In the accreditation survey that informed the Self-Study, respondents were asked to report the number of board memberships filled by faculty members in their department or school and the number of community presentations or workshops faculty members gave over the three-year period of the study: 432 board memberships were reported for the three-year period, and faculty members, on average, participated in two community presentations or workshops per year.

One of the questions asked respondents to provide the number of organizations or agencies that they worked with on engagement activities, with a result of 574 organizational or agency partners for the University as a whole. That number includes duplicates (a number of departments work with Milwaukee Public Schools, for example). Respondents were also asked to provide narrative responses on engagement activities. An analysis of the narrative responses identified 179 distinct university-community partnerships. While not a definitive list of UWM’s engagement partners, it is the most comprehensive data source to date on the breadth of engagement at UWM. A qualitative analysis of survey responses was performed by coding key themes.

Among the 179 partnerships, the most common themes relate to education (including lifelong learning, preparation for undergraduate or graduate programs, and professional development or continuing education); diversity; community service; improving individuals’ social well-being; citizenship and social responsibility; and building capacity in local organizations. (See Figure 39.)