Since the early 1990’s, Michigan State University’s emphasis on scholarship-driven community outreach and engagement has attracted the attention of colleges and universities committed to engagement, including other research-intensive universities. As a result of this attention, the Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement and researchers with MSU’s Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship (OPES) have been routinely invited by other universities to make visits, give executive briefings, conduct workshops, provide webinars and audio conferences, and present to campuswide audiences about the practice of community-engaged scholarship, university outreach, and related institutional alignment issues. Individuals and groups of leaders, scholars, and doctoral students have also visited to MSU to consult with OPES and University Outreach and Engagement staff.

Common consultancy topics include:

• Defining scholarly outreach and engagement
• Institutional alignment to support community engagement missions
• Community-engaged scholarship in reappointment, promotion, and tenure
• Institutional measurement and documentation of scholarly outreach and engagement
• Professional development programs for community-engaged scholarship for faculty, staff, and graduate students

This consultancy has served people from institutions in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, China, as well as from across the United States.

The university’s regional, national, and international reputation has directly benefited from this attention as other institutions have sought to learn about MSU’s experience and OPES’s research findings. OPES will continue to partner with higher education institutions to support their efforts to better develop, support, and institutionalize scholarly community engagement in its many forms.