Making Engagement Work: University Outreach and Welfare Reform in West Virginia

Abstract

Much attention has been given to the concept of the “engaged university” that seeks to reaffirm the role of higher education in serving society through outreach, teaching, and research. Higher education commissions and associations, as well as individual institutions, have endorsed efforts to connect higher education with society through outreach and applied research. Salient policy issues, which have a direct bearing on institutions of higher learning and frame questions that are ripe for university response, help to sharpen the role of university engagement. Welfare reform is such an issue. This article explores how some of the dimensions of university engagement have been put into operation through a case study of West Virginia University's response to welfare reform. It gives attention to some of the barriers and obstacles to engagement and emphasizes that public administration and affairs faculty may be well-placed to facilitate outreach and to incorporate service activities in teaching and research. The article recommends that institutions help orient faculty to areas of societal and policy concern and need, rather than closely direct outreach activities. The article also stresses the importance of interdisciplinary effort and emphasizes the need for finding connections between teaching, research, and service.