Engagement Academy

Elevate your engagement efforts.

Do you wish you had dedicated resources to advance your student engagement program or engagement-centered research project? If so, consider applying to the Engagement Academy.

Each year, the Academy welcomes a cohort of Penn State faculty and staff who receive financial support, resources, and mentoring to develop or strengthen a student engagement program or research project. The Academy includes two tracks. Academy Fellows are one-year appointees who work to build or enhance Penn State student engagement opportunities. Academy Scholars are two-year appointees who work to deepen discourse, practice, and recognition of student engagement through scholarly research.

Each year applications open in February and are due in late March, and terms begin and end with the University’s fiscal year (July 1 to June 30).

Students meeting during SEN event.
“We know that students benefit greatly through engaged learning. We also know that faculty and staff provide the rich experiences that prepare students to become outstanding citizens and contributors to their communities."
Alan Rieck
Associate Vice President and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education

Did you know?

The Faculty Academy exists to support faculty, facilitate experiences, and create knowledge around the effectiveness of those experiences for students.

Tom Hogan, professor of practice in the School of Labor and Employment Relations, speaks at a workshop at the 2018 Student Engagement Network Summit. Hogan is now also a member of SEN's Faculty Academy.
Success Story: Tom Hogan, Academy Scholar
Leveraging the arts for global citizenship
Tom Hogan, professor of practice in the School of Labor and Employment Relations, speaks at a workshop at the 2018 Student Engagement Network Summit. Hogan is now also a member of SEN's Faculty Academy.

Tom Hogan, professor of practice in the School of Labor and Employment Relations, examined the role that art can play in preparing students for global citizenship. His research project enlisted students in an effort to investigate how educators can use the arts to help students cultivate qualities such as empathy, self-reflection, and intercultural competency.

Does the Engagement Academy sound like a fit? Learn more about how to become an Academy Fellow or an Academy Scholar.

Fellow Scholar

Engagement Academy Goals

The Engagement Academy is designed to deepen University-wide discourse, practice, and recognition of student engagement at Penn State. The University’s goals for the Academy are as follows.

  • Advance knowledge about student engagement and engaged scholarship across the University 
  • Strengthen student engagement and engaged scholarship events, courses, and experiences
  • Contribute to research and scholarship on student engagement and engaged scholarship that can lead to sustainable future opportunities for faculty, students, and staff
  • Cultivate faculty, student, and staff leadership regarding student engagement and engaged scholarship
  • Recognize, showcase, enable, and sponsor contributions to student engagement and engaged scholarship by Penn State faculty and staff
  • Assess the effectiveness of student engagement and engaged scholarship at Penn State
20+
Since the Engagement Academy was founded in 2017, we have welcomed more than 20 Penn State faculty and staff as Scholars or Fellows.

A Note on Terminology

Penn State uses several terms to describe student engagement and the work of educators who support and facilitate this engagement. 

“Student engagement” encompasses the vast range of out-of-classroom learning activities which enrich students’ growth as individuals, future professionals, and citizens. Student engagement includes undergraduate research, internships, study abroad or away, community or volunteer service, student organizations, or any other program or initiative that engages students in out-of-classroom learning. 

“Engagement scholarship” is the work of faculty and staff and entails taking learnings from student engagement experiences and findings from scholarly research about student engagement to the broader community at Penn State at beyond. It entails sharing what we know about student engagement with fellow educators so we can put this knowledge into practice. 

Read more about the academic roots of these concepts at the website of the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, of which Penn State is a founding member, and the work of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities. 

Students conducting VO2 tests in Washington, D.C., under the supervision of Faculty Academy fellow Chris Bopp.
Success Story: Chris Bopp, Academy Fellow
Providing future fitness professionals with hands-on experience
Students conducting VO2 tests in Washington, D.C., under the supervision of Faculty Academy fellow Chris Bopp.

Chris Bopp, associate professor of kinesiology, provided students aspiring to a range of careers in health and fitness with practical, hands-on experience in the field. Bopp said, “The opportunities for students to practice on community members will allow them to expand their skill set and gain a greater breadth of experience that they need to be successful after they graduate.”

Did you know?

Faculty and staff are encouraged to also apply for the Community Engagement and Scholarship Award through Penn State Outreach. The award, which comes with a $1,000 stipend, recognizes an outstanding engaged scholarship project or initiative which involves at least one community partner.