support through 

downloadable forms, templates, and contact sheets.  

 

Finally, the DCE continues to explore systematic and ongoing mechanisms for genuinely 

engaging community members in honest conversation about the challenges they face. Moreover 

the DCE would like to facilitate opportunities for university and community members to 

collectively work together to meet those challenges. This type of engagement has traditionally 

emerged through approaches such as the establishment of advisory boards or inviting community 

members to join existing university committees (Field 2002). While these approaches can be 

meaningful, they often operate in uncoordinated silos. Such disparate efforts make it difficult to 

deeply engage in university-wide work that is high-impact and mutually benefits the community 

and university.  

 

The DCE would therefore like to aid VCU in a new, university-wide approach that would align 

its university-based expertise and resources with community-based expertise and resources to 

identify and address critical needs and opportunities in the region. Ideally, this effort will bring 

together cross-discipline faculty, students, and community members to collectively target their 

work at a community-identified priority. The DCE envisions this effort as occurring on a 

university- and school/college-level as well as engaging individual faculty, staff, students and 

alumni. An enhanced focus such as this would help VCU deepen its impact in key areas, as well 

as provide opportunities for faculty, staff and students to engage in high-impact research and 

teaching/learning.  

 

To achieve this goal, the DCE, along with the university, must first contend with many questions 

such as: 

 

1. What is the best mechanism for identifying priority issues to address? 
2. How can such an effort be coordinated across VCU’s complex institution and 

Richmond’s complex region? 

3. How might this effort connect with other university efforts to ensure that the engagement 
is truly institutionalized? 

4. How might this effort connect with other community-based work already underway? 
5. What is the optimal way to engage students directly and indirectly in this approach? 

 

The DCE is currently exploring best models and practices for this approach to focused, deep 

engagement. While such an approach is a challenging undertaking, the DCE is prepared to lead 

and support the university in deepening and extending its engagement.  

 

 

 



 116 

References 
 
AASCU Task Force on Public Engagement. (2002). Stepping forward as stewards of place: A 

guide for leading public engagement at state colleges and universities. Washington, DC: 

American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Retrieved from 

https://www.aascu.org/WorkArea /DownloadAsset.aspx?id =5458. 

   

About VCU: We are making it real every day. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.vcu.edu/about.  

 

Ahmed, S. M., Beck, B., Maurana, C. A & Newton G. (2004). Overcoming barriers to effective 

community-based participatory research in US medical schools. Education for Health, 17 (2), 

141-151.  doi:10.1080/13576280410001710969. 

 

Appelbaum, S. H., Habashy, S., Malo J.L., & Shafiq, H. (2012). Back to the future: Revisiting 

Kotter's 1996 change model. Journal of Management Development 31 (8), 764-782. 

doi:10.1108/02621711211253231. 

 

Bland, C. J., Starnaman, S., Wersal, L., Moorhead-Rosenberg, L., Zonia, S., & Henry, R. (2000). 

Curricular change in medical schools: How to succeed. Academic Medicine 75 (6), 575-594. 

doi:10.1097/00001888-200006000-00006. 

 

Bonis, R., Joste, J., & Lyons, C. (2006). Virginia commonwealth university: The campus history 

series. South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. 

  

Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton: 

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 

 

Calleson, D. C., Jordan, C. & Seifer, S. (2005). Community-engaged scholarship: Is faculty work 

in communities a true academic enterprise? Academic Medicine 80 (4): 317-321. 

doi:10.1097/00001888-200504000-00002. 

 

Campus Compact. (2015). Mission & Vision. Retrieved from http://compact.org/who-we-

are/mission-and-vision/.  

 

Chadwick, S. A. & Pawlowski, D. R. (2007). Assessing institutional support for service-learning: 

A case study of organizational sensemaking. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning 

13 (2), 31-9. 

 

Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. (2015). About us. Retrieved from 

http://www.cumuonline.org/?page=aboutus.  

 

Community-Campus Partnership for Health. (2015). About us. Retrieved from 

https://ccph.memberclicks.net/about-us.  

 

Division of Community Engagement. (2015). DCE Annual Report 2014-2015. Retrieved from 

http://www.community.vcu.edu/media/community-engagement/pdfs/about-us/DCE-annual-

report-2014-15-web.pdf.  

 

Feld, M. M. (2002). Advisory boards and higher education's urban mission: Four 

models." Metropolitan Universities: An International Forum 13 (1), 22-32. 

http://www.vcu.edu/about
http://compact.org/who-we-are/mission-and-vision/
http://compact.org/who-we-are/mission-and-vision/
http://www.cumuonline.org/?page=aboutus
https://ccph.memberclicks.net/about-us
http://www.community.vcu.edu/media/community-engagement/pdfs/about-us/DCE-annual-report-2014-15-web.pdf
http://www.community.vcu.edu/media/community-engagement/pdfs/about-us/DCE-annual-report-2014-15-web.pdf


 117 

 

Furco, A. & Holland, B. A. (2013). Improving research on service learning institutionalization 

through attention to theories of organizational change. In P. Clayton, R.G. Bringle and J. A. 

Hatcher (Eds.). Research on Service Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Assessment. Stirling, 

VA: Stylus Publications. 

 

Guze, P. A. (1995). Cultivating curricular reform. Academic Medicine, 70 (11), 971-3. 

doi:10.1097/00001888-199511000-00013.  

 

Harris, D. L., DaRosa, D. A., Liu, P. L. and. Hash, R. B. (2003). Facilitating academic 

institutional change: Redefining scholarship. Family Medicine 35 (3), 187-194. Retrieved from 

Directory of Open Access Journals Database. 

 

Hodges, R. A. & Dubb, S. (2010). The road half traveled: University engagement at a 

crossroads. The Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland. 

 

Holton, V. L., Jettner, J. F., & Shaw. K. (2015). Exploring the use of a pilot anchor framework to 

measure VCU’s impact on the region. Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Retrieved from http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/community_resources/. 

  

Holton, V. L., Jettner J. F., Early, J. L., & Shaw K. K. (2015). Leveraging existing resources to 

develop university community engagement data systems. Metropolitan Universities Journal, 26 

(2), 75-98. Retrieved from https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20979.  

 

Holton, V. L., Early, J. L., Jettner, J. F., & Shaw, K. K (2015). Measuring Community-University 

Partnerships across a Complex Research University: Lessons and Findings from a Pilot Enterprise 

Data Collection Mechanism.” Metropolitan Universities Journal, 26 (2). 99-124. Retrieved from 

https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20979.  

 

Howard, C. W. & Allison, K. W. (2004). Bringing all partners to the table: The Virginia 

Commonwealth University and Carver Community partnership. Metropolitan Universities 15 (3), 

57-76. Retrieved from https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20174.  

 

Imagining America. 2015. IA History. Retrieved from http://imaginingamerica.org/.   

 

Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of community-based 

research: assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Reviews of Public 

Health 19 (1), 173-202. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.19.1.173. 

 

Jaschik, S. 2006. A New Carnegie Classification. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from 

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/07/carnegie.  

 

Kellogg Commission on the Future of State. (1999). Returning to our roots: The engaged 

institution. Washington, DC: National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. 

Retrieved from http://www.aplu.org/library/returning-to-our-roots-the-engaged-institution/file.  

 

Klein, K. J., & Sorra, J. S. (1996). The challenge of innovation implementation. Academy of 

Management Review 21 (4), 1055-1080. doi:10.5465/AMR.1996.9704071863. 

 

Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business 

Review 73 (2), 59-67.  

http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/community_resources/
https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20979
https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20979
https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20174
http://imaginingamerica.org/
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/07/carnegie
http://www.aplu.org/library/returning-to-our-roots-the-engaged-institution/file


 118 

 

Kotter, J. P. 1996. Leading change. Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press. 

 

Leisey, M., Holton, V., & Davey, T. L. (2012). Community engagement grants: Assessing the 

impact of university funding and engagements. Journal of Community Engagement and 

Scholarship, 5 (2), 41-47. 

 

Mary and Frances Youth Center. 2015. About. Retrieved from http://mfyc.vcu.edu/.  

 

Orton, J. D., & Weick, D. E. (1990). Loosely coupled systems: A reconceptualization. The 

Academy of Management Review, 15 (2), 203-223. 

 

Pelco, L. E. & Howard, C. (2015). Faculty development for service-learning: One size does not 

fit all. Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved from 

http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/community_resources/31/.  

 

Seifer, S. D, Wong, K., Gelmon, S. B., & Lederer, M. (2009). The community-engaged 

scholarship for health collaborative: A national change initiative focused on faculty roles and 

rewards. Metropolitan Universities Journal 20 (2), 5-21. Retrieved from 

https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20388.  

 

Susman, J., & Pascoe, J. (2001). Recommendations to Institutions. Academic Medicine 76 (4), 

S137-S139. doi:10.1097/00001888-200104001-00027. 

 

Trani, E. P. & Holsworth, R. D. (2010). The Indispensable University: Higher Education, 

Economic Development, and the Knowledge Economy. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield 

Publishing Group, Inc. 

 

Undergrad Admissions. (2015). About VCU. Retrieved from http://ugrad.vcu.edu/why/about.html.  

 

VCU ASPiRE. (2015). About VCU ASPiRE. Retrieved from http://aspire.vcu.edu.   

 

VCU community engagement terms and definitions. (2013). Retrieved from 

http://www.community.vcu.edu/media/community-engagement/pdfs/about-us/CER-Definitions-

Updated-8-28-13.pdf.  

 

VCU strategic framework, mission and values. (2014). Retrieved from 

http://www.library.vcu.edu/about/strategy/.  

 

Viggiano, T. R., Shub, C., & Giere, R. W. (2000). The Mayo Clinic's clinician‐educator award: A 
program to encourage educational innovation and scholarship. Academic Medicine 75 (9), 940-

943. doi:10.1097/00001888-200009000-00018. 

 

Wayne, E. A. (1967). Report of the Commission to Plan for the Establishment of a Proposed 

State-Supported University in the Richmond Metropolitan Area. Richmond, VA: Virginia 

Commonwealth University. Retrieved from 

http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/wcr/id/243  

 

Weick, K. E. (1993). The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster. 

Administrative Science Quarterly 38 (4), 628-652. doi:10.2307/2393339. 

 

http://mfyc.vcu.edu/
http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/community_resources/31/
https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/muj/article/view/20388
http://ugrad.vcu.edu/why/about.html
http://aspire.vcu.edu/
http://www.community.vcu.edu/media/community-engagement/pdfs/about-us/CER-Definitions-Updated-8-28-13.pdf
http://www.community.vcu.edu/media/community-engagement/pdfs/about-us/CER-Definitions-Updated-8-28-13.pdf
http://www.library.vcu.edu/about/strategy/
http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/wcr/id/243


 119 

Welch, M., & John Saltmarsh. (2013). Current practice and infrastructures for campus centers of 

community engagement. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement 17, (4), 25-56. 

 

Zuiches, J. J. (2013 December). The impacts of seed grants as incentives for engagement. Journal 

of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement 17 (4), 57-73.   



 120 

Author Information 
 

Dr. Valerie Holton is the Director of Community-Engaged Research in the Division of 

Community Engagement at Virginia Commonwealth University. In her current role, she leads and 

contributes to strategic initiatives that deepen and demonstrate the university’s civic mission. She 

leads the division’s involvement in building university-wide infrastructure to advance 

community-engaged research (CEnR). Additionally, she supports the development of the division 

and university's capacity to track and measure the impact of VCU's engagement. 

 

Jennifer (Jen) Early works in VCU's Division of Community Engagement to support and advance 

CEnR as part of the university's strategic effort to align university-wide community engagement 

and impact. She assists in the identification, development and dissemination of CEnR resources 

for faculty, staff, students, and community partners. Jen is a doctoral candidate in VCU's Health 

Service and Organization Research program. Her research interests include the role of academic 

health centers, their relationships with surrounding communities, and how they interact to impact 

community health. She also has research interests in how organizational structure impacts 

individual and organizational performance.  

 

Meghan Resler works in VCU’s Division of Community Engagement to support the development 

of VCU Youth Policy and design the accompanying online, interactive training. Additionally, she 

visually represents the Office of Community Engaged Research’s ideas and communications. 

With a Master in Social Work she recognizes the value of evaluation and assessment and with a 

Bachelor in Fine Arts she appreciates the power of visual storytelling.  

 

Audrey Trussell works in VCU's Division of Community Engagement to deliver project 

management, strategic planning and implementation support to advance key community-engaged 

institutional initiatives. In her role she has developed and created foundational communication 

methodologies to strengthen the division's involvement in disseminating, discussing and 

supporting community-engaged scholarship and activities. Audrey is a candidate in VCU's 

Masters of Public Administration Program and will receive a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit 

Management in December 2015. 

 

Dr. Catherine Howard is the Vice Provost for Community Engagement at Virginia 

Commonwealth University and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. She co-

chairs the VCU Council for Community Engagement and has focused on creating a culture of 

community engagement throughout the campus. 

 

Valerie L. Holton, Ph.D., LCSW 

Director of Community-Engaged Research 

Division of Community Engagement 

Virginia Commonwealth University 

901 West Franklin Street 

Richmond, Virginia 23284 

vholton@vcu.edu 

 

Jennifer L Early, BSN, MSHA, RN 

Strategic Project Manager and Research Associate 

Division of Community Engagement 

Virginia Commonwealth University 

PO Box 843062 

mailto:vholton@vcu.edu


 121 

Richmond, Virginia 23284 

s2jlearl@vcu.edu  

 

Meghan Resler, MSW, BFA 

Youth Policy Coordinator and Visual Communications Specialist  

Division of Community Engagement  

Virginia Commonwealth University 

901 West Franklin Street 

Richmond, Virginia 23284 

reslerma@vcu.edu 

 

Audrey Trussell 

Assistant to the Vice Provost 

Division of Community Engagement 

901 West Franklin Street 

Richmond, Virginia 23284 

atrussell@vcu.edu  

 

Catherine W. Howard, Ph.D. 

Vice Provost, Division of Community Engagement 

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology 

Virginia Commonwealth University 

901 W. Franklin Street 

Richmond, VA 23284 

choward@vcu.edu 

 

 

 

 

mailto:s2jlearl@vcu.edu
mailto:reslerma@vcu.edu
mailto:atrussell@vcu.edu
mailto:choward@vcu.edu