TRUCEN

Functioning in a collegial spirit, The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN) provides members with opportunities to share knowledge and strategies related to promoting engagement on their campuses and in their communities.

The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN), established in 2006, works to advance civic engagement and engaged scholarship among research universities. TRUCEN members are R-1 institutions that share a fundamental commitment to leveraging their resources, skills, and energy to address the most challenging issues in society. Functioning in a collegial spirit, TRUCEN provides members with opportunities to share knowledge and strategies related to how their institutions are promoting engagement on their campuses and in their communities.

TRUCEN believes strongly that research universities have a special role to play in helping solve some of the world’s pressing problems.  Through scholarly activities that combine rigorous academic standards with community collaboration, research universities can deepen our understanding of issues and aid in the development of practical solutions that will make a difference. Through teaching that combines deep understanding of issues with reciprocal engagement in communities, they can help students develop the knowledge, analytical skills, collaborative competencies, and civic dispositions necessary to address our greatest challenges.

TRUCEN hosts an annual meeting, typically in the spring, inviting individuals from member institutions who lead or oversee civic and community engagement work in their respective high research university settings. The meeting provides an opportunity for members to share the knowledge and strategies they employ to advance higher education community engagement in their institutional contexts as well as to brainstorm new and creative approaches to common challenges and opportunities that they collectively encounter in their work. Throughout the year, network members are encouraged to continue to meet virtually to discuss issues of mutual interest and to imagine and disseminate resources and models that may be useful across higher education.

As secretariat for the network, Campus Compact serves as a convener and disseminator of information and resources. This includes technical and organizational support for member institutions who host the annual meetings; the provision of online reports of meeting themes, activities, and resources; and the mediation of ongoing communication between TRUCEN members.

For more information about TRUCEN and its associated activities, please contact Clayton Hurd, Director of Professional Learning at Campus Compact.

Read about the early history of TRUCEN here.