Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged Professor

Public administration faculty have an obligation to engage their communities to improve conditions and the efficiency and effectiveness of government and nonprofit organizations. Engagement is also important in transmitting to students the “craft” knowledge of the profession of public administration...

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Main Author: Thomas J. Barth
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The University of Alabama 2022-07-01
Series:Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
Online Access:https://account.jces.ua.edu/index.php/s-j-jces/article/view/201
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author Thomas J. Barth
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author_sort Thomas J. Barth
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description Public administration faculty have an obligation to engage their communities to improve conditions and the efficiency and effectiveness of government and nonprofit organizations. Engagement is also important in transmitting to students the “craft” knowledge of the profession of public administration through applied projects, internships, case studies, and community-based projects. Furthermore, faculty develop professionally through engagement by gaining a deeper understanding of relevant theory and practice that can be shared in the classroom. Reluctance by faculty to invest time and energy in their communities because of traditional university biases toward more theoretical work can partially be addressed by wider dialogue on the benefits of engagement. This paper contributes to this needed dialogue by reflecting on how engagement has informed the teaching and understanding of public administration theory and practice as well as been a benefit to the agencies and communities served.
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spelling doaj.art-ae8cbab4297b4318999f6af24191bb992023-08-29T21:04:43ZengThe University of AlabamaJournal of Community Engagement and Scholarship1944-12072837-80752022-07-0110210.54656/PFGU9251Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged ProfessorThomas J. Barth0University of North Carolina at CharlottePublic administration faculty have an obligation to engage their communities to improve conditions and the efficiency and effectiveness of government and nonprofit organizations. Engagement is also important in transmitting to students the “craft” knowledge of the profession of public administration through applied projects, internships, case studies, and community-based projects. Furthermore, faculty develop professionally through engagement by gaining a deeper understanding of relevant theory and practice that can be shared in the classroom. Reluctance by faculty to invest time and energy in their communities because of traditional university biases toward more theoretical work can partially be addressed by wider dialogue on the benefits of engagement. This paper contributes to this needed dialogue by reflecting on how engagement has informed the teaching and understanding of public administration theory and practice as well as been a benefit to the agencies and communities served.https://account.jces.ua.edu/index.php/s-j-jces/article/view/201
spellingShingle Thomas J. Barth
Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged Professor
Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
title Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged Professor
title_full Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged Professor
title_fullStr Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged Professor
title_full_unstemmed Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged Professor
title_short Escaping the Vines of the Ivory Tower: Reflections of an Engaged Professor
title_sort escaping the vines of the ivory tower reflections of an engaged professor
url https://account.jces.ua.edu/index.php/s-j-jces/article/view/201
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