The Elective Classification For Community Engagement

Which campuses are eligible to apply?

To determine whether your campus is eligible to apply, search for your institution using the Institution Search page. If your campus is listed, then you are eligible to apply for the Community Engagement Classification.

Do branch campuses need to apply together or individually?

There are a number of campuses that have one Basic Classification and multiple branch campuses. Branch campuses that have a history of being an independent institution, have distinct local leadership, and a distinct student body and community within which and with whom they partner, can apply for the Elective Community Engagement Classification separate from the overall institution, even when the branch campus does not have a “Basic” classification, provided that the institution does have a Basic Classification. In these cases, please consult our updated policy: Eligibility for Applying for the Carnegie Elective Community Engagement Classification (April 18, 2018).

How can we access the online application?

Access to the application will be available on GivePulse starting January 26, 2024. The updated link will be provided once we receive the final edit of the app. Institutional representatives will be prompted to select an application type (first-time or re-classification) and then directed to a payment page. After the payment is complete, an email receipt will be generated and will include a unique link to the classification framework application portal. There, you will be able to complete the application and save your progress as a draft. 

Application fees will be assessed on a sliding scale following the grid on the 2026 cycle overview page. The application fee covers the cost of the classification administration and maintaining access to Carnegie classification datasets.

After your institution has registered for the application, your registrant can access the application by:

1. Log in to http://www.givepulse.com
2. From the account navigation on the top right corner, select “My Activity” and then “Surveys”
3. Select the survey “First Time Classification” or “Re-Classification: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching” depending on your institution’s application status
4. Within the application, there is a tab “Collaborators”. Within this section, you can add the names and email address of the individuals who will prepare the application. Added collaborators can access the application by completing Steps 1-3

Is there a deadline to access the online application?

Applications for the 2026 cycle must be initiated by November 4, 2024.

Can campuses apply for an application fee waiver?

The Classification is intended to invite wide participation and not exclude any campus from participating because of the inability to cover the application fee. Campuses may request a fee waiver prior to accessing the online application by emailing us at carnegieelectives@acenet.edu.

Which campuses are up for re-classification?

Campuses that earned the classification in 2015 or 2020 will need to re-classify in the 2026 classification cycle in order to retain the classification. Campuses with successful classification in 2024 will need to re-classify in the 2030 cycle.

Campuses that earned the classification in 2006, 2008, or 2010 were required to re-classify in 2015 (for 2006 and 2008 classification) or 2020 (for 2010 classification). If a 2006, 2008, or 2010 classified campus did not re-classify in 2015 or 2020, they will need to submit a first-time application for the 2026 classification cycle.

A current list of classified campuses with classification year is found here. 

A listing of classified campuses from 2006 to present is found here. 

Does the Documentation Framework list all of the questions that appear in the official online application?

Yes. The Documentation Framework comprises a list of all questions that appear in the application. There is also an accompanying guide that includes more thorough descriptions of the purpose of certain questions and the type of information that is expected in applicants’ responses.  It is strongly recommended that institutions use this framework for collecting data and drafting responses to the application questions. Transferring responses from the framework to the online application and then submitting it should be the last steps in the application process.

Are web links (i.e., URLs) permitted in responses to application questions?

First-time and re-classification applicants should provide web links to relevant campus resources where requested in the application. Reviewers may want to examine websites for additional clarification of the responses in the application.

Can an applicant “click through” the pages of the online application to review all of the questions?

Applicants can view the application sections, finish parts of the applications, save drafts and come back to it later as needed.

Can an applicant save an unfinished online application and then return to it at a later time?

Yes. Applicants that have created an account on GivePulse may save drafts of the online application and then edit and/or continue at a later time. You will need to log in to retain access to the online application and save it in draft mode. As a GivePulse user, your role as a “Collaborator” on the platform will allow you to see that the application is automatically saving your work as you go. If you forget your password, you can easily reset it.

Who should be responsible for submitting the online application?

Though the process of compiling responses to the application questions will likely involve many individuals from the applicant institution, it is strongly recommended that only one person be responsible for filling out and submitting the online application itself.  The individual who creates the primary account will be listed in the “Applicant’s Contact Information” section of the application and will be the same individual who submits the application.

Are application responses limited to a certain number of words?

Yes. Most application questions require responses that do not exceed 500 words and the text boxes will not allow for more than the word limit; the questions that allot more than 500 words are noted within the question. You will find a word count calculator under each text box in the online framework.  If a response provided by an applicant exceeds the word limit, the online application software will only submit the maximum number of words allowed for that question, resulting in an incomplete response. Therefore, it is recommended that applicants draft their responses in a word-processing application (e.g., Microsoft Word, Google Docs), and use the word-count feature before cutting and pasting text into the online application. Upon pasting your answer into the online application, please make sure to read it fully to make sure that the full answer was captured.

Are paragraph divisions (i.e., hard returns) counted as words in the online application?

No. Paragraph marks in a response are not treated as a word in the word count limit.

Can applicants include formatted text in response boxes on the application?

The response boxes in the application only accept non-formatted text (i.e., no font enhancements, such as bolding, italicizing, or underlining, and no tables). In addition, the response boxes do not allow embedded hyperlinks.  The full text of URLs must be listed when referring to web addresses (where appropriate; please see the question above regarding URLs if you are unsure whether your campus should use them).

Will each application be reviewed in its entirety by a single reviewer at a time? If so, is it acceptable for applicants to use acronyms and/or abbreviations when referring to entities that are referenced more than once in the application?

Each application is reviewed in its entirety by a single reviewer at a time (with multiple reviewers reviewing each application); thus, it is acceptable to use acronyms and/or abbreviations throughout the application after the first full reference to an entity.

Are applicants required to answer all questions on the application?

It is not advisable to leave any sections blank. If you cannot respond by providing evidence, explain why the evidence does not exist and what the campus is doing to be able to provide the evidence in the future.

When responding to the questions that ask for the number of students, faculty, departments, and courses associated with academically based community engaged courses, should I include internships, clinical placement, student teaching, cooperative education, and other forms of experiential education?

The application seeks evidence of community engagement in courses where there are collaborative and reciprocal partnerships. While an internship may be based on a collaborative and reciprocal partnership, for example, it may also be based on a placement with the purpose of professional preparation. When collecting data, many campuses make the distinction between experiences that are placements that enhance academics and provide professional training, and those that are partnerships that enhance academics and meet community needs. The distinctions are not absolute, but it is important to be able to clarify the differences in type of experiential education so that not everything experiential is counted as community engagement.

Whom should applicants contact to receive a copy of the link to the online application?

The online form through GivePulse is the ONLY allowable means by which to submit your institution’s classification application responses.

After registering for the application on GivePulse, you can access your institution’s application:

1. Log in to http://www.givepulse.com
2. From the account navigation on the top right corner, select “My Activity” and then “Surveys”
3. Select the survey “First Time Classification” or “Re-Classification: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching” depending on your institution’s application status
4. Within the application, there is a tab “Collaborators”. Within this section, you can add the names and email address of the individuals who will prepare the application. Individuals added as collaborators can access the application using steps 1-3

For a campus applying for re-classification, is it possible to receive a copy of its original, first-time application?

Yes. To receive a copy of a previous, successful Community Engagement Classification application, please contact cjones@acenet.edu. To ensure the protection of your institutional data, if you are not the chief academic officer of your institution (ex: Provost, Chancellor), we will need you to provide a formal letter on an institutional letterhead signed by them.

When is the 2026 Community Engagement Classification application due?

The deadline for submitting the application for the 2026 Community Engagement Classification is April 1, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

When will the results of the 2026 application process be announced?

The results of the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification application process will be announced in January 2026. Only those institutions that receive the classification will be announced. Institutions that are not classified during this cycle are notified privately.

Will community partners from non-English-speaking organizations be able to indicate a language preference filling out the partner surveys?

For the 2026 cycle, the community partner survey will be available in English and Spanish.

What is your refund policy?

Campuses that wish to withdraw their participation in the 2026 process can submit a refund request on or before March 15, 2025. No refunds will be processed after March 15, 2025. To request a refund, please send an email to carnegieelectives@acenet.edu.

Does the Carnegie Foundation or Carnegie Elective Classification Central Office endorse any particular consultants for campuses to work with on the classification?

• Members of the Carnegie Elective Classification Central Office provide training and consultation in “multi-campus settings” like conferences, symposia, and workshops involving more than one campus. Training or consultation is not provided to individual campuses to avoid conflicts of interest during the evaluation process.
• There are a number of consultants who are available and who operate independently of the Carnegie Foundation and the Elective Classifications Central Office. The Carnegie Foundation requires these consultants to provide a clear and prominent disclaimer that their consulting and training are not in any way associated with the Carnegie Foundation or with ACE  as the home of the classification.
• For the 2024 and 2026 cycles, the Carnegie Elective Classification Central Office has provided training to individuals interested in developing their understanding of the Elective Classification for Community Engagement and consulting campuses as a service to the field. You can find a list of individuals who have participated in training here. 

From what academic year should the 2026 application reflect?

Typically, the data provided in the application should reflect the most recent academic year. Since campuses will be completing the application in academic year 2024-2025, data typically would reflect evidence from AY 2022-2023. Wherever data is requested, it is understood that COVID has likely impacted data from 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. Therefore, campuses may use data from a range of years, including the COVID academic year: – AY 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

Campuses may use the data that provides the best representation of their community engagement: data provided for one question or set of questions can be from one academic year and data provided for another question or set of questions can be from a different academic year. For each question and/or example, indicate the year that the data represents.

From what academic year should the 2029 application reflect?

In the 2029 cycle, campuses can use data from both AY 2024-25, AY 2025-26, and AY 2026-2027 if they will have had time to assess and understand the data.

Although 2026-27 data may be available, not all campuses will have been able to assess and make sense of that data. Campuses will be welcome to use more recent data (2026-27) in the application, if they will have had the time to understand the outcomes and impacts of the data and believe it will offer a better representation of their campus.

The application will ask to indicate the data year(s) within the application questions.

Additionally, while the 2026 application is a good indicator for preparing for the 2029 cycle, campuses should expect revisions to the application based what we learn from the previous application cycle, what is happening in the field, and how world/national events impact engagement on campuses.

How should institutions approach framing limitations on community engagement due to COVID-19 within the application?

In addition to the flexibility of data as indicated in the question above, there is a question dedicated to discussing the impacts of COVID-19 and other large-scale limitations (such as natural disasters) on your campus.

I’ve registered for the application on behalf of my institution. How do I access my institution’s application on GivePulse?

1. Log in to http://www.givepulse.com
2. From the account navigation on the top right corner, select “My Activity” and then “Surveys”
3. Select the survey “First Time Classification” or “Re-Classification: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching” depending on your institution’s application status
4. Within the application, there is a tab “Collaborators”. Within this section, you can add the names and email address of the individuals who will prepare the application. Individuals added as collaborators can access the application following steps 1-3. 

Whom should applicants contact for technical or content-related questions about the Elective Classification for Community Engagement application?

General inquiries regarding the application process, assistance with technical issues, or guidance related to application content, please contact carnegie@acenet.edu.