An Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Awardee

Tuesday, August 18th at 1:00 PM ET (12:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM MT / 10:00 AM PT)

Join us this summer for a deep dive into the 2026 Campus Compact Programming & Partnership Impact Award winners. This session, you will hear from the College of the Holy Cross Scholarship in Action program.

The Scholarship in Action (SIA) program at the College of the Holy Cross transforms community-engaged research through authentic partnerships between faculty, students, and Worcester community organizations. Originally funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and now sustained institutionally through the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning, Teaching, and Engaged Scholarship, SIA advances equity-centered, anti-racist scholarship that produces knowledge benefiting both local and global audiences.

SIA operates through a three-tiered grant structure that scaffolds community partnerships: Seed grants ($2,000-$3,000) initiate collaborative relationships; Grow grants ($30,000) support two-year community-driven research projects; and Harvest grants ($5,000) amplify dissemination and impact. This progression ensures sustainable, reciprocal partnerships that respond to community-generated research priorities while advancing scholarly inquiry.

Central to SIA's mission are three transformative tenets: building trust through respectful, reciprocal community relationships; encouraging "Worcester-first" research agendas that matter locally and globally; and integrating students as knowledge creators through immersive civic engagement. Students participate as research associates, contributing meaningful expertise while developing critical civic engagement skills. The program's equity-centered approach ensures community partners co-author grant proposals, help determine research questions, and share in project outcomes.

Evaluation criteria emphasize community benefit, student learning, anti-racist practices, and sustainable impact. Since inception, SIA has funded numerous projects spanning disciplines from history to environmental science, creating digital archives, public exhibitions, policy recommendations, and community resources. By centering community wisdom and fostering collaborative knowledge production, SIA exemplifies how higher education can authentically serve democratic engagement while preparing students for lives of purpose and social responsibility.

Isabelle Jenkins

Isabelle is the Director of the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning, Teaching, andEngaged Scholarship at the College of the Holy Cross. Isabelle teaches courses on disability theology, community engagement, and leadership for social justice. Isabelle works with faculty
and Worcester community partners helping to implement community-based projects and placements in community-based learning courses and facilitating community-engaged research opportunities through the Scholarship in Action Program. In conjunction with Donelan Office
staff and other program partners, Isabelle also provides faculty development opportunities in community engaged teaching and learning and anti-racist community engaged research. Isabelle completed her doctoral work at UMass Boston in higher education. Her dissertation,
"Consciousness and Context for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy" examines inclusive teaching practices and barriers and supports for implementing them in order to better teach to diverse populations. Isabelle earned her Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 2014 and graduated from Holy Cross in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in religious studies. Isabelle loves running, reading, baking, and the Red Sox! Isabelle lives in Stow, MA with her husband, Nick Poles '13 and son, George.