Over the course of the past two decades, numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States have pursued expansive place-based community engagement initiatives to deepen their students’ learning and enhance their faculties' scholarship while simultaneously addressing the significant challenges facing their wider communities.

Drawing upon the recent book (Leading Place-Based Community Engagement in Higher Education (Koth and Yamamura, 2026), this interactive session will offer tangible examples of place-based community engagement from campus leaders who represent diverse institutional types, geographic locations, leadership styles, and strategic approaches. These institutions include Grinnell College, Seattle University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of San Diego.

Through a mix of presentations and small group discussion this session will offer participants a chance to explore how they might deepen or expand place-based efforts at their institution and in their communities.