"To Serve a Larger Purpose"
Engagement for Democracy and the Transformation of Higher Education

How to return democracy to the heart of a university's mission

"To Serve a Larger Purpose" calls for the reclamation of the original democratic purposes of civic engagement and examines the requisite transformation of higher education required to achieve it. The contributors to this timely and relevant volume effectively highlight the current practice of civic engagement and point to the institutional change needed to realize its democratic ideals. Using multiple perspectives, "To Serve a Larger Purpose" explores the democratic processes and purposes that reorient civic engagement to what the editors call "democratic engagement." The norms of democratic engagement are determined by values such as inclusiveness, collaboration, participation, task sharing, and reciprocity in public problem solving and an equality of respect for the knowledge and experience that everyone contributes to education, knowledge generation, and community building. This book shrewdly rethinks the culture of higher education.

Foreword by David Mathews
Introduction: "To Serve a Larger Purpose" / John Saltmarsh and Matthew Hartley
Chapter 1: Democratic Engagement / John Saltmarsh and Matthew Hartley
Chapter 2:
Contested Ideals: Tracing the Trajectory of the Civic Engagement Movement / Matthew Hartley
Chapter 3: Democratic Transformation Through University Assisted Community Schools / Ira Harkavy , John Puckett, and Lee Benson

Chapter 4: Civic Professionalism / Harry Boyte and Eric Fretz

Chapter 5: Leadership for Engagement:
Reclaiming the Public Purpose of Higher Education
/ William Plater
Chapter
6: Chief Academic Officers and Community-Engaged Faculty Work / John Pressley