Criterion Five: Engagement and Service As called for by its mission, the organization identifies its constituencies and serves them in ways both value.

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	The University of Missouri-Kansas City [UMKC] serves a broad range of constituents. While UMKC’s students, faculty and staff are our primary focus, representatives from the University interact daily with community members, alumni and trustees. For the purposes of this self study, our constituencies are defined as students, faculty, staff and community members, including those who currently reside in Kansas City as well as the people with whom we engage regionally, nationally and internationally. Our self study also identifies a number of organizations and institutions as important constituents.
During the self study process, the Criterion 5 committee used the following formula for collecting data: 60 percent of the group was made up of students, faculty and staff; 20 percent were external constituents currently engaged with UMKC; and 20 percent were those UMKC hopes to engage in the future. Taking the definition a step further, the Committee broke our constituents into two distinct categories: internal constituents (students, faculty, and staff) and external constituents (community members, trustees, alumni, other institutions and organizations). UMKC’s approach to community service does not occur through a centralized office, but rather through activities initiated at the academic unit level. This is not to imply that decentralization denotes a lack of commitment to community service, but rather that many of our service-related initiatives have been spearheaded by individual faculty members, staff and students or through one of UMKC’s centers or institutes. Historically, UMKC has been made up of various academic units, many of which first existed as independent, autonomous entities. While these entities merged with the University over time, their methods of operation have remained somewhat autonomous and self-directed.
UMKC’s community engagement also has historic roots. Founded in 1933 by area civic leaders, the University of Kansas City, the school’s original name, was created with the express aim that the institution would be a community resource, intellectually, professionally and culturally. During its review, the Criterion 5 committee identified more than 400 examples of community activities initiated University-wide and many with deep roots in UMKC and the city’s history. Certainly not all of those examples can be cited in this self study. Nevertheless, while the descriptions of our engagement and service and the evidence of their positive impact is not an exhaustive overview, it is illustrative.