The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the premier national higher education research and advocacy organization, has announced its first class of designees in a new Community Engagement classification, and DePaul is one of only 62 universities in the nation—and the only one in Illinois—to earn the highest honor.

“This mark of distinction from one of the most prestigious organizations in American higher education recognizes that universities that connect with their communities and make public service key to their missions are worthy of national recognition,” said the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., DePaul’s president.

The classification signifies “that a university or college has affirmed community engagement in its identity, culture and commitments… and constitute(s) an integral component of institutional culture,” according to the foundation.

The Carnegie Foundation established three categories for the new classification. DePaul was recognized in a joint, comprehensive category, “Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships,” which recognizes institutions that excel in deepening students’ civic learning and address local needs as well as apply institutional resources for community use and create collaborative interactions for the exchange of knowledge, information and resources. The other two categories honor schools that have excelled in either “Curricular Engagement” or “Outreach & Partnerships,” but not both.

“When the Carnegie Foundation talks, higher education listens. The new category of engaged university reflects a major shift that is taking place in higher education as universities dismantle their ivory towers,” said Charles Strain, DePaul’s associate vice president for academic affairs and instruction. “DePaul’s inclusion in this list is a testimony to the many faculty who see their research and teaching as directly linking the Vincentian and the academic missions of the university, as well as to the many staff who support students’ involvement.”

Community engagement is at the core of the DePaul experience, from the hundreds of community-based service learning courses—ranked among the nation’s Top 25 for four years running by U.S. News & World Report—to numerous service immersion trips offered to DePaul students, and city-wide community service events like DePaul’s annual Vincentian Service Days. Combined, these efforts deliver thousands of hours of service to Chicago organizations each year. DePaul also was recognized as one of the country's best universities for fostering social responsibility and public service in the 2005 national guidebook “Colleges with a Conscience: 81 Great Schools with Outstanding Community Involvement.”

“The classification affirms that by following its Vincentian mission of service, DePaul is both a local and national leader in defining the role of higher education in addressing the critical social issues of our time,” said Howard Rosing, director of DePaul’s Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning.

The Carnegie Foundation developed the first typology of American colleges and universities in 1970 as a research tool to describe and represent the diversity of U.S. higher education. The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education continues to be used for a wide range of purposes by academic researchers, institutional personnel and policymakers.

With a diverse population of 23,149 students on two city and four suburban campuses, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the nation and the largest private university in the Midwest.