About 60 people, mostly faculty and staff, were on hand as the office was officially launched at the campus on Wednesday.
Ken Carter is the director of GO Engagement. After the official ceremony, he said engagement for the campus is about working together with the community. And it’s about getting out, supporting and mobilizing faculty, students and staff to engage more in the community — to come together and do good things.
Carter said that could involve opportunities to collaborate on research projects.
He said its not just about the expertise that lies in Grenfell, but expertise and knowledge that is in the community and tapping into that. “To solve bigger problems that we all face together.”
He also said it’s about mobilizing students to learn in their discipline, but by doing.
“Learn by actually taking on projects, and research and service projects within the community.”
Carter said there is a lot happening at the campus already, but there is more that can be done and the office can be a focal point that can get messages out in terms of what the campus is doing in the community.
“What’s going on and how we can be supportive of ideas emanating from the community.”
The office falls under the leadership of David Peddle, associate vice-president (academic). It is an initiative brought forward by Peddle and stems from CU Expo 2013, a Canadian-led conference showcasing community-university (CU) partnerships worldwide, that the campus hosted in June 2013.
It’s operation will include implementation of Memorial University of Newfoundland’s engagement framework.
Twitter:@WS_DianeCrocker
GO Engagement includes
Community Education - community programming, pool and gymnasium
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Some areas of engagement
Research
Community education
Athletics
Teaching
Learning
Arts
Environment
Let’s Talk Science
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