OSU Engagement Conference
Please join us for the inaugural OSU Engagement Conference this September!
Pedagogy, Practice, Partners and Publishing
This event will offer beneficial insight, ideas, information and networking for faculty, staff or partners who are:
- Currently involved in typical or atypical engagement work
- Poised at the edge of engagement and want to begin
- Questioning where you fit into the realm of community engagement.
What is engagement work?
What is its impact on OSU and our surrounding community?
“Engagement is embedded in the strategic goals of OSU, which aligns with our mission as a land-grant university. In addition to being the largest research university in Oregon, we hold the highest full-time student enrollment of any public university in the state, and we have a community presence in all 36 counties. This trifecta of cutting-edge research, student accomplishment, and active public engagement are intrinsically intertwined.”
–Provost & Executive Vice President Ed Feser, 2023
Conference details
When: September 5–6, 2023
Where: CH2M Hill Alumni Center, 725 SW 26th St, Corvallis, OR 97331
Registration: Opens July 15, 2023. Please include any accessibility requests you may have in the registration form, so we may be sure to accommodate them.
The OSU Engagement Conference is being hosted by the Office of the Provost and the Division of Extension and Engagement.
“OSU’s success is defined by the academic and career achievements of our students and alumni, the impact of our research and creative work, and the support we provide communities in Oregon and beyond.”
– President Jayathi Murthy and Provost & Executive Vice President Ed Feser, 2022
Day one: September 5, 2023
Day one welcomes faculty, staff, and community partners, and seeks to increase awareness and recognition of engagement efforts across the university:
- Keynote: Marisol Morales, Executive Director of the Carnegie Elective Classifications, introduced by Vice Provost & Extension Director Ivory W. Lyles and (tentatively) President Jayathi Murthy
- Engagement at OSU: Accomplishments, priorities, future focuses, and where you fit in
- Engagement Awards
- Networking: In addition to an awards reception and in-session networking, this event will also feature use of the Whova event app, offering additional connections, opportunity to have side-bar meetings, and more!
Day two: September 6, 2023
Day two will focus on showcasing engagement practice and scholarship by OSU faculty and staff, while weaving in opportunities for knowledge and idea generation.
- Keynote: Dr. Lorilee Sandmann, introduced by Provost & Executive Vice President Ed Feser
- Session tracks, featuring concepts such as community engaged scholarship and increasing engagement knowledge
- Opportunities for idea generation: Workshops and design labs
- Networking
Note: The formal agenda to be released in May.
Keynote speakers

Marisol Morales
Marisol Morales is the Executive Director of the Carnegie Elective Classifications, providing conceptual leadership and operational oversight to the elective classifications’ work. This includes the collaborative development of and responsibility for all initiatives, oversight, and facilitation of relevant national and international advisory committees, conceptualizing and implementing extensive data archives as well as developing and enacting a shared vision regarding access to and use of the knowledge produced by the Carnegie Elective Classifications to beneficially guide research, policy, and practice.
Prior to this role, she was the Vice President for Network Leadership at Campus Compact, from 2018-2022. Morales was the founding Director of the Office of Civic and Community Engagement at the University of La Verne from 2013-2018 and the Associate Director of the Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning and Community Service Studies at DePaul University from 2005-2013. In 2020, she was appointed as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Community-Engaged Scholarship at the University of Central Florida and also serves as an adjunct faculty in the ENLACE Higher Education Master’s program at Northeastern Illinois University. Morales sits on the editorial board of the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, on the editorial advisory board of Liberal Education, a publication of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and on the board of the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE).
Morales holds a BA in Latin American/Latino Studies and a MS/MS in International Public Service Management both from DePaul University. She earned her Ed.D in Organizational Leadership at the University of La Verne in 2020. Her dissertation focused on the community engagement experiences of Latinx students at a Hispanic Serving Institution.

Dr. Lorilee R. Sandmann
Dr. Lorilee R. Sandmann’s research, publications, teaching, and leadership have had an intense and ongoing influence on the development of some of the early and most widely used theoretical and conceptual frameworks for community engagement. Her research has consistently been theory-driven, and she has been innovative and insightful in her approach to studying the relationship between the different perspectives and voices of engagement: faculty as scholars, students as future scholars, community partners as co-creators of knowledge, and institutional leaders as influential advocates for community engagement.
Dr. Sandmann’s work has informed the design of many of the most important and effective programs and strategies aimed at enhancing leadership and recognition of engagement and engaged scholarship across all types of academic institutions. Without her research contributions, the field would not be where it is today, especially with regard to the treatment of engaged scholarship in promotion and tenure, the identification of barriers to institutionalization, the professional development of institutional leaders of engagement, the understanding of partnerships, and the design of institutional benchmarking and assessment systems.
Her use of theory, development of conceptual frameworks, leadership voice, and insights are evident in the design of the National Review Board for the Scholarship of Engagement, the Emerging Engagement Scholars Workshop, the Engaged Scholars Academy, the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship, and the Carnegie Elective Classification. While these activities were certainly not her sole creation, it is notable that her scholarly work and expertise were essential, informing elements to their design and implementation.

Engagement Awards
In order to celebrate and honor the incredible engagement work being conducted in and around our university, we look forward to launching the inaugural OSU Engagement Awards at this conference, featuring awards in the categories of:
- OSU Faculty Engagement Award
- OSU Staff Engagement Award
- OSU-Community Partnership Award
Awards criteria and applications to open in June.
Getting here
For partners, faculty, and staff not local to Corvallis, please review the following information.

Conference venue
The OSU Engagement Conference will be held at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center on Oregon State University's main campus at 725 SW 26th St, Corvallis, OR 97331. Please include any accessibility requests you may have in the registration form, so we may be sure to accommodate them.
If staying at the hotel, no parking passes are needed. If not, purchase a daily or visitor parking pass and find parking maps if needed.

Hotel information
We will have a discounted room block at the Hilton Garden Inn, which will be available mid-May. You can reach them for questions at: (541) 752-5000. The address is 2500 SW Western Blvd, Corvallis, OR 97333. Parking is included, and it is a four-minute walk to the venue.
Driving directions
From Interstate 5: Take exit 228, turn west onto Highway 34. Continue approximately 10 miles. Turn left at the large intersection following signs to Reser Stadium (Hwy 20/Hwy34/Philomath Blvd). Turn right on SW 26th and you have officially arrived on campus!
Parking
If staying at the hotel, no parking passes are needed. If not, and you would like to purchase a daily pass:
Recommended lots
- Reser Stadium
- The Parking Garage
- The B lots surrounding the Alumni Center
Parking maps are available.
ADA parking
While our virtual permits are for B and C zones, our virtual permit is also valid for vehicles with a DMV-issued ADA parking placard to park in ADA parking spaces in any zone. When entering the parking garage, there are ADA parking spots to the left of the entrance.
Navigating Corvallis
If you are interested in checking out more of the town of Corvallis before or after your campus visit, we'd be happy to recommend local restaurants or shops to check out.
Did you know that the city of Corvallis has fareless public transit to navigate the city? There is also a Beaver Bus for getting around campus. Visitors are welcome to use either of these services to make it easier to get to where you're going!
Contact
For questions regarding the event, please contact Amanda Bielenberg-Hayes, Event Manager.
Oregon State University prohibits discrimination in all its programs, services, activities, and materials on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, familial/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, genetic information, veteran’s status, reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)