Since launching SFU’s vision in February 2012, President Andrew Petter has been getting the word out about SFU’s commitment to community engagement.
But how does the university actually define community engagement?

“Community engagement is much more than community out-reach or a one-way dissemination to the public,” says Joanne Curry, associate VP external relations, who has been charged with creating SFU’s first community engagement strategy.

“We define it as a collaboration for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources within a context of partnership and reciprocity.

“There are many types of communities—geographic, professional, academic, cultural, indigenous—and many methods of engagement.”

Locally, for example, the new SFU Public Square facilitates community enlightenment and dialogue on key public issues.

And the growing CityStudio program, which involves seven academic and civic partners, encourages students to get involved in developing sustainable projects related to the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City goals.

Globally, there are myriad examples of students, staff and faculty involved in community engagement, all pinpointed on the SFU Engagement map.

Curry says it’s time to take community engagement further by developing a comprehensive strategy that lays the foundation for developing, achieving and assessing community-engagement initiatives.

Over the past year, she says, through an extensive SFU and community consultation process, the university has come up with five key objectives:

1. Maintain and expand community connections as an integral part of the academic mission, creating opportunities for practical and experiential learning, informing and inspiring research, and contributing to its relevance and success.
2. Develop partnerships and maximize the capacities of all three campuses to enhance the social, economic, environmental and cultural well being of communities, both locally and globally.
3. Build respectful and mutually beneficial community relationships.
   Meet the lifelong learning needs of students, alumni and the community, and respond with innovative programs and learning opportunities for academic, personal and professional development.
4. Be the province’s public square for enlightenment and dialogue on key public issues, and be known as the institution to which the community looks for education, discussion and solutions.
5. Curry is now seeking the SFU community’s input on how to achieve the objectives. She’s asking students, staff and faculty members to answer a series of questions, itemized below, which can also be found on the SFU Engage website, www.sfu.ca/engage.

She encourages everyone to also add their story to SFU’s engagement map, which now includes more than 200 examples of SFU community engagement.
Says Curry: “The participation of staff, students and faculty is vital in order to develop a plan that adds value in ways that are important for SFU and its communities.”

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