Carnegie Engaged Campus Initiative

USC Upstate has sought to serve our community for more than 50 years. We seek to transform the lives of our diverse students, their families, and communities – advancing social and economic mobility throughout the Upstate region.

To promote institution-wide collaboration in this effort, we are pursuing the Carnegie Community Engagement (CE) Classification.

The Carnegie CE classification indicates that an institution is serious about working in and with their communities as equal partners. Community-engaged campuses demonstrate that community and campus are both stronger when they collaborate. Community engagement enriches pedagogy and scholarship while it supports and empowers community-based organizations in their own missions.

USC Upstate seeks to join 359 other institutions of higher education as recipients of this classification. This is a long-term process. We expect to apply in 2026.

Questions about Carnegie as a whole, the overall importance of community engagement, and best practices in partnering with community-based organizations can be submitted for our October 5th SL/CE special guest Dr. Barbara Holland. Questions specific to what this means at Upstate may be directed to Dave Marlow (ServiceLearning@uscupstate.edu).