UConn Achieves Prestigious Carnegie Distinction

STORRS, CT — The University of Connecticut has been bestowed a prestigious distinction given to just a handful of institutions.

UConn this week announced that it is one of 40 colleges and universities in the United States to receive the 2024 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective designation that indicates "institutional commitment to community engagement."

The designation is determined by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The classification is awarded following a process of self-study by each institution, which is then assessed by a national review committee.

The schools are recognized these institutions for their "exceptional commitment to community engagement and their work to transform knowledge into meaningful action,” according to Timothy Knowles, the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification has been the leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education for the past 19 years, with UConn also receiving classification in 2010, school officials said.

UConn’s Office of Outreach and Engagement submitted the application to the Carnegie Foundation last spring.

Carnegie describes community engagement by institutions as "collaboration between schools and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity."