UW's Engagement Task Force

UW’s Engagement Task Force was launched in August 2017 to develop a plan for strengthening the University of Wyoming’s mission as a land-grant university and to collaborate with constituents and partners to improve and enhance the health and well-being of the state’s communities and environments. This task force responded to the third “impacting communities” goal of our new strategic plan, Breaking Through: 2017-2022, to cultivate a community of learning energized by collaborative work among students, faculty, staff and external partners, which is committed to active outreach and clear communication with our extensive communities.

The 16-member task force was charged to work with the UW community to think futuristically about engagement and, in doing so, to connect the dots to create an environment of engaged education, student opportunities, scholarship, service, and faculty and staff development to build collaboration between the University of Wyoming and our constituents. Only through authentic engagement will we address the complex economic and social challenges facing UW and Wyoming. 

The task force used this year to conduct an engagement strategy, create a plan for an Office of Engagement and Outreach, and to work toward the day when UW is recognized by the Carnegie Foundation as a “community engaged university.”

Laurie S. Nichols
President

The Marvin Millgate Community Engagement Awards

The Carnegie Foundation describes community engagement as, “the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”

Outreach and Engagement is a core goal of the University of Wyoming and is an integral component of our land-grant mission because it advances a culture of engagement and collaboration involving the exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of reciprocity with the citizens and institutions of Wyoming, the nation and the world. The scholarship of engagement involves collaborative teaching and research that enables learning to take place beyond the campus walls and makes discoveries useful beyond the academic community.

The Marvin Millgate Community Engagement Awards have been established by the President Laurie S. Nichols and Provost Kate Miller, in cooperation with UW’s Engagement Task Force, to recognize individuals and groups at the University of Wyoming and in the community who have rendered exceptional engagement to Wyoming communities (community is defined as “a group of people with a common characteristic or interest”).

Award Categories