May 29, 2020
Leadership transition for Center for Engagement and Community Development
Dear Colleagues,
As a land-grant institution, engagement with communities is central to our service mission. The goal set out in K-State 2025 Theme Four: Engagement, Extension, Outreach, and Service, is to "be a national leader and model for a re-invented and transformed public research land-grant university integrating research, education, and engagement." That goal is as relevant today as it was in 2011, perhaps even more so. Central to our community engagement work for the past 15 years has been the work of the Center for Engagement and Community Development, or CECD. As David Procter steps down as CECD director in June, it is time to consider how to build on the foundation set by CECD.
To that end, I am transitioning the leadership of CECD to Gregg Hadley, associate professor and director of Extension, effective June 14. As director of both Extension and CECD, Gregg, together with Tim Steffensmeier, professor and director of the interdisciplinary leadership communication doctoral program, will convene a small group of campus stakeholders this summer as a transition planning group. The planning group will explore the purpose, objectives, and key activities of CECD and changes needed to elevate its role in concert with Extension and our academic colleges to meet our K-State 2025 engagement goal.
With this transition, the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy, or ICDD, which David Procter also directed, will return to the communication studies department in the College of Arts and Sciences, and be led by Tim Shaffer, associate professor of communication studies. ICDD will continue to advance efforts in dialogue and deliberation, providing opportunities for learners to develop skills in facilitation and civic engagement.
I welcome this opportunity to elevate engagement to enhance research, teaching, and service across the university, and want to thank Gregg Hadley and Tim Steffensmeier for leading this effort. I look forward to the planning group's work to position CECD as a primary catalyst and bridge for academic innovation and community engagement for the university.
Sincerely,
Chuck Taber
Provost and Executive Vice President