* CSU announces participation in Carnegie Classification pilot, a first for Australia

* CSU and UTS initiated pilot in Australia in consultation with Brown University

* Pilot will address the lack of a “standard framework” for Australian universities to capture and measure their community engagement

Charles Sturt University (CSU), in collaboration with eight regional and metropolitan Australian universities, has been selected to participate in an Australian-first, piloting the Carnegie Classification.

Recognised as the gold standard for higher education in the United States (US), the Carnegie Classification is a community engagement framework currently used across 361 US campuses.

Together with Brown University’s Swearer Center, The Carnegie Foundation invited a selection of diverse Australian universities to participate in the Classification.

The pilot will be coordinated by CSU and University of Technology Sydney (UTS) with the support of Engagement Australia, and the international Talloires network.

CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann said that community engagement was a key objective in the University’s strategy.

“Being a lead University to participate in the first Australian trial of the Carnegie Classification is an institutional highlight for Charles Sturt University (CSU).

“This process will really help to lift our standards of community participation and engagement and in turn produce better outcomes for the communities in which we operate – core to the strategic vision of the University,” said Professor Andrew Vann.

The Classification allows universities to demonstrate their capacity for impact beyond traditional measures such as academic rankings. The Australian pilot will aim to develop and inform a local community of practice in civic engagement.

By participating in and achieving the Classification, institutions can claim, evidence and narrate public value created in and through partnerships between Universities and community constituencies.

CSU’s involvement in the pilot will also assist in attaining it’s ‘Our Communities’ objective, to deliver vibrant regional communities as part of the University Strategy 2022