Two years ago, with the goal of deepening Brown’s relationships across Providence and Rhode Island and advancing Brown’s ability to make a positive impact locally, I appointed Mary Jo Callan to the first cabinet-level position leading community engagement strategies and initiatives. Today, I am pleased to share a plan developed under MJ’s leadership that will serve as a roadmap for how members of the Brown community can work together to develop deeper, more impactful partnerships in our city and state.

The plan, titled “Community Engagement Agenda: A Call to Partnership and Action,” was developed in close collaboration with members of the Community Engagement Council and the team MJ leads at the Swearer Center. It is available on the Brown website:

https://go.brown.edu/community-engagement-agenda

Making a positive impact locally has long been woven into the fabric of Brown’s mission and commitment to serve the community, the nation and the world. Across campus, students, faculty and staff are actively collaborating with local organizations and residents on efforts to address community challenges, support K-12 schools, promote the health of Rhode Islanders, advance climate solutions and the state’s economy, and more. Building on this strong foundation, the new Community Engagement Agenda outlines a framework for coordinating current efforts. It invites more campus community members to partner locally, and creates clearer pathways for existing and potential community partners to best engage with the University.

The new Community Engagement Agenda focuses on strengthening and expanding community engagement strategies and initiatives across five key domains through which Brown can coordinate its current resources to make meaningful impact:

(1) Research: The agenda offers a roadmap for deepening collaborative research between Brown and its local and regional neighbors to further advance solutions to pressing societal concerns that benefit community stakeholders.

(2) Teaching and Learning: The plan offers a framework for building on Brown’s success in curricular and co-curricular student learning and deepening the development of foundational skills for Brown graduates to become informed, ethical and engaged community members.

(3) Expertise: Through enhanced coordination and expanded opportunities, more Brown faculty, staff and alumni will have the opportunity to collaborate with community organizations, institutions, groups and residents on areas of shared interest and public concern.

(4) Anchor Resources: The agenda offers a way forward for Brown to deepen its institutional contributions to local economic vitality, civic health and environmental sustainability through areas such as employment, procurement, facilities, the arts and athletics.

(5) Inclusive Pathways: The agenda will enable the University to broaden the impact of its investments in college access and workforce development programs that advance equitable educational outcomes and economic mobility for Rhode Islanders.

To turn this vision into action, the Community Engagement Agenda offers a range of action steps to help advance a more coordinated engagement infrastructure. As part of their work leading community engagement initiatives on campus, MJ and her team will promote coordination and information exchange, collaborate to align university practices with community benefit, identify community needs and match them with campus resources, and help unite the campus with local communities by leveraging shared interests into impactful partnerships.

Each member of the Brown community will have the opportunity to contribute by drawing upon their unique strengths and experiences. The agenda prioritizes strategically leveraging existing resources to expand training and development programs for faculty, staff and students. It also offers clear guidelines to incentivize and support community engagement. To better support and coordinate this work, the Swearer Center is developing a coordinated data repository and engagement platform to map current partnerships and enable connections for future engagement. The Community Engagement Council is stewarding the development of clear metrics to help assess engagement efforts and evaluate the impact of community engagement initiatives.

This agenda provides a powerful guide for forging meaningful and diverse partnerships. I’m deeply appreciative of the valuable contributions from more than 800 students, staff, faculty, alumni and community-based stakeholders who participated in nearly 150 discussions to inform its development. I encourage you to read the full plan, learn more about how you can get involved, and attend campus discussions with MJ, her team and members of the Community Engagement Council in the coming months. The discussions will serve as forums to share questions and ideas.

Working together across campus, we can work toward a new era of partnership to make an even more meaningful and positive difference in Providence and Rhode Island.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson

President