Paige Andersson and Rachael Jones McAfee were both recently hired at Indiana University Bloomington in positions created to advance IUB 2030 strategic plan initiatives.

Paige Andersson, left, and Rachael Jones McAfee. Photo by James Brosher, Indiana UniversityAs the senior assistant vice provost for experiential learning in the Division of Undergraduate Education, Andersson brings together various units to promote curricular and co-curricular opportunities where students can learn in real-world and applied contexts and see the community as a vital source of knowledge to enhance their education.

McAfee, interim executive director for community engagement in University Relations, is focused on strengthening IU Bloomington’s relationships with Bloomington and Ellettsville, Monroe County civic and business leaders, elected officials, nonprofit organizations and other key stakeholders to deepen the university’s myriad community partnerships.

Andersson and McAfee discussed their new roles and efforts underway to seek IU Bloomington’s reclassification for the Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement.

Question: What is the scope of each of your roles, and what do you hope to accomplish in both the short and long term? Do you see connections between your work?

McAfee: We were recently brought together by the work surrounding IU’s participation in the 2026 Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement initiative. Both of us are in newly created campus-level positions that seek to strengthen IU Bloomington’s infrastructure around community engagement in different yet connected ways.

Our campus makes a significant impact — through research, teaching and service — on the challenges facing our community, state, nation and world. Our job is to broaden and deepen that work, and we approach it from different angles.

Andersson: For experiential learning, my short-term goals are to improve tracking to more effectively understand and report on the “learning by doing” that our undergraduate students are already engaging in. In achieving this shared understanding, we can then represent participation on an experiential learning transcript called the Scholar Record at IU.

This record is an official document issued from the registrar that details designated curricular and co-curricular activities, including community-engaged learning, undergraduate research and creative activity, study abroad, internships, practicums, and project-based learning. This digital record will be shareable to employers, graduate schools and platforms like LinkedIn, so students can communicate more clearly their experiences gained at IU.

Our long-term goals are to deepen mutually beneficial community partnerships and expand opportunities in service to the state.

McAfee: My immediate goals are to establish or renew important relationships with key local stakeholders and identify existing or facilitate new collaborative opportunities between university and community partners in a variety of sectors. This could incorporate the experiential learning opportunities that Paige oversees, but it also includes talent and workforce development initiatives, opportunities to enhance cultural vitality, subject-matter experts who can address issues affecting our region, or support for programs that benefit campus-community partnerships.

An extraordinary amount of collaborative work is happening across campus and in Monroe County already. Elevating those stories to inspire continued investment and to thank partners is key.

Longer term, it will be paramount to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to guide and operationalize community engagement at IU Bloomington, working with all levels of university and community leadership. That work is called for in the IUB 2030 implementation plan.

Paige’s work in experiential learning is an important component of the university’s community engagement initiatives. Our individual missions are connected because community engagement has always been a foundational part of experiential learning, which has a tremendous capacity to address community needs and enhance local, regional, state and global relations.

Q: What is the vision for experiential learning at IU Bloomington?

Andersson: The vision is to see all students engage in a meaningful experiential learning activity every year that leverages their IU education to meet their personal and professional goals, as well as have an impact on real-world challenges.

Additionally, increasing the number of students who participate in at least one community-engaged opportunity by expanding our offerings would further serve our local, state and global communities. Such experiences might also address social need — from economic opportunity, education and technological innovations, to sustainability, health care and civic engagement.

Q: What is the vision for community engagement at IU Bloomington?

McAfee: A theme I’ve heard in my first two months from all stakeholders is the unanimous agreement that students — and the talents they bring — are a crucial part of the fabric of Bloomington. Genuine and mutually beneficial collaboration between our university and the region we call home is essential to creating a prosperous community for all. It is my goal to have IU Bloomington recognized as a leader in developing authentic university-community partnerships.

Q: How do your roles articulate with the IUB 2030 strategic plan?

McAfee: Community engagement and experiential learning build capacity across all three pillars of the strategic plan.

IUB 2030 — specifically the service pillar — reflects Indiana University’s dedication to improving the lives of Hoosiers and strengthening the region’s cultural and economic vitality. Community engagement can be a driving factor in economic development, community collaboration and workforce development.

Our positions lead efforts to develop and advance an innovative community engagement and outreach strategy for our campus that aligns with IUB 2030 and draws upon the unique excellence and expertise of IU Bloomington faculty, staff and students.

 

Q: IU Bloomington is seeking 2026 reclassification for the Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Classification for Community Engagement. What does this entail, and why is it important?

Andersson: We’re both so pleased that our campus is prioritizing this reclassification. The classification is voluntary for institutions, and IU Bloomington has received it twice before, in 2010 and 2020.

Through pursuing the classification, our campus will undergo a self-study that will assess our campus’s commitment to, investment in and accomplishment at higher education community engagement. In doing so, we will also establish a stronger infrastructure to meet IUB 2030 strategic goals and lay the groundwork for more sustained collaboration across campus.

The steering committee — which is chaired by Vasti Torres, vice provost for undergraduate education — officially kicked off its work in late July by convening a meeting of community engagement stakeholders at IU and within Bloomington. Before the April 1, 2025, application deadline, our aim is to encourage discussion and information sharing about external community engagement within as many units as possible to assess our strengths and needs as a campus moving forward.

If you are interested in being part of this initiative, please ask your unit leader about getting involved or reach out directly to us.

Caroline Dwyer Gilley is a strategy and innovation specialist in the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President.