Integrating Community Engagement in Public Affairs Education


Book Description

Community engaged universities prepare students to participate in societies in ways that are inclusive. This book presents a coherent argument for higher education institutions not only to encourage students to engage in their communities, but also to develop themselves as community engaged institutions. Analyzing the design and implementation of community engaged teaching and learning practices, author Thomas Bryer explores training in democratic practices and envisions a future in which higher education institutions are better prepared to cope with democratic backsliding. Teaching and professional development cases are woven throughout—developed, adapted, and enhanced by the author over a period of years—and grounded in the great debates happening today. Integrating Community Engagement in Public Affairs Education is a culmination of multiple years of experimentation with different approaches to teaching future and practicing public sector leaders the tools of democratic engagement. The text is grounded in a case‐based design that spans undergraduate, Master’s, and Ph.D. students, as well as local government managers, offering concrete examples of teaching and learning strategies that promote public value and measurable social impact. The book closes with practical strategies for publicly engaged scholars to effectively educate the next generation of students about democratic engagement within divided communities. It will be required reading for public administration faculty, as well as practicing public administrators and those who provide training to them.




Community Engagement in Higher Education


Book Description

There seems to be renewed interest in having universities and other higher education institutions engage with their communities at the local, national, and international levels. But what is community engagement? Even if this interest is genuine and widespread, there are many different concepts of community service, outreach, and engagement. The wide range of activity encompassed by community engagement suggests that a precise definition of the “community mission” is difficult and organizing and coordinating such activities is a complex task. This edited volume includes 18 chapters that explore conceptual understandings of community engagement and higher education reforms and initiatives intended to foster it. Contributors provide empirical research findings, including several case study examples that respond to the following higher educaiton community engagement issues. What is “the community” and what does it need and expect from higher education institutions? Is community engagement a mission of all types of higher education institutions or should it be the mission of specific institutions such as regional or metropolitan universities, technical universities, community colleges, or indigenous institutions while other institutions such as major research universities should concentrate on national and global research agendas and on educating internationally-competent researchers and professionals? How can a university be global and at the same time locally relevant? Is it, or should it be, left to the institutions to determine the scope and mode of their community engagement, or is a state mandate preferable and feasible? If community engagement or “community service” are mandatory, what are the consequences of not complying with the mandate? How effective are policy mandates and university engagement for regional and local economic development? What are the principal features and relationships of regionally-engaged universities? Is community engagement to be left to faculty members and students who are particularly socially engaged and locally embedded or is it, or should it be, made mandatory for both faculty and students? How can community engagement be (better) integrated with the (other) two traditional missions of the university—research and teaching? Cover image: The Towering Four-fold Mission of Higher Education, by Natalie Jacob




Teaching Public Budgeting and Finance


Book Description

Many universities offer the Master of Public Administration (MPA) or other public affairs degree, which includes at least one course in public budgeting or public financial management. The faculty who teach these courses can however sometimes struggle to cover the breadth of material required and to fully engage students in what can be a technical subject. Teaching Public Budgeting and Finance: A Practical Guide addresses this challenge by sharing hands-on classroom expertise from leading scholars and creative instructors in the field. Drawing on their extensive experiences with teaching, researching, and engaging in service, each contributor reflects on how their area of expertise can be taught most effectively, providing a discussion of student learning outcomes, pedagogical approaches, relevant resources, and appropriate course assignments. While no one book can provide a final say on classroom instruction, this first-of-its kind primer on teaching public budgeting and financial management courses is a detailed, indispensable guide for all faculty looking to improve the learning experience of students in the classroom. Teaching Public Budgeting and Finance: A Practical Guide is required reading for early career faculty as they prepare to teach the course for what may be the first time, as well as for more senior faculty looking to update their course, complement their own teaching strengths, or teaching the course for the first time in several years.




Civic Engagement Across the Curriculum


Book Description

Civic Education Across the Curriculum offers faculty in all disciplines rationales and resources for connecting their service-learning efforts to the broader goals of civic engagement. Campuses promoting engagement are beginning to tie service-learning practices to their civic mission of preparing students for participation in a diverse, democratic society. There are, however, few resources for faculty—especially those in fields not traditionally linked with civic education—to think about how civic engagement might be incorporated into their own disciplinary perspectives and course goals. This volume distills a wide range of disciplinary perspectives on citizenship into usable conceptual frameworks. It provides concrete examples of course materials, exercises, and assignments that can be used in service-learning courses to develop students’ civic capacities, regardless of disciplinary area. This volume will assist faculty in their own curricular work as well as enable them to combine their individual initiatives with others across their campus.




Managing Gender Inequity in Academia


Book Description

Academia is not immune to gender bias, and in many public affairs programs, inequities persist in faculty academic rank, salary, career length, job security, leadership roles, professional recognition, resource allocation, and role stereotypes. Managing Gender Inequity in Academia is the first book to provide an evidence-based guide for university administrators and faculty interested in building all-important gender equity in public affairs and related programs. Drawing on both secondary and primary data, the book offers a comprehensive perspective on public affairs faculty career paths, the obstacles to advancement in the academy, and how the COVID-19 pandemic further contributed to existing inequities. Each chapter of the book presents evidence-based research derived from interviews, surveys, existing statistics, and documents, offering guidance to public affairs programs, departments, and schools on ways to strengthen the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in the academy. Ultimately, author Gina Scutelnicu Todoran demonstrates the ways in which gender equity can strengthen institutions of higher learning. Managing Gender Inequity in Academia is a guide for building gender equity in public affairs programs for faculty, higher education administrators, and graduate students in public affairs and related disciplines. Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.




Undergraduate Public Affairs Education


Book Description

Public affairs and nonprofit program administrators and directors interested in (or tasked with) implementing undergraduate programs require a resource where they can find information for recruiting and retaining the next wave of public and nonprofit workers. While similar to graduate public affairs programs, undergraduate programs may differ in curriculum design, recruitment targets, learning outcomes, and community engagement opportunities. Universities may have different motivations in creating an undergraduate program, from a need to generate additional resources, a clearer pathway to master’s education, or offering complete degrees in themselves that prepare students for employment in the public or nonprofit sector. This book is the first of its kind to offer concrete, experienced guidance, tips, and general best practices in public affairs and nonprofit undergraduate education from those who have "been there", with chapters written by current and former program administrators and directors. Exploring the variety of programs that are offered in public and nonprofit affairs/administration, the different degree components and specializations, types of experiential learning, different assessment and outcome practices, the value of accelerated degree programs, the current place of accreditation, and the appropriate resources available for program directors and administrators, this book will be of interest to faculty and advanced graduate students that will be teaching/developing curruicula in public and nonprofit degree programs that have undergraduate students.




Higher Education Leadership Strategy in the Public Affairs Triumvirate


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive approach for colleges rethinking their community policy connections. From a ‘pracademic’ perspective, it introduces a new paradigm for contemporary college and community connections through the evolution of research, scholarship and experience, and the application of the Public Affairs discipline from Higher Education Leadership. The book explains how the public affairs forces of Community, Organization, and Administration offer a unique combination of concepts and theory that can transform practice, develop innovation, strengthen communities, and transform lives through a college partnering in a variety of community projects. The book’s defined ethical composition institutes leadership in the public realm, within the Public Affairs Triumvirate; and its discussion of the ‘science to service to philosophy’ will advance higher education strategy scholarship, creating new ideas for how academia and communities can create sustained connections and partnerships for solving problems in any community.




Information Communication Technology (ICT) Integration to Educational Curricula


Book Description

Information Communication Technology (ICT) Integration to Educational Curricula serves as a standard textbook in graduate and senior level undergraduate classes in colleges and universities to contribute to the existing mass communication and ICT literature. The textbook offers a multi-discipline perspective to students of mass communication and information technology and avails them an opportunity to have a valid research tool with great details to pursue their research and class assignments. It provides an essential platform for appropriate literature in mass communication, political communication, and ICT details with relevance to its integration in Africa educational curricula. The book can also serve as a supplemental text for courses in mass media effects, politics, and political communications. It includes contributions by scholars and professionals of African extraction with varied research interests on diverse issues relevant to ICT and its significant impact to curricula development and application to Africa as the new African educational system. The chapters cover a wide array of mass communication, diffusion of innovation, and ICT issues of diverse importance that will guide students, government agencies, and professionals in following the imminent and evolving changes resulting from the integration of technology to educational curricula.




Student Experiences and Educational Outcomes in Community Engagement for the 21st Century


Book Description

Today’s students face the challenge of finding a career and a passion while facing economic uncertainty. Service learning has the potential to challenge and inspire students as they hone their skills. An increasingly popular subject, service and experiential learning are changing the way education is taught worldwide. Student Experiences and Educational Outcomes in Community Engagement for the 21st Century collects and analyzes students’ experiences in diverse service-learning contexts, giving fodder for rethinking strategies and finding optimal pedagogies for successful community engagement. This unique publication is ideal for educators, administrators, policy makers, and students of education.




Advances in Research, Theory and Practice in Work-Integrated Learning


Book Description

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a key strategy for enhancing student employability outcomes and lifelong learning capabilities. This timely publication critically reflects on existing scholarship and practice in WIL, discusses contemporary insights, provides a synopsis of resonating themes, and recommends areas for future research and practice. The book aims to position WIL as a strategic imperative for enabling a sustainable workforce through strengthening graduate capacity both in Australia and globally.The collection of edited scholarly chapters were compiled by 59 researchers, practitioners, and experts in WIL, and supported by the peak national professional body for WIL in Australia, the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN). The chapters cover a range of pertinent topics such as teaching and learning, stakeholder engagement, maximizing learning outcomes, diverse forms of WIL practice, support and infrastructure, and future directions. Specific areas of interest include governance and leadership, student equity and wellbeing, quality and evaluation and interdisciplinary WIL. This book is essential reading for researchers, practitioners, workplace and community partners, university leaders, and policy makers, as the practice of WIL continues to expand in the higher education sector.