Outreach as Scholarly Expression A Faculty Perspective

The outreach and engagement movement of the 1990s has had a demonstrable impact on American higher education. Today, outreach is recognized as a legitimate form of scholarship on many campuses, and numerous colleges and universities are taking actions as “engaged institutions.” In large measure, this progress is testimony to the vision, courage, and tenacity of executive-level academic leaders, including presidents, provosts, and deans. Faculty members play vital roles, too. One of those roles is to deepen our understanding of the work itself—the never-ending quest to comprehend outreach more completely and deeply. The purpose of this essay is to stimulate national dialogue about this domain, which we call outreach as scholarly expression. In this essay we explore several complexities associated with understanding outreach as scholarly expression; interpret contemporary perspectives on scholarship with outreach in mind; and discuss three areas we believe are fundamental to advancing outreach as scholarly expression.