Assessment of Community Engagement: Moving Beyond Student Learning and Success

Historically, assessment of community engagement has focused on student outcomes, both civic and disciplinary, at various levels of the institution (e.g., individual courses, co-curricular programming, program of study/ accreditation, institutional surveys) with an overwhelming majority focused on student outcomes. Meanwhile, interest in assessment beyond student outcomes has grown and the Community Engagement track at the annual Assessment Institute in Indianapolis now serves as an outlet for innovative ideas, approaches, and dialogue related to assessment of community engagement more broadly. Interests beyond student outcomes may be attributed, in part, to practitioners, scholars, and decision makers in higher education seeking more information regarding, but not limited to, the following: fdelity of high-impact practices, reciprocal partnerships with the community, supporting community-based or -engaged research, planning for strategic approaches to doing communityengaged work, and opportunities for campus awards and recognitions. Partnered with organizational change (e.g., new leadership or new strategic plans and subsequent reporting expectations), these inquiries have sparked conversations on college campuses about the role, value, and effectiveness of community engagement. The Community Engagement track at the Assessment Institute in Indianapolis seeks to strengthen the evidence of how higher education institutions’ community-engaged activities, programs, pedagogies, and/or practices support their institution’s mission, demonstrate progress, and inform decision making. Most notably, this movement to think beyond the assessment of student outcomes has led to a broader appreciation