Faculty & Staff

University of Minnesota, Morris faculty and staff can get involved in the community in multiple ways:

• through engaged research;
• by teaching a service learning course;
• by supporting a service project as an adviser to a student organization;
• or by attending (or helping to plan) one of the Office of Community Engagement’s regular events.

Engaged Research

At times, faculty are able to do publishable research in their fields and provide a product or service the community requested. Faculty have conducted community surveys, focus groups, and other research studies requested by community agencies and published (contextualized) results in journals in their fields. Others have written articles about service-learning pedagogy in pedagogical journals in their fields. The Office of Community Engagement can assist in planning, implementing, and revising articles related to such work; the Center for Small Towns has funding and other resources available for such projects as well. Often, engaged research can begin or continue through service-learning courses, Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROPs) , Morris Academic Partnership (MAPs) , and other opportunities for University of Minnesota, Morris students. For more information about current community needs or assistance with such a project, contact the Office of Community Engagement.

Service Learning

Service-learning is a classroom experience that utilizes community service, community-based research, or other civic engagement activities along with regular reflection to meet course goals and community needs. The Office of Community Engagement helps faculty plan, implement, and assess service-learning projects that fit their course goals and meet community needs. We help with project planning, pre-service training, oversight of off-campus (and on-campus) projects, assistance with creating reflective assignments and activities, and assistance with assessment. Please contact us to explore options for service-learning courses.