Beyond the Binary: Approaches to Integrating University Outreach with Research and Teaching

Abstract

The “publish or perish ” reward system and the difficult balance of research and teaching are familiar to university fac-ulty. But faculty in some fields are also experiencing a newer, less familiar pressure that may challenge those traditional bina-ries. Starting in the 1990s, the National Science Foundation and other funding agencies began asking faculty to address the social impacts of their research, and to conduct outreach to K–12 and other audiences. How can university faculty balance the seemingly disparate responsibilities of research, teaching, and outreach? One possibility is to undertake collaborative efforts that combine outreach with research and teaching. We present three case studies of outreach programs, each of which explores a different strategy for contributing to research and teaching and for impacting society. However, universities can systematically address the demands for more social engagement only by exploring new reward and administrative structures. According to Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation, “We cannot expect the task of science and math educa-tion to be the responsibility solely of K–12 teachers while scientists, engineers and graduate students remain busy in their universities and laboratories. There is no group of people that should feel more responsible for science and math education in this nation than our scientists and engineers and scientists- and engineers-to-be ” (NSF 1999). How can universities, with their emphasis on publish or perish, respond to this call for involvement beyond the laboratory and lecture hall?

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