Learning Objectives

• What is The Scholarship of Application?

• How can faculty engage in application activities or scholarship?

Scholarship of Application

Often universities do not place high value on service and therefore faculty are less likely to engage in it because they do not perceive they are supported in it (Boyer, 1990); however, it is a critical component of faculty duties. The Scholarship of Application—also known today as the scholarship of engagement—draws on the knowledge and expertise of the faculty member’s discipline to solve external problems. This can involve making connections with the community, solving societal problems, merging theory and practice in order to serve the interests of the community at large, educating the community, and serving the community (Crookes, Else, & Smith, 2015; Hyman et al., 2001; Ward, 2003).

Boyer (1990) stated, “To be considered scholarship, service activities must be tied directly to one’s special field of knowledge and relate to, and flow directly out of, this professional activity” (p. 22). A faculty member utilizes his or her disciplinary expertise to benefit and impact the community. This could be research a faculty member conducted (Discovery) and will then take those results to create change in the community. Another example could be when a faculty member uses his or her expertise to serve on a non-profit board or to create a proposal for a governmental agency.

Further, Application activities and scholarship should have “a direct correlation between the intellectual work of the scholar and the applied work, such as consultation, evaluation and analysis” (Hofmeyer, Newton, & Scott, 2007, p. 5). Faculty working on Application activities or scholarship should be creative, consider the impact on the profession, engage in activities that are current and can be sustained, consider activities relevant to the institution, and see a change in the policy, practice, and so forth (Hofmeyer et al., 2007).

Following are some further examples of Application activities and scholarship:

Never has there been a time when the world needs this domain (Hyman et al., 2001). Often the public sees the institution as out of touch when really it should be the opposite—with all our expertise and studies, we should be helping to solve societal and global issues.

It is important that we serve and connect with the community both within and outside our walls for positive change and the solving of problems. While within the academy we recognize journals and presentations as forms of scholarship, outside of the academy scholarly expertise is brought to society, the government, businesses, and groups through presentations, public policy impact, media, seminars, the Internet, and technology (Hyman et al., 2001).

References and Suggested Readings

Boyer, E. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Lawrenceville, NJ: Jossey-Bass.  

Crookes, P. A., Else, F. C., & Smith, K. M. (2015). Embedding the scholarship of engagement at a regional university. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 19(3), 149–170.

Hofmeyer, A., Newton, M., & Scott, C. (2007). “Valuing the scholarship of integration and the scholarship of application in the academy for health sciences scholars: Recommended methods.” Health Research Policy and Systems 5:5. Retrieved from https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1478-4505-5-5

Hyman, D., Gurgevich, E., Alter, T., Ayers, J., Cash, E., Fahnline, D., … & Wright, H. (2001). Beyond Boyer: The UniSCOPE Model of Scholarship for the 21st century. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 7(1), 41–65.

Ward, K. (2003). Faculty service roles and the scholarship of engagement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.