In 2023, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign published the Public Engagement Research Option (PERO) for Promotion and Tenure. The PERO guidelines reflect a sustained, multiyear effort which involved a tremendous amount of thought, collaboration, and effort from faculty and staff. Although PERO is new to the university, publicly engaged research is not new. Since the inception of the University of Illinois, our faculty have been conducting publicly engaged research, and below you will find vignettes of our esteemed faculty who conduct publicly engaged research. These faculty showcase the diverse disciplines across our campus who, although different, all conduct important research in partnership with the community.
Each vignette is aligned with the PERO guidelines. Specifically, for each faculty member, you will learn the way in which they address a societal problem to contribute to the public good; produce traditional and non-traditional outputs; collaborate with communities or organizations; engage in a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources with community partners; and perceive their societal impact. At the end of each vignette, you will find resources about the faculty member so you can learn more about their scholarship. Because PERO is new, none of the featured faculty in the vignettes pursued PERO. Yet, we are confident that they provide exemplary examples of publicly engaged research in alignment with the PERO guidelines.
Showing 1–6 of 11 vignettes
Always Working with Communities
Education: Libraries | Underserved Communities | Multiculturalism
Clara M. Chu, Director and Mortenson Distinguished Professor , Mortenson Center for International Library Programs
Chu’s research focuses on providing access to information in underserved communities and co-designing the projects with members of those communities.
You Want to Leave a Legacy Where You Have Had an Impact
Policy: Climate Change | Atmospheric Science | Policy
Donald Wuebbles, Professor , Atmospheric Science
Wuebbles pushes the state of science. Overall, he has been interested in issues that impact the planet and the people on our planet.
You Can’t Have Publicly Engaged Research Without Scholarship
History: Indigenous Cultures | History | Religion
Rosalyn LaPier, Professor , History
LaPier is an ethnobotanist who works within Indigenous communities to revitalize traditional ecological knowledge, to address the climate crisis and environmental justice, and to strengthen public policy for Indigenous languages.
Working to Ensure Research Is Engaged with the Public
Agriculture: Farming | Soil | Ecosystem
Andrew Margenot, Associate Professor , Crop Sciences
Margenot evaluates how human activities can enhance or compromise soil services to human societies, with an emphasis on food security from urban and rural agroecosystems across the globe.
Think Big, Act Bold, and Help Others
Data: Data Science | Risk Analysis | Societal Problems
Sheldon H. Jacobson, Professor , Computer Science
Jacobson’s expertise in data science and risk-based analysis naturally lends itself to examining societal problems. While he does not specifically look for topics with public impact, much of his work has been very impactful.
Partnering with Schools to Address Social-Emotional Learning
Education: Schools | Social-emotional Learning | Education Practitioners
Kevin Tan, Associate Professor , Social Work
In partnership with local school districts and after-school agencies, Tan helps practitioners collect and analyze data to identify and support students with social-emotional learning needs.