
Office of Civic Engagement & Social Responsibility
One of the close collaborators that helps make BTU work is the Office of Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility
Find Out MoreA variety of individuals and groups from across campus work to provide critical support, coordination, and decision-making to further the work of BTU: Partnerships at work for Greater Baltimore.
The Office of Partnerships and Outreach (OPO) within the Division of Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research is tasked with managing BTU. The OPO-BTU team serves as the front door of the university for external partners and makes connections between TU's faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders. This includes strategic partnership management, data collection and utilization, reporting, marketing and communications, event management, funding support management, and cross-campus convening.
OPO-BTU Team | |
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Kathleen Crostic Interim Executive Director, Office of Partnerships and Outreach |
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Matthew Durington, Ph.D. Faculty Director, Community Engagement and Partnerships |
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Tess Heron Engagement and Data Manager |
The BTU Council is comprised of individuals from across campus who work closely with community and corporate partners. Modeled as a think-tank, this group helps to support partnerships and relationships by raising awareness internally and externally, identifying opportunities for growth and expansion, evaluating impacts and outcomes, developing working teams to address strategic initiatives or challenges, while also serving as the advisory group to university leadership. The BTU Council includes representatives from every academic college and administrative division.
Name | Division/College | Department |
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David Merino | Academic Affairs | Faculty Academic Center of Excellence at Towson |
Anne Greene | Academic Affairs | Office of Sponsored Programs and Research |
Alexei Kolesnikov | Academic Affairs | Provost's Office |
Chanel Franze | Administration and Finance | Procurement Department |
Joselyn Johnson | Administration and Finance | Procurement Department |
Woodrow Myers | Administration and Finance | Public Safety |
Lauren Hoskins | Athletics | Operations |
Dahne Brown-Boyer | Athletics | |
Lisa Michocki | College of Business and Economics | Student Academic and Career Services |
Chaodong Han | College of Business and Economics | e-Business and Techonology Management |
Gilda Martinez-Alba | College of Education | Elementary Education |
Vicky Cai | College of Education | Instructional Leadership and Professional Development |
Joseph Gotoff | College of Fine Arts and Communications | Music |
Gerald Jerome | College of Health Professions | Kinesiology |
Sonia Lawson | College of Health Professions | Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science |
Carrie Grant | College of Liberal Arts | English |
Matthew Durington | College of Liberal Arts; Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research | Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice; Office of Partnerships and Outreach |
Sarah Haines | Fisher College of Science and Mathematics | Biological Sciences |
Bryan Mull | General Counsel | |
Sheldon Miller | Graduate Student Association Representative | |
Joyce Garczynski | Library | Research and Instruction |
Rhea Nedd | Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity | Center for Student Diversity |
LaVern Chapman | Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity | |
Brian Jara | Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity | Inclusive Excellence Education and Support |
Jen Stano | Operations and Human Resources | Office of Human Resources |
Nicholas Gingue | Operations and Human Resources | Facilities Management |
Katie Maloney | President's Office | Neighborhood and Government Relations |
Tracy Jacobs | Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research | Osher Lifelong Learning Institute |
Kathleen Crostic | Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research | Office of Partnerships and Outreach |
Tess Heron | Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research | Office of Partnerships and Outreach |
Ardys Russakis | Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research | StarTUp |
Lorie Logan-Bennett | Student Affairs | Career Center |
Romy Hübler | Student Affairs | Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility |
Roodinz Vital | Student Affairs | Fraternity and Sorority Life |
Dario DiBattista | Student Affairs | Military and Veterans Center |
Carolyn Harris | Student Affairs | Student Activities |
Aaron Saunders | Student Affairs | Student Success Programs |
Shawn Bell | Student Government Association Representative | |
Sirantou Tratore | Student Government Association Representative | |
Amy Moffat | University Admissions | |
Melanie Kelleher | University Advancement | Corporate Relations |
Geaninne Callaghan | University Advancement | Foundation Relations |
Louise Miller | University Advancement | University Promotions and Events |
Jamie Abell | University Marketing | Communications and Media Relations |
Towson University was the first higher education institution in the state of Maryland to receive the prestigious community engagement classification by Carnegie. As a leader in community engagement practice there a number of principles that the BTU team and our campus partners adhere to in their work. We hold to 'the principle of debt incurred' meaning that we value the time and localized specialized knowledge of our collaborators. We also seek to extend community engagement beyond volunteerism to ensure a two-way exchange of knowledge with our collaborators. To learn how Towson University is defining this work, view our Engagement Glossary (PDF).
Involve your partner in the planning and decision making processes related to your collaboration. Stay in touch regularly and make sure that you are not only communicating progress and next steps, but also asking for and addressing the needs of the partner and identifying each other’s roles and responsibilities.
All partners captured within the BTU Database will be asked to provide feedback on their partnership with TU at the end of each academic year. This feedback is necessary for the community engagement Carnegie classification for TU. This feedback will be provided to the associated TU faculty and/or staff. It is ethically sound and necessary to welcome feedback from your collaborators on an ongoing basis to measure successes and determine areas of improvement.
All community engagement and partnership work should be connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all facets of work. This ethos should extend beyond recognition of diversity, equity, and inclusion to critical thought about structural conditions that affect our community collaborators.
A few things to keep in mind:
There are a great deal of resources, needs, and expertise across campus. Be open to brainstorming new collaboration ideas with your partner, to expand beyond your college or division.
A lot of planning and follow through is involved in the development of partnerships, on both sides. If you make a commitment to a partner, be sure to see it through. If any unexpected changes come up along the way, communicate them quickly with your partner.
There are several universities that have published guides and recommendations for
community engagement and community based research. We enjoy a strong sharing relationship
with these institutions and their work and recommend viewing some of these resources
shared.