Community Involvement

At Illinois, we care about what is happening in the world around us and try to do our part in giving back to the community. In 2004, Chancellor Richard Herman came up with the term, ÒPublic EngagementÓ to embody our desire towards philanthropy. As Chancellor Herman put it,

"The term 'public engagement' reflects the reality that so much of what we do takes the form of faculty members collaborating with communities, agencies, and organizations to address critical issues. When our faculty, staff or students become involved in a public engagement project, they are entering into a contract, in which both they and those they engage with, have much to gain through the sharing of and creating, new knowledge to the benefit of both campus and community."

To ensure that we are doing everything possible, we initiated The Civic Commitment Task Force and Senate Committee on Public Engagement to:

  • Identify and consider problems, needs, concerns and interests of the faculty, staff and students, as they pertain to public engagement and recommend desirable changes in campus policy;
  • Examine trends in public engagement here and in higher education generally and recommend appropriate changes in campus policy;
  • Serve in a broad advisory capacity to the Office of Public Engagement