The Student Awards recognize undergraduate and graduate students who have demonstrated excellence in community-engaged scholarship activities.

Categories:

• Individual: Undergraduate Student Award, Graduate Student Award
• Team (One per year)

Eligibility:

• Be a current undergraduate or graduate student who has contributed significantly to the local community, state, nation, or world through distinguished University community engagement.
• The team must include a faculty or staff mentor from the University of Connecticut, and most of the team members must be currently enrolled students.
• For these awards, distinguished community engagement is considered a direct extension of the student’s University role to the public and non-profit sectors.
• Individuals who have received a student community-engaged scholarship award in prior years are not eligible to receive the award again.
• Engagement or service resulting in monetary gain (e.g., private consulting) is not considered community-engaged scholarship, nor is work performed outside of a student’s University role (e.g., membership in service clubs, or serving as an elected public official).

Evaluation Criteria

The selection committee will evaluate nominations based on the degree to which nominees meet the following criteria:

• Sustained Leadership: Evidence of at least two semesters of leadership with responsibilities that have grown progressively over time.
• Innovation & Creativity: Use of innovative, entrepreneurial, or creative approaches to advance the well-being of citizens and communities.
• Community Impact: Clear evidence of positive, measurable outcomes for the community served.
• Personal and Academic Development: Demonstrated intellectual, educational, professional, and personal growth as a result of community-engaged scholarship.
• Collaborative Participation – Evidence of meaningful participation from multiple stakeholders (e.g., students, faculty, community members).

Form

1. Nominator and Student(s) information.
2. Describe the student’s work as it relates to community engagement. Be sure to highlight how it meets all of the evaluation criteria listed above. Subheadings for each evaluation criterion are encouraged. (Max 1500 words).
3. Supporting documents:
   • A two-page curriculum vitae that summarizes honors, service, or other outputs and recognitions related to community engagement.
   • At least one letter of support from someone other than the nominator.

Community-engaged research and creative work is a form of scholarship in which community partners participate in theory building, problem formulation, research/creative design, and/or data analysis and interpretation. Another form of community-engaged research or creative work is the creation, interpretation, or application of knowledge to address societal issues.

Research Category

• Distinguished Scholar Research Award – Recognizes mid-to-late career faculty who have demonstrated a lifetime or career achievements in community-engaged research or creative work. One award may be given to a scholar who has demonstrated sustained and significant impact on the local community, state, nation, or world that advances both knowledge and community well-being.
• Emerging Scholar Research Award – Recognizes early-career faculty who have demonstrated promising, intentional, and innovative contributions to community-engaged research. One award may be given to a scholar who demonstrates building a trajectory of scholarship that reflects reciprocity, mutual benefit, and potential for significant impact in their communities and disciplines.

Eligibility

• Be a faculty member (tenure track, clinical, in-residence, extension, or research) with at least a 50% appointment at the University.
• Individuals who have received a community-engaged scholarship award in previous years are not eligible to receive the award again in the same category or another individual category for five years.
• Early career faculty refers to faculty who are pre-tenure or at an equivalent career stage and within 10 years of their terminal degree.
• Mid-to-late career faculty refers to faculty who are post-tenure or at an equivalent career stage.
• To ensure these awards reflect the University of Connecticut’s mission and impact, only community-engaged scholarship conducted during a nominee’s appointment at UConn will be considered. Work undertaken at prior institutions is not eligible.
• Community engagement must directly extend from an individual’s university role to the public and non-profit sectors. Engagement or service resulting in monetary gain (private consulting) is not considered community-engaged scholarship, nor is work performed as a volunteer in external organizations (membership in local service clubs, for example) or as an elected public official.

Evaluation Criteria

The selection committee will evaluate nominations based on the degree to which a nominee meets the following criteria:

• Problem statement: Clearly articulates the societal issue being addressed, grounded in community context and significance.
• Research design: Uses intentional, rigorous, and innovative methods that co-create, interpret, or apply knowledge to address societal issues and advance community well-being.
• Partnership and reciprocity: – Demonstrates authentic, mutually beneficial relationships with community partners, characterized by shared decision-making and reciprocity.
• Impact on community: Provides evidence of measurable outcomes that have improved the capacity, well-being, or sustainability of the community served.
• Scholar outputs: Demonstrates impact on the academic field through peer-reviewed publications, theory building, and/or applied practice; may include co-authorship with community partners and recognition within the field of engaged scholarship.
• Leadership: Shows sustained leadership in working with the public of external organizations and or advancing community-engaged research within and beyond the university, including mentoring of students, peers, or community partners, and contributing to institutional or field-wide change.
  

Form

Letters from community partners are encouraged but not required.

1. Nominator and Nominee’s information.
2. Describe the nominee’s work and how it relates to community-engaged research. Be sure to highlight how it meets some or all of the above evaluation criteria. Subheadings for each evaluation criterion are encouraged (Max 1500 words). 
3. Supporting documents:
   • A Two-page curriculum vitae that summarizes honors, publications, or other outputs and recognitions related to community-engaged research.
   • At least one letter of support from someone other than the nominator.
   • Letters from community partners are encouraged but not required.

Community-engaged teaching is teaching that enriches undergraduate or graduate student experiences through the development of reciprocal, sustainable community partnerships, which leverage university and community resources, impact students, and strengthen the university and the community.

Categories

• Distinguished Teaching Award – Recognizes mid-to-late career faculty who have demonstrated a lifetime or career achievements in community-engaged teaching. One award may be given to a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained and significant impact on students, community partners, and the university, advancing both student learning and community well-being through engaged teaching.
• Emerging Teaching Award – Recognizes early-career faculty who have demonstrated promising, intentional, and innovative contributions to community-engaged teaching. One award may be given to a faculty member who demonstrates building a trajectory of engaged pedagogy that reflects reciprocity, mutual benefit, and potential for significant impact on students, communities, and/or the broader discipline of engaged teaching.

Eligibility

• Be a faculty member (tenure track, clinical, in-residence, extension, or research) with at least a 50% appointment at the University.
• Individuals who have received a community-engaged scholarship award in previous years are not eligible to receive the award again in the same category or another individual category for five years.
• Early career faculty refers to faculty who are pre-tenure or at an equivalent career stage and within 10 years of their terminal degree.
• Mid-to-late career faculty refers to faculty who are post-tenure or at an equivalent career stage.
• To ensure these awards reflect the University of Connecticut’s mission and impact, only community-engaged scholarship conducted during a nominee’s appointment at UConn will be considered. Work undertaken at prior institutions is not eligible.
• Community engagement must directly extend from an individual’s university role to the public and non-profit sectors. Engagement or service resulting in monetary gain (private consulting) is not considered community-engaged scholarship, nor is work performed as a volunteer in external organizations (membership in local service clubs, for example) or as an elected public official.

Evaluation Criteria

The selection committee will evaluate nominations based on the degree to which a nominee meets the following criteria:

• Pedagogical approach: Demonstrates intentional, rigorous, and innovative teaching practices that integrate community engagement into course design and delivery. Course design encourages students to integrate academic knowledge with civic and community engagement.
• Partnership and reciprocity: Demonstrates authentic, sustainable partnerships with community organizations that enhance student learning. Evidence of community partners as co-educators, co-creators, or contributors to the teaching process.
• Community impact: Provides evidence that teaching activities contribute to tangible benefits for community partners (e.g., capacity-building, knowledge sharing, solutions to community-identified issues).
• Student learning & experiences: Provides evidence of meaningful student learning outcomes (e.g., critical thinking, civic responsibility, professional skills, cultural competency).
• Leadership & mentorship: Shows sustained leadership in advancing community-engaged teaching (e.g., curriculum design, faculty development, program building) and mentorship of students, peers, or community partners in developing engaged teaching and learning practices.

Form

1. Nominator and Nominee’s information.
2. Describe the nominee’s work and how it relates to community-engaged teaching. Be sure to highlight how it meets some or all of the above evaluation criteria. Subheadings for each evaluation criterion are encouraged (Max 1500 words).
3. Supporting documents:
   1. A two-page curriculum vitae that summarizes honors, publications, and other outputs and recognitions related to community-engaged teaching.
   1. At least one letter of support from someone other than the nominator.
   1. Letters from community partners are encouraged but not required.

Community-engaged research and creative work (from now on referred to as community-engaged research) is a form of scholarship in which community partners participate in theory building, problem formulation, research design, and/or data analysis and interpretation. Another form of community-engaged research is the creation, interpretation, or application of knowledge to address societal issues.

Team Category

The Community Engagement Faculty Team Award recognizes a multidisciplinary team of faculty who have demonstrated excellence in community-engaged scholarship. The award honors collaborative work that advances reciprocal, sustainable partnerships with communities and produces meaningful impact through research, teaching, or a combination of both.

Eligibility

• Teams must include at least two UConn faculty members from different departments, schools, or colleges.
• All work considered must have been conducted during the faculty members’ appointments at the University of Connecticut.
• Be a faculty member (tenure track, clinical, in-residence, extension, or research) with at least a 50% appointment at the University.
• Individuals or Teams who have received a community-engaged scholarship award in previous years are not eligible to receive the award again in the same category or another category for five years.
• Community engagement must directly extend from an individual’s university role to the public and non-profit sectors. Engagement or service resulting in monetary gain (private consulting) is not considered community-engaged scholarship, nor is work performed as a volunteer in external organizations (membership in local service clubs, for example) or as an elected public official.

Evaluation Criteria

• Nominations will be evaluated using the established criteria for research, teaching, or community impact, depending on the team’s primary focus.

Form

1. Nominator and Nominee’s information.
2. Describe the team’s work and how it relates to community engagement. Be sure to highlight how it meets some or all of the above evaluation criteria. Subheadings for each evaluation criterion are encouraged (Max 1,500 words).
3. Describe the role and contributions of each member to the project (2-3 sentences per team member).
4. Supporting documents:
   1. At least one letter of support from someone other than the nominator.
   1. Letters from community partners are encouraged but not required.

Community impact refers to the meaningful, measurable, and sustained improvements in community life, generated through reciprocal partnerships that align scholarship and practice with community priorities.

Category

• Community Impact Award – Recognizes one faculty who has addressed critical societal issues that result in impactful, transformational change in communities through activities that align research, practice, and values in service of the common good (e.g., informing life-transformational policy, informal life-transformative educational experiences, increasing access to underserved communities).

Eligibility

• Be a faculty member (tenure track, clinical, in-residence, extension, or research) with at least a 50% appointment at the University
• Individuals who have received a community-engaged scholarship award in previous years are not eligible to receive the award again in the same category or another individual category for five years.
• To ensure these awards reflect the University of Connecticut’s mission and impact, only community-engagement work conducted during a nominee’s appointment at UConn will be considered. Work undertaken at prior institutions will not be considered.
• Community engagement must directly extend from an individual’s university role to the public and non-profit sectors. Engagement or service resulting in monetary gain (private consulting) is not considered community-engaged scholarship, nor is work performed as a volunteer in external organizations (membership in local service clubs, for example) or as an elected public official.

Evaluation Criteria

The selection committee will evaluate nominations based on the degree to which a nominee meets the following criteria:

• Problem statement: Evidence that critical societal issues were identified systematically with community input.
• Approach alignment: Use of intentional, rigorous, and innovative methods that integrate scholarship and practice to advance societal impact.
• Community outcomes or impact: Demonstrated evidence of measurable and sustained improvements in community well-being, capacity, or resilience.
• Inclusiveness: Commitment to strengthening equity, access, and inclusion by expanding opportunities and centering the voices of historically underserved or marginalized populations.
• Leadership and influence: – Evidence of leadership in advancing community impact and contributing to long-term, systemic change (e.g., informing policy, improving educational or health outcomes, fostering economic development, enhancing cultural vitality).
  

Form

1. Nominator and Nominee’s information.
2. Describe the nominee’s work and how it relates to meaningful, measurable, and sustained improvements in communities. Be sure to highlight how it meets some or all of the above evaluation criteria. Subheadings for each evaluation criterion are encouraged (Max 1500 words).
3. Supporting documents:
   • Two-page curriculum vitae that summarizes honors, publications, or other outputs and recognitions related to community impact.
   • At least one letter of support from someone other than the nominator.
   • Letters from community partners are encouraged but not required.

The Institutional Transformation Award recognizes individuals, units, or organizations that advance public engagement at UConn at the institutional level. One award will be given to UConn community members or partners for undertaking comprehensive, planned efforts that have transformed UConn’s ability to align teaching, research, practice, and values in service of the common good.

Eligibility

• UConn employees (i.e., faculty, deans, staff, or executives) and partners (e.g., UConn Foundation employees, alumni, State employees) as individuals or teams. Individuals, teams, or units that have received a community-engagement award in another category within the previous five years are not eligible for this award. Institutional Transformation Awards are lifetime recognitions and may not be received more than once.

Evaluation Criteria

The selection committee will evaluate nominations based on the degree to which nominees meet the following criteria:

• Strategic alignment: Evidence of intentionality to advance UConn’s strategic plan through public engagement.
• Leadership & Implementation: Evidence of leadership in planning, coordinating, and executing the project.
• Societal Impact Motivation: A clear description of the potential societal impact that motivated the institutional change.
• Internal Institutional Capacity: Evidence that the change has strengthened UConn’s internal ability to support community-engaged research, teaching, and practice (e.g., policies, infrastructure, funding, faculty/staff/student support, integration into institutional culture).
• External Engagement Capacity: Evidence that the institutional change has expanded UConn’s external ability to engage with communities (e.g., strengthened partnerships, broadened reach to underserved communities, new centers/institutes that connect UConn with the public).

Form

1. Nominator and Nominee’s information.
2. Summary of Institutional Transformation Effort – A narrative (no more than 2000 words) outlining the project, program, or initiative that advanced UConn’s institutional capacity for community engagement. The summary should describe the goals, scope, and outcomes of the effort, with attention to both external reach and internal capacity-building. Be sure to highlight how it meets all of the evaluation criteria listed above. Subheadings for each evaluation criterion are encouraged.
3. Supporting documents:
   • Letter of Support – A letter from an individual other than the nominator that describes the nominee’s achievements and provides specific examples to support the nomination.
   • Institutional Documentation of Change – Evidence of the structural or systemic changes resulting from the effort. Examples may include:
     • New or revised institutional policies, structures, or systems that strengthen community engagement.
     • Documentation of centers, institutes, or programs established as part of the effort.
     • Data or reports demonstrating expanded external reach (e.g., partnerships, underserved populations served).
     • Evidence of increased internal capacity (e.g., funding mechanisms, faculty/staff/student support, infrastructure).

The Staff Awards recognize a staff member or team who has made significant contributions to the local community, state, nation, or world through distinguished community engagement. These awards recognize staff who demonstrate sustained commitment to reciprocal partnerships, leverage university and community resources, and advance the University of Connecticut’s mission of serving the common good.

Categories

Individual and Team

Eligibility

• All staff and non-faculty research associates with at least a 50% appointment at the University.
• Individuals who have received a community-engagement award in previous years are not eligible to receive it again in future years.
• To ensure these awards reflect the University of Connecticut’s mission and impact, only community engagement conducted during a nominee’s appointment at UConn will be considered. Work undertaken at prior institutions will not be considered.
• Community engagement must directly extend from an individual’s university role to the public and non-profit sectors. Engagement or service resulting in monetary gain (private consulting) is not considered community-engaged scholarship, nor is work performed as a volunteer in external organizations (membership in local service clubs, for example) or as an elected public official.

Evaluation Criteria

The selection committee will evaluate nominations based on the degree to which a nominee meets the following criteria:

• Partnership and reciprocity: Demonstrates authentic, mutually beneficial relationships with community partners, characterized by shared decision-making and reciprocity. Evidence of reciprocal relationships that value both university and community expertise.
• Community Impact: Provides evidence of meaningful and measurable outcomes that improve community well-being, capacity, or resilience.
• Innovation & Resource Leveraging: Demonstrates creativity and effectiveness in leveraging university and community resources to address community-identified needs or priorities.
• Leadership & Institutional Advancement: Shows leadership in advancing the University of Connecticut’s mission of community engagement, contributing to long-term, systemic change, and serving as a model for colleagues across the institution.

Form

1. Nominator and Nominee’s information.
2. Describe the nominee’s work and how it relates to community engagement. Be sure to highlight how it meets some or all of the above evaluation criteria. Subheadings for each evaluation criterion are encouraged (Max 1500 words). 
3. Supporting documents:
   1. Curriculum Vitae (2 pages maximum): A summary of honors, contributions, outputs, and recognitions related specifically to community engagement.
   1. Letter(s) of Support: At least one letter of support from someone other than the nominator.
   1. Community Partner Letters (optional): Letters from community partners are encouraged but not required.

The Community Partner Award recognizes an individual, organization, or group in the community who has collaborated with University of Connecticut members on community-engaged scholarship projects demonstrating sustained partnership and significant impact.

Eligibility

• This award is open to community members who, in collaboration with University of Connecticut members, have demonstrated significant contributions to the local community, state, nation, or world through distinguished community-engaged scholarship.
• Community partners who have received this award in the past are not eligible, and self-nominations are not accepted.
• A partnership with the University of Connecticut of at least five years.

Evaluation Criteria

The selection committee will evaluate nominations based on the degree to which community partners meet the following criteria in performing community engagement activities:

• Purpose of the Community–University Partnership: Clearly articulates the goals, intentions, and outcomes of the community–university partnership, grounded in shared priorities and context.
• Innovation: Demonstrates creative and effective approaches that advance the well-being of citizens and communities.
• Partnership & Reciprocity: Demonstrates authentic, mutually beneficial relationships with University of Connecticut members, characterized by shared decision-making, reciprocity, and co-learning/co-creating.
• Impact on the Community: Provides evidence of measurable outcomes that have improved the capacity, well-being, or sustainability of the community served.
• Impact on the Campus: Provides evidence of meaningful contributions that have enhanced the work of University of Connecticut faculty, staff, students, or programs.

Note: Community partners are also eligible for the Institutional Transformation Awards. Please refer to the website for additional details and specific forms. s.uconn.edu/EngagementAwards

Form

1. Nominator and Nominee’s information.
2. Describe the community partner (Max 300 words).
3. Purpose of the Community-University Partnership (Max 500 words).
4. Provide at least one example of how reciprocity is enacted through the partnership (Max 500 words).
5. Length of Partnership
6. Impact on the community (300 words)
7. Impact on the campus (300 words)
8. Grant funding, if relevant
9. If applicable, please enter the number of:
   1. UConn faculty involved
   1. UConn staff involved
   1. UConn students involved annually
10. If applicable, list the titles of courses linked to the partnership
11. Letter of Support – A letter from an individual other than the nominator that describes the nominee’s achievements and provides specific examples to support the nomination.