Boston, MA – Campus Compact has named Andrew Furco, associate vice president for Public Engagement and associate professor of Organizational Leadership, Policy & Development at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN to receive the 2012 Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award. The award is bestowed annually to recognize one senior, tenured faculty member for exemplary leadership in engaged scholarship, contributions to the public good, and advancing students’ civic learning.

“We seek out faculty who actively implement democratic community/campus partnerships, who undertake community-based research, and who are champions for fostering their institution’s commitment to service-learning and civic engagement,” explains Campus Compact President Maureen F. Curley.

Of his work, Furco says, “For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to experiential education and the active involvement of individuals in collaborative experiences.”

Dr. Heidi Barajas, associate dean for Engagement, Diversity and Undergraduate Programs in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota says of Furco, “Through his graceful leadership as a teacher, researcher, and administrator, Professor Furco is systematically shifting the academic culture in our college and across the university system to more fully embrace community engagement practices in our teaching, research, and outreach.”

“Professor Furco is himself a remarkable engaged scholar and teacher, but what makes him exceptional is his ability to translate his individual curriculum into a platform for institutional change that transforms universities and colleges across the globe into being fully engaged institutions,” she concludes.

“Andy Furco is a master of democratic dispositions, principally equality, diversity, respect and a bit of self-deprecating humor,” notes Evan Goldberg of the Alameda County Office of Education, a community partner who has collaborated with Furco for more than 15 years. “He is hard working, demanding of self, and forgiving of others. He brings people together even in atmospheres that drive people apart. He instructs by his actions and demeanor. Andy Furco can teach us all to be better democratic citizens.”

Furco began his career as a middle school music teacher and holds a BA in Music and an MA in Special Education from University of California, Los Angeles. He earned his doctorate in Educational Administration from University of California, Berkeley in 1997.

Throughout his career, Furco has pushed for better research that can more rigorously measure the potential impacts of community engagement on students, faculty, institutions, and communities. Along with producing a number of research instruments, such as the Service-Learning Institutionalization Rubric, he was instrumental in launching the field’s annual international research conference on service-learning.

Furco continues to teach and publish on topics that explore the civic purposes of higher education. He works with community partners in countries

throughout the world to help students experience the role of youth community engagement from an international perspective.

“Andy’s personal and academic commitments get to the core — to the very heart of Campus Compact’s mission. They echo the most fundamental underpinnings of our work,” adds President Curley, speaking from the Compact’s national office in Boston.

The Ehrlich Award brings a monetary award plus the opportunity to conduct a special session at the American Association of Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting in January 2013 in Atlanta, GA. Pictured to the left, Professor Furco is formally presented with the Ehrlich Award by Sholon Rucker of KPMG.