UW-Green Bay recognized nationally for community engagement efforts that ensure Northeast Wisconsin never stops learning
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 22, 2024
The University is one of only 40 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the designation.
Green Bay, WI — The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching announced that UW-Green Bay is one of the 40 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the 2024 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective designation that indicates institutional commitment to community engagement.
This important classification is awarded following a process of self-study by each institution, which is then assessed by a national review committee. A listing of all the institutions that currently hold the Classification endorsement is available on the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching website.
The assessment verified that UW-Green Bay students are engaged, forward-thinking members of the Northeast Wisconsin community. After participating in the Civic Scholars Leadership Program, UW-Green Bay senior Jozlyn became a peer mentor for the first-year students program, interned (and continues to volunteer) at the Neville Public Museum, works in the UW-Green Bay Pride Center, received the Karen Dalke Global Citizen Memorial Scholarship, and was on a study abroad trip to Ecuador during January of 2024.
This student trajectory is a typical pattern for a UW-Green Bay engaged student. With the support of campus resources, they become involved early in their undergrad career with opportunities like the Civic Scholars program. This serves as a catalyst to continue to seek out additional high-impact practices like internships, student organization leadership, undergraduate research, peer mentoring, etc. to continue to grow in their own civic identities and leadership skills.
UW-Green Bay empowers students of all ages to become fully entrenched in community-focused opportunities through programs delivered by the Center for Civic Engagement, the Division of Continuing Education and Community Engagement, the Student Engagement Center and the Lifelong Learning Institute to name a few. Regional businesses collaborate with UW-Green Bay to provide high-impact, hands-on opportunities for students that transform graduates into essential members of the local workforce. More than 70% of UW-Green Bay graduates stay in the local community after graduation.
“We recognize these institutions for their exceptional commitment to community engagement, and their work to transform knowledge into meaningful action,” said Timothy Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. “They exemplify the true spirit of the Carnegie endorsement and the power of serving the public good.”
“We are honored to be recognized for the first time by the ACE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching with this designation,” said University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander. “This is significant for our institution and validates the progress we have made in this area since we established community engagement as one of our six strategic priorities as an institution. We know the benefits of learning through community engagement and also what it does to foster tremendous pride in the region we serve.”
Of the 40 institutions classified in the 2024 cycle, 18 are receiving the classification for the first time while 22 are now re-classified, after being classified originally in 2015 or 2020. They join the 350 currently classified institutions that earned classification in either 2015 or 2020, for a total of 368 campuses who are active holders of this important designation. Among the 2024 recipients of the classification, 25 are public institutions and 15 are private. Nine are Minority Serving Institutions and three are community colleges.
The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification has been the leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education for the past 19 years with classification cycles in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2020, and now 2024.
About the Carnegie Classifications
The Carnegie Classifications are the nation’s leading framework for categorizing and describing colleges and universities in the United States. Utilized frequently by policymakers, funders, and researchers, the Classifications are a critical benchmarking tool for postsecondary institutions. ACE and the Carnegie Foundation announced a partnership in February 2022 to reimagine the Classifications to better reflect the diversity of post-secondary institutions and more completely characterize the impact that today’s institutions have in society.
About ACE
ACE is a membership organization that mobilizes the higher education community to shape effective public policy and foster innovative, high-quality practice. As the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities, our strength lies in our diverse membership of more than 1,600 colleges and universities, related associations, and other organizations in America and abroad. ACE is the only major higher education association to represent all types of U.S. accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities. For more information, please visit www.acenet.edu or follow ACE on X (formerly known as Twitter) @ACEducation.
About The Carnegie Foundation
The mission of the Carnegie Foundation is to catalyze transformational change in education so that every student has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life. Enacted by an act of Congress in 1906, the Foundation has a rich history of driving transformational change in the education sector, including the establishment of TIAA-CREF and the creation of the Education Testing Service, the GRE, and the Carnegie Classifications for Higher Education. The Foundation was also instrumental in the formation of the U.S. Department of Education and Pell Grants, and most recently in the use of networked improvement science to redress systemic inequities in educational opportunities and outcomes.
About UW-Green Bay
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is a school of resilient problem solvers who dare to reach higher with the power of education that ignites growth and answers the biggest challenges. Serving 10,300 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students as well as 67,500 continuing education learners annually, UW-Green Bay offers 200 academic degrees, programs, and certificates. With four campus locations in Northeast Wisconsin, the University’s access mission welcomes all students who want to learn, from every corner of the world. Championing bold thinking since opening its doors in 1965, it is a university on the rise – Wisconsin’s fastest growing UW. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.
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