Outreach & Engagement
Dietrich College intentionally and respectfully builds partnerships with groups outside of the university in order to collectively address societal challenges.
At Dietrich College, we believe that our community engagement efforts...
- must be driven by community goals
- support sustainable partnerships, rather than transactional relationships
- honor divergent views
- and lift communities within and outside of Dietrich College
Humanities and social sciences faculty, staff and students collaborate with community partners across a wide variety of sectors, from education and healthcare to the arts and technology. These partnerships take many forms: non-profits serve as clients in student research projects; Pittsburgh K–12 students participate in hands-on learning experiences on campus; and public cultural events create space for shared storytelling.
Engagement
CMU programs, projects, outreach or activities that have a demonstrable positive impact beyond the university community. In many cases, engagements include collaborating with external organizations.
Impact Criteria
CMU uses 18 indicators (pdf) to understand the cultural, economic and societal impact our university is making through our programs, projects, outreach and activities.
Partners
Non-CMU groups participating in or co-constructing a mutually beneficial program, project or activity.
Resources
Explore Existing Partnerships
Forging new partnerships for a class or program takes time and effort. A catalogue of existing initiatives helps us build off established relationships instead of starting from scratch or duplicating efforts across colleges. For a more in-depth look at Dietrich-specific initiatives contact Sarah Ceurvorst, academic pathways manager.
Deepen Partnerships & Share Your Impact
Whether you're looking to launch a new engagement initiative or share the story of your existing collaboration, we’re here to help. Contact Ayana Ledford, associate dean for community impact and educational outreach, and Sarah Ceurvorst, academic pathways manager.
Secure Support for Community Engagement
We appreciate your interest in seeking funding from the Access, Opportunity, and Community Impact (AOCI) Office. We support initiatives, programs or events that promote access, opportunity and community outreach within the Dietrich College and greater Pittsburgh communities. Strong preference is given to requests that demonstrate potential for lasting or broad benefit.
Guidelines
All funding is subject to the resources currently available to AOCI. Even strong requests that align closely with our initiatives may not be funded if budget constraints do not allow. To ensure broad access, we may limit the frequency or amount of funding to any one individual, group or program in a given academic year.
What to Expect
- We review all requests with careful attention.
- We aim to provide a decision within four weeks of submission.
- If your request isn’t approved, we are happy to offer feedback and/or suggest other funding or support opportunities (campus or community, volunteers, marketing) that might help.