Collecting Data to Inform Decision Making and Action: The University of Vermont's Faculty Community Engagement Tool

Evaluative instruments designed to assess a university's or college's institutionalization of service-learning practices have been devised and widely utilized. These instruments often come with assumptions about aligning data with decision making. To date, attempts to document community engagement practices within a department or an entire school/college within a comprehensive university are lacking in the literature. This article addresses that gap by presenting an approach that inventories faculty community engagement activities at the levels of a school and a department within a major research university. It also highlights the potential application of the results of this process for the decision-making of several audiences, ranging from institutional leaders seeking to strengthen outreach efforts to outreach staff looking to improve their programming. [authors]