Community-Engaged Teaching and Scholarship Resources for Faculty

• Overview of the institution's curricular community engagement priorities - p. 2
• Glossary of common terms related to community engagement at Bellarmine - p. 3
• Identifying Standards of Community Engagement in Teaching, Scholarship, and Service for Faculty Portfolios - p. 4-5
• Explanation of community-engaged and community topics course designations - p. 6
• Common Experiential Objectives for community-engaged courses - p. 6
• Faculty Impact Grants to support sustained community engagement - p. 6
• Checklist for developing community partnerships - p. 7
• Instructions to access the database of existing Bellarmine community partners - p. 8
• Memorandum of Understanding template for reciprocal partnerships - p. 8
• Introduction to the Learn to Serve Orientation Modules - p. 9
• Information about the MobileServe app and tracking community engagement- p. 9
• Invitation to the Faculty Community Engagement Institute - p. 10
• Scheduling a community engagement consultation with a CCE staff member - p. 10

The Center for Community Engagement offers consultation sessions to faculty members who are interested in integrating community engagement or community topics into a course they either already instruct or would like to propose. These consultations are open to faculty members at any point in the process of planning their course—whether they have a clear vision of how a community partnership could mutually benefit the students’ learning and the organizations’ needs, or they are simply entertaining the idea of incorporating community engagement into their curriculum. For a consultation, contact Dr. Liz Todd Byron (etodd@bellarmine.edu).

Launching in fall 2021, the Center for Community Engagement and Faculty Development Center partnered to host the inaugural Community of Practice on Community Engagement at Bellarmine University. Co-chaired by two faculty members, this learning community is unique to Bellarmine. The Community of Practice meets monthly for a lunch and learn. Every other month, community partners join us for a meal and open dialogue on community needs a and mutually beneficial practices. The purpose of the Community of Practice is to allow Bellarmine faculty (tenured, tenure track, non-tenure, and part-time) to share out current curricular work with community, build interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts across the university, and expand partnerships with local nonprofit organizations. Contact Dr. Liz Todd Byron (etodd@bellarmine.edu) for more information.

Impact Grants are available to all Bellarmine University students, faculty, and staff to apply for on an ongoing basis. The purpose of the grants is to provide seed funding of $50-500 in support of innovative initiatives that are mutually-beneficial, sustainable, and create positive impact. Students applying for Impact Grants must have a faculty or staff sponsor.

• Impact Grant Application
• Impact Grant Overview and Process 

The Bellarmine Library houses a growing collection of community engagement resources. Please use this link to access the electronic and print books made available by the Bellarmine University W. L. Lyons Brown Library. If you cannot find the resource you are looking for, there are instructions for Interlibrary Loans. 

(Effective 6.1.2021)
In keeping with the University’s strategic plan and the Merton spirit, this policy is implemented to advance and encourage community engagement by University employees. This policy encompasses two types of paid employee Community Engagement: Local Leave and Trip Leave.

Local Leave

All regular full-time and regular part-time employees (non-exempt and exempt) will be permitted to volunteer up to three days (24 hours for full-time employees; prorated hours for part-time employees) per fiscal year at an approved local non-profit organization during regularly scheduled workdays. Those hours should be submitted on the employee’s timecard as Community Engagement Local Leave. A list of approved community partners can be found here. The employee’s supervisor has ultimate discretion as to when the employee may volunteer, taking into consideration business needs and departmental priorities.  

Trip Leave

With written approval from the employee’s supervisor and area Vice President, an employee may participate in a Bellarmine sponsored service trip (i.e., Alternative Spring Break or Guatemala Service Trip) during which time the employee will be granted up to five days (40 hours for full-time employees; prorated hours for part-time employees) of paid Community Engagement Trip Leave. Approved documentation must be forwarded to Human Resources in advance of the trip for the Leave bank to be created and the hours to be available to the employee via the timekeeping system.  

Benefit Details

The utilized community engagement leave time will count toward the employee’s (non-exempt and exempt) workday. Employees will record these paid leave hours in the Additional Time section of their time card.

Local Leave: Employees will be granted a bank of Local hours at the start of each fiscal year. Trip Leave: Approved employees will be granted a Trip Leave bank populated with the number of hours as identified in the trip leave documentation, limited to 5 days (limited to 40 hours).

Unused Community Engagement Leave will not be paid out to an employee. Community Engagement Leave hours expire at the end of each fiscal year, and may not be carried over into a new fiscal year.

All areas will be encouraged to support employees in utilizing the full allotment of available Community Engagement Local Leave during the fiscal year.

As with other leave times, pre-approval must be granted by the supervisor, and coverage is the responsibility of the individual volunteering to ensure the university is operating optimally.

Employees must log community engagement hours through the MobileServe tracking application to provide verification of their volunteer hours and ensure their community engagement was provided to an approved organization. MobileServe can be accessed through One.Bellarmine by clicking the Community Engagement tab.

University employees are responsible for abiding by all Bellarmine University policies when logging Community Engagement Leave Time.

Employees are personally responsible for covering any program fees including but not limited to: travel, transportation and parking associated with the community engagement experience.

A list of approved community partners is maintained by the university to ensure the organization’s mission aligns with Bellarmine’s values of Academic Excellence, Intrinsic Dignity, Social Responsibility, Integrity, Hospitality, and Stewardship. If an employee would like to propose a new organization be added to the list, the employee can submit the Community Partner Proposal Form.