The Centrality of Engagement in Higher Education

Commentary on American public higher education describes a landscape beset by challenges and opportunities related to its relevance and cost. This chapter proposes that community and public engagement, as aspects of learning and discovery, are central to addressing these challenges and opportunities. Historically, in a different societal context, higher education reached out to communities in an expert model of knowledge delivery. A coalescence of political, social, and economic pressures may push higher education institutions to consider disengaging from their communities as they must find ways to reduce staff, consolidate programs, and focus energies on particular legislative agendas. America was crafting a…