In appointing Michael Rios, professor of human ecology, as the founding director of , 嘿嘿视频 is investing in faculty and their desire to expand public visibility and impact.
The appointment, effective Sept. 1, is the culmination of a multiyear process of discernment that began when the campus achieved the Community Engagement Classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2015. Soon afterward, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter charged a work group led by Dennis Pendleton, the retired dean of 嘿嘿视频 Extension, to study and offer recommendations on how to advance engaged scholarship at 嘿嘿视频. .
In response, during the 2017-18 academic year, Rios was selected to lead an intensive review, during which he interviewed dozens of faculty members and other stakeholders to establish both the needs and potential for a more structured approach to engaged scholarship and learning.
鈥淚 am very pleased that under Michael鈥檚 leadership, the campus will be better able to support faculty, students and nonuniversity groups in developing collaborative partnerships around research and learning,鈥 Hexter said. 鈥淲e have much to offer our neighbors, and equally we have much to learn.鈥
Rios said the unit will work with all 10 of 嘿嘿视频鈥檚 colleges and schools on the Davis and Sacramento campuses to find connections among scholars, researchers and educators that focus on public issues, furthering the university鈥檚 mission as a land-grant institution.
Breaking down traditional barriers
鈥淚t鈥檚 about breaking down some of the traditional boundaries of what constitutes knowledge, how it鈥檚 disseminated and who benefits from it,鈥 Rios said, adding that the actions of faculty, students and staff will have a broader impact when given more visibility and better integration with communities on and off campus. And increased impact is one of the goals of the recently released campus strategic plan,
Rios envisions the office working with units across campus, for example: the Office of Research, to increase resources for research that has a public scholarship element; the 嘿嘿视频 Library, to collaborate on digital storytelling and community archiving projects; and Global Affairs, to seek out and support experiential learning opportunities where students participate in cross-cultural engagement throughout the region.
Working with a growing number of faculty, staff and students under the auspices of the Engaged Scholarship and Engaged Leaning Collaborative, Rios said, he plans to draft an implementation framework for 嘿嘿视频, and open it for discussion this year before its launch in May.
The framework will be guided by draft goals created after outreach that included a survey of individuals from the Academic Senate and Academic Federation, more than 50 faculty interviews, individual meetings with campus stakeholders, and focus groups with more than 100 non-university stakeholders. The draft goals are:
- Reward and recognize public scholarship that exemplifies excellence in research, teaching and creative practice
- Support faculty-centered spaces that foster communication and collaboration
- Integrate public scholarship into university governance, budgeting and research support
- Enhance community-based student learning experiences
- Increase institutional visibility, community engagement and public impact
Rios joined the 嘿嘿视频 faculty in 2007, and his studies focus on community engagement, place making, and cross-cultural planning and design.
He also serves on the executive committee of the 嘿嘿视频 Center for Regional Change, and chaired the Community Development Graduate Group from 2011 to 2015.
Rios earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in urban studies and architecture from Lehigh University, master鈥檚 degrees in architecture and city planning from UC Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in geography from Pennsylvania State University.
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