Institutional Defintions

The Office of Outreach & Engagement at Texas Tech University is committed to building meaningful connections between the university and the broader community through outreach, engagement, and collaborative scholarship. To support this work, the office has established institutional definitions that clarify how faculty, staff, and students interact with communities, contribute knowledge, and create measurable societal impact. These definitions distinguish between one-way outreach, collaborative engagement, engaged scholarship, and community-engaged learning, while also recognizing the roles of service, volunteerism, and community partnerships. Together, they provide a shared framework for understanding how Texas Tech advances its mission of teaching, research, and service beyond campus boundaries to benefit communities locally, regionally, and globally.

Institutional Definitions  

 OUTREACH refers to the one-way delivery of education programs and activities to those outside the university.  
  
ENGAGEMENT describes the collaboration between Texas Tech faculty, staff, and/or students and communities outside of the university for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.  
  
ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP is associated with the discovery of new knowledge, the development of new insights, and the creation of new artistic or literary performances an expression based on intentional and mutually beneficial collaboration between Texas Tech faculty, staff, and/or students and community partners.  
  
COMMUNITY-ENGAGED LEARNING integrates engagement with external communities into coursework to deepen students’ academic learning and promote civic responsibility.  
  
COMMUNITIES consist of groups of people that may be connected either by geography, proximity, special interest, similar situations, or values.  
  
SOCIETAL IMPACT the change that happens to people and communities as a result of an action, activity, project, program, or policy.  
  
SERVICE:  

UNIVERSITY SERVICE A Texas Tech faculty member’s participation in various activities, programs, and functions related to the enhancement of the university, such as participating in the formulation of academic policies, serving on university committees, and accepting other assignments outside of learning, research, or creative activity.  
  
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE A Texas Tech faculty members’ participation in professional associations, discipline-related business, industry, other institutions of higher education, etc. for the purpose of exchanging and/or advancing discipline-specific knowledge and expertise.  
 
 VOLUNTEERISM is the act of contributing free time and/or labor to support community service or support a nonprofit organization.