Campus Engage Leader to Visit Tufts

In collaboration with the New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE), the Talloires Network is proud to welcome Lorraine McIlrath to Tufts University. She will headline two campus events focused on the concept of the civic university and on community engagement benchmarking and performance measurements.

McIlrath is coordinator of the Community Knowledge Initiative at the National University of Ireland Galway. She is also principal investigator for Campus Engage, an Irish national network supporting higher education civic engagement in that country. Since 2010, she has been a member partner in an effort that supports the introduction of service learning to five universities in Jordan and Lebanon.

Both events are free and open to those who RSVP. They will be held at the Chase Center in Tufts University’s Carmichael Hall. Information on directions and parking at the Tufts Medford/Somerville campus is available here.

Talloires Network Roundtable
Civic University – the Irish Perspective
Thursday, May 8, 2014
12:00 pm – 2:00pm

The purpose of this roundtable presentation will be to critique the concept of the ‘civic university’  within the context of Ireland, drawing from European, national and local dimensions. The rationale and context for universities to play a civic role within society has been well documented within the literature and will set out if these convincing arguments exist within a legal and policy vacuums or plenum within Ireland. The presentation will also address a recent move within the context of Europe to pull together an Erasmus+ funding proposal, entitled Europe Engage, that seeks to gather universities from northern, central and western Europe with universities in the Arab World towards an understanding and development of civic engagement from a teaching and learning dimension, namely service or community based learning. Register for this event here>>>

NERCHE Engaged Scholarship Think Tank
Community Engagement Benchmarking and Performance Measures: An International Perspective
Friday, May 9, 2014
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Within the context of Ireland there has been an increased emphasis on the civic role of higher education within society. Over the last decade a number of universities and higher education institutions have been developing both an ethos and practice of community and civic engagement stemming from a multi-faceted rationale. Institutional practice is now being buttressed by an increased governmental emphasis on engagement within its widest conception, but with strong alignment towards community and society. One of the major challenges in terms of enacting policy and embedding practice is the documentation of impact from micro and macro levels. The purpose of this think tank will be to present nascent stages of development within the context of Ireland in terms of mapping and measuring community and civic engagement within higher education. In addition, the recent policy vision and performance measurement developments will be presented as an evolving terrain.  Register for this event here>>>