My scholarly work and research broadly addresses the institutionalization of campus-community engagement, faculty and graduate student development, organizational and educational leadership for social change. I have consulted, published and presented on community engagement and have led multiple successful grant funded initiatives with community partners, faculty, students and staff. My publicly engaged research and leadership practice has been recognized via national research awards and induction into the Academy of Community Engagement Research.
I co-founded, along with graduate students and alumni, the Publicly Engaged Action & Research Lab (PEARL), where we support new researcher professional development while participating in community engaged research projects. As co-founder of the Food Justice Research & Action Cluster, I work with faculty, staff, student and community colleagues on the issues of food security and closing health disparities. As a research consultant for the American Council on Education, I developed and coordinated The Elective Classifications Research Lab examining the public purposes of higher education.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Ward, E, & Rodriguez-Flores, C. (In preparation). Community Engagement at Catholic Carnegie Classified Community Engaged Institutions. Journal of Catholic Higher Education.
Ward, E., & Coello, D. (In preparation). Founding the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement. Gateways International Journal of Community Engagement and Research.
Pearl, A., Ward, E., Janke, E., Rios, M., & Eatman, T. (Forthcoming, 2025). Rewarding Faculty Publicly-Engaged Scholarship in Promotion and Tenure Policies at Carnegie Classified Community Engagement Institutions: A Descriptive Analysis. Journal of Participatory Research Methods.
Pearl, A., Jones-Friedrichs, C., Ward, E., Cunningham, H., Azordegan, J., Cruz, T., Deas, F., Locke, E., Mitchell, T., Padalkar, T., Quito, D., & White, C. (2025). The Carnegie Elective Classifications: A Methodological Guide for Community Engagement Research. International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. 10.37333/001c.151686.
Ward, E., Janke, E., Wrencher, E., Goodner, H., Mitchell, T., & Hempill, M. (2024). Faculty Community-Engaged Scholars Choosing to Come and Stay: Alignment Between Individual and Institutional Identities and Values. International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.37333/001c.127561
Santana, C., Risam, R., Garcia-Guevara, A., Krupczynski, J., Lynch, C., Reiff, J., Vincent, C., and Ward, E. (Eds.). (2023). Anti-Racist Community Engagement: Principles and Practices. Campus Compact.
Ward, E., Shonkoff, E.T., Carlson, C., & Stuetzle, C. (2023). Advancing Community-Engaged Research via the Food Justice Research and Action Cluster: A Transdisciplinary Ecosystem Model. Metropolitan Universities Journal, 34(5),33-57. DOI: 10.18060/27154
Corbin, G., Hartfield-Méndez, V., Ward, E. (2023). Preparing Students for Community-engaged Scholarship: A Lesson Plan for Collaborative Inquiry Grounded in Awareness of Self and Others. In Terosky, A., Baker, V. L., Sun, J. C., A Practical Guide to Teaching Research Methods in Education Lesson Plans and Advice from Faculty. Routledge/Taylor & Francis. New York, NY.
Williams, N., Villegas, M., Savastano, M., Ward, E. (2023). The power of no: Creating space to acknowledge and challenge power dynamics in the community-engaged educator’s classroom. In Santana, C., Risam, R., Garcia-Guevara, A., Krupczynski, J., Lynch, C., Reiff, J., Vincent, C., & Ward, E. (Eds.). (2023). Anti-Racist Community Engagement: Principles and Practices. Campus Compact.
Post, M., Ward, E., Longo, N., and Saltmarsh, J. (Eds.). (March, 2016). Publicly Engaged Scholars: Next Generation Engagement and the Future of Higher Education. Stylus Press.
Ward, E. C. and Lortan, D. B. (2021). Decolonial Dreamers and Dead Elephants. Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 14:2, 1–9. http:// dx.doi.org/10.5130/ijcre. v14i2.8016 ISSN 1836-3393 | Published by UTS ePRESS | http://ijcre. epress.lib.uts.edu.au
Ward, E. (Ed.). (2018). Guest Editor. Legacy Lived: A Generation of Ernest A. Lynton Award Recipients Advancing Community-Engaged Scholarship and Change. Metropolitan Universities Journal, December 2018, Volume 29 Number 4.
Ward, E. (Ed.). (2018). The Life, Work and Legacy of Ernest A. Lynton (1926—1998). In Legacy Lived: A Generation of Ernest A. Lynton Award Recipients Advancing Community-Engaged Scholarship and Change. Metropolitan Universities Journal, December 2018, Volume 29 Number 4.
SELECT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Pearl, A., Ward, E., & Locke, E. (2025, October 8). Bridging the Gap: Using AI to Advance Research and Practice in Community Engagement. Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference. Roanoke, VA.
Pearl, A., Ward, E., Janke, E., Rios, M., & Eatman, T. (2025, Oct 9). Supporting Engaged Scholarship Through Promotion and Tenure Policies: Insights and Strategies from Carnegie Data. Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference. Roanoke, VA.
Williams, N., Rodriguez Flores, J., Coello, D., & Ward, E. (2025, Oct 9). Centering Scholar’s Voice and Experience in Publicly Engaged Research. Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference. Roanoke, VA.
Ward, E., Zulian, M., Williams, N., Jones, C., (2025, March 31-April 2). Next generation publicly engaged professionals: Graduate student preparation [Conference session]. Campus Compact. https://events.compact.org/compact25/program#agenda
Williams, N., Rodriguez Flores, C., Enaboakpe, J., Coello, D., & Ward, E. (2025, March 31-April 2). P.E.A.R.L. Publicly Engaged Action and Research Lab; A model for anti-racist emerging scholar support [Conference session]. Campus Compact. https://events.compact.org/compact25/program#agenda
