Provost’s Council for Engagement
The Provost’s Council for Engagement serves to advance the practice and recognition of our integration of academic scholarship and community engagement. As a faculty-driven initiative, established in 2016, the Provost’s Council advances the scholarship of engagement, including engaged teaching, engaged research and engagement with communities across Colorado and the world.
Bringing Academia to our Communities
The formation of the Council emerged as a recommendation from the university’s 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) Designation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities., a nationally recognized designation we continue to hold. The Council advocates for, supports and recognizes excellence in engaged scholarship across CSU.
In 2019, the Council introduced a “Continuum of Engaged Scholarship” framework to identify the breadth of engaged research, teaching and service activities moving from outreach to co-creation, while offering a model to individual faculty and departments for documenting progress, demonstrating impact and evaluating performance. The Continuum presents the What, Why, and How of Engagement, conducted across the university’s mission areas. Click here to review the Continuum of Engaged Scholarship.
Member Responsibilities
- Serve as Campus Ambassadors and College Champions and identify, promote and grow university/community engagement for the shared benefit of faculty, students and communities.
- Advise University Leadership on opportunities to better encourage, support and reward engaged scholarship.
- Lead Institutional and College-Level Initiatives for transformative and systemic impact.
Provost’s Council for Engagement
Meet the Council
Convened by the Provost and Vice President for Engagement and Extension, the Council consists of a dozen faculty members representing all eight colleges and the Morgan Library who were nominated by their respective deans and supported by ex-officio champions from university leadership.
Executive Co-Sponsors
Provost and Executive Vice President
As Provost and Executive Vice President, Dr. Pedersen is the chief academic officer of CSU and works in concert with the president, deans, vice presidents, and the campus community to strengthen the university’s reputation as an internationally recognized land-grant institution of higher education.
Vice President for Engagement and Extension
As Vice President for Engagement and Extension, Dr. Naughton leads the division and its units in providing science-based community outreach programming that extends the services of the University across Colorado and beyond and seeks to help fulfill CSU’s land-grant mission.
Faculty
Martín Carcasson | College of Liberal Arts, Professor, Department of Communications Studies & Director, CSU Center for Public Deliberation
Martín Carcasson, Ph.D., is a professor in the Communication Studies Department of Colorado State University, and the founder and director of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation (CPD).
Martin.Carcasson@colostate.edu
Sonali Diddi | College of Health & Human Sciences, Associate Professor, Design & Merchandising
Sonali Diddi, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Design & Merchandising Department who’s teaching emphasis entails supply chain management, consumer behavior, retailing, and merchandising.
Dana Gaines | College of Health & Human Sciences, Instructor & Academic Advisor, School of Social Work
Dana Gaines joined CSU in 2011 after receiving her MSW Graduate Degree in 2005, during which time she focused her research on recidivism rates of youth in outpatient drug and alcohol treatment settings and in the child welfare and juvenile court systems.
Barbie Garnett | CSU Extension, Park County Director
Franklyn Garry | College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences
Franklyn Garry, DVM, is a professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences for over 30 years. Since 1996, Garry has been the coordinator of the Integrated Livestock Management program, a multidisciplinary graduate studies program that focuses research and training efforts on problems in cow/calf, feedlot and dairy agriculture.
Tobi Jacobi | College of Liberal Arts, Professor, Department of English
As a specialist in community literacy studies, Professor Tobi Jacobi, Ph.D., teaches courses in argument, public writing, composition theory, feminist theory and methodology, critical pedagogy, and literacy theory.
Jennifer Martin | College of Agricultural Sciences, Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences
As a Ph.D. and Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, Dr. Jennifer Martin is a passionate educator dedicated to exploring the complex, interwoven, and ever-evolving pathways that influence the production of safe, sustainable, and high quality meat.
Melissa McHale | Warner College of Natural Resources, Associate Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
Dr. Melissa McHale is an urban ecologist whose internationally recognized work mobilizes cutting-edge urban theory and practical science for decision-making in cities.
Rachelle Ramer | CSU Libraries, Assistant Professor & Librarian, Morgan Library
As the liaison librarian to the CSU Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering as well as the departments of Chemistry and Physics, Rachelle Ramer, MLIS, supports their learning, research, and teaching needs.
Russ Schumacher | Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, Associate Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science
Russ Schumacher, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the CSU Department of Atmospheric Science and also serves as the Colorado State Climatologist and Director of the Colorado Climate Center.
Bill Shuster | College of Business, Professor, Department of Management
In addition to his role as a Clinical Professor in the Management Department at CSU, Professor Bill Shuster also works with many corporations to build bridges between the college and business world. This is where he developed his research interest of investigating the correlation of employee engagement and corporate strategy.
George Wittemyer | Warner College of Natural Resources, Associate Professor, Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology
As an Associate Professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Dr. George Wittemyer works to develop solutions to biodiversity conservation issues, aimed at ameliorating human impacts to at risk wildlife populations.
Emeritus
Meena Balgopal | College of Natural Sciences, Professor of Science Education, Department of Biology
Meena Balgopal, Ph.D., is a Professor of Science Education in CSU’s Department of Biology whose research has focused on how people make meaning of natural science concepts, informing science educators and students in support of better learning outcomes.
Christine Fruhauf | College of Health & Human Sciences, Professor, Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Director, HDFS Extension
Christine Fruhauf, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Director of HDFS Extension, and family gerontology specialist whose research interests lie in multiple aspects associated with aging families.
Neil S. Grigg | Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Neil S. Grigg, Ph.D., is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University who has experience as an educator, researcher, consulting engineer, and public official.
Paula Mills | College of Agricultural Sciences, Chief of Staff and Operations
Rick Miranda | College of Natural Sciences, Chief Academic Officer, CSU System & Professor, Mathematics
Rick Miranda, Ph.D., joined the CSU faculty in 1982 and has since served several roles, including Chair of the Department of Mathematics, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Provost and Executive Vice President of the university, and Chief Academic Officer of the CSU System.
Tracy Nelson | College of Health and Human Sciences, Director of the Colorado School of Public Health at CSU, Department of Health and Exercise Science
Tracy Nelson, PhD, MPH, is the director of the Colorado School of Public Health at CSU and currently serves as the lead for Epidemiology.
Robin Reid | Warner College of Natural Resources, Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability & Director, Center for Collaborative Conservation
In addition to teaching sustainability science and how to transform science so it is a catalyst for social change to sustainability, Robin Reid, Ph.D., also leads and participates in trans-disciplinary teams working on linked social-ecological systems, collaborative research methods, education and engagement in the drylands of East Africa, Mongolia, Colorado, Alaska and elsewhere.
Patricia Rettig | CSU Libraries, Head Archivist, Water Resources Archive
Ex Officio
Gwen Gorzelsky | The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT), Executive Director, TILT & Professor, Department of English
Chad Hoseth | Office of International Programs, Director of International Programs
Chad Hoseth is the Director of International Programs at CSU and primarily focuses on managing special partnerships worldwide, hosting visitors, supporting faculty and their global interests, and fostering academic and co-curricular opportunities at CSU.
David Paterson | Office of the Vice President for Research, Assistant Vice President for Research, Translation and Commercialization
Geniphyr Ponce-Pore | Office of Engagement and Extension, Engagement Program Manager
In her role as Engagement Program Manager for the Office of Engagement and Extension, Geniphyr Ponce-Pore, M.S., M.Ed., provides support for the Provost’s Council for Engagement and supports strategic initiatives and projects that advance engagement across the university, including professional development, campus-wide events, and industry and community partnerships.
Wade O. Troxell | Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Wade Troxell is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of intelligent robotics and intelligent control of distributed infrastructure systems. His smart grid research has focused on intelligent systems and the integration of distributed energy resources, including renewable energy and storage, into the electric power grid.
Success Stories
Community Engagement Scholarship Awards
The Distinguished Award
The Distinguished award celebrates a collaboration, project or program with a long-term record of sustained impact, achievement and scholarship.
2020 Recipient: The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)
CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive website, their aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. They are now in all fifty states. Learn more about CoCoRaHS here.
The Emerging Award
The Emerging award celebrates a new initiative that has shown potential for long-term impact, achievement and scholarship.
2020 Recipient: Colorado Blueprint for Food and Agriculture
The Colorado Blueprint for Food and Agriculture is an applied research and community engagement process that combines the collaborative efforts of CSU’s College of Agriculture, Extension and Ag Experiment Station, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council, and LiveWell Colorado.
Get In Touch With Provost’s Council for Engagement
Geniphyr Ponce-Pore | Engagement Program Manager, Office of Engagement & Extension