Engage with IISC

The Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) is a campus-wide engagement program that matches University of Iowa faculty, staff, and students with Iowa communities to co-create mutually beneficial partnerships that address community-identified needs and opportunities. Through IISC, faculty and staff across a wide variety of disciplines contribute their expertise to real-world projects.

By participating with IISC, you can:

  • Deepen student learning in your courses through IISC’s experiential and project-based learning partnerships.
  • Connect with a vast network of community partners across the state.
  • Support Iowa communities in addressing complex social, environmental, economic, and cultural challenges.

 

How IISC Works: Community-Engaged Teaching & Learning

  • IISC partners with faculty from across campus to integrate a community project within one or more courses. Depending on course structure and community needs, projects may last one or two semesters, or even just comprise a module within a one-semester course.
  • IISC provides support for the partnerships including relationships with community partners, project scoping, and logistical support. As a faculty member, you offer your expertise, guide student teams, and supervise project deliverables that are integrated into your course curriculum as credit-bearing assignments.
  • IISC begins each partnership by listening to community needs and we expect faculty members to honor community knowledge and expertise.
  • We welcome engagement from all disciplines and departments on campus! IISC has worked with 25+ departments across campus, including Engineering, Law, Journalism & Mass Communication, Visual Arts, Geography & Sustainability Sciences, Business/Marketing, World Languages/Cultures, Library & Information Science, and more.

 

How IISC Works: Community-Engaged Research

  • IISC supports faculty pursuing community-engaged research in Iowa by serving as a connector with key stakeholders including governmental entities and non-profit organizations in municipalities across Iowa.
  • IISC can serve as a project partner on grant proposals with community-engaged or applied research components. IISC brings skilled technical expertise in community engagement best practices, which may include co-developing broader impacts activities with community partners, articulating partnership structures and outcomes, and strengthening proposals to meet funder expectations around societal benefit, equity, and public impact. 

 

Course offering! Foundations of Community Engagement 

In partnership with the Office of Community Engagement (OCE), IISC offers Foundations of Community Engagement (URP:3002; CSI:3002), a one semester hour, online, asynchronous course that equips students with essential skills for effective and responsible community-engaged work. Through a mix of theory, case studies, and practical strategies, students learn how to engage community partners, assess local issues, and apply best practices in both academic and professional settings. The course is offered three times each semester. This course is useful primer for students in programs that include community-engaged coursework as well as a general interest course for students who may pursue community-oriented internships and jobs.

 

Getting Started with IISC!

If you are interested in partnering with IISC, contact IISC Director Travis Kraus, travis-kraus@uiowa.edu, and Assistant Director Ashley Laux, jashley-laux@uiowa.edu, to discuss possible areas of collaboration. We will follow up to schedule a time to meet with you.

Additional Resources

The University of Iowa Office of Community Engagement (OCE) facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between faculty, staff, students, and community partners across our state, nation, and world. OCE offers trainings, workshops, and provide informational resources and expertise that empowers faculty, staff, and students to transform their teaching, learning, and research to make lasting change and a positive impact in our communities.

The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost provides materials for assessing community engaged scholarship and teaching in promotion and tenure processes at the University of Iowa.

The Engagement Scholarship Consortium works collaboratively to build strong university-community partnerships anchored in the rigor of scholarship and designed to help build community capacity.

Campus Compact empowers colleges and universities to advance their academic and civic missions and provides training and resources for community-engaged teaching, learning, and scholarship.