A "Third Space" for Higher Education

Just last month, members of the higher education community convened in Philadelphia to discuss new ways of promoting student success. The conference, hosted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, focused on the role of faculty in the development of university students. One of the keynote speakers, Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor, gave a speech addressing how faculty and students can work together in order to foster greater civic engagement opportunities.

On March 25, 2010, Chancellor Cantor discussed a “third space” of engagement in her speech titled "Academic Excellence and Civic Engagement: Constructing a Third Space for Higher Education." This third space provides a network of people from many different backgrounds to collaborate, share knowledge and work together to make a difference in society. Cantor believes that working as individual, isolated groups can only yield so much success. However, combining talents from all levels of society—the corporate world, higher education, and community—will make an immense impact that could not be achieved by individual groups alone. During her speech, she professed to her higher education colleagues that “diverse communities of experts have far more chance of making progress on what ails our communities than does any one group, disciplinary gathering, or sector alone.” In order to make a greater impact, faculty members of higher education institutions should provide more opportunities for their students to become active participants in this new space of engagement.

To explain her theory, Cantor used an example from her own Syracuse University, an institution devoted to innovative scholarship and a member of the Talloires Network. Under the university’s Department of Art and Design, students can apply the skills they learn in their coursework to design projects in the local community. As illustrated by the program’s website, “concern for sustainable design practices, social issues, and excellence in professional practice” is the central focus of design students’ education.

One specific example of this initiative can be found in Professors Rod Martinez and Bill Padgett’s communications design management class. The task for students enrolled in the course for this semester is to cultivate ideas for ‘branding’ the SALT District in Syracuse. While the district provides an excellent environment for artistic expression, it also is a community in need.

Faculty at Syracuse University saw this need for improvement as an ideal source for service-learning projects. Students utilize their skills of communication and design to improve the visual identity of the community. They work in collaboration with neighborhood residents to ensure they are addressing community needs. Although they are focusing on the visual presentation of the community, the students are also identifying issues in the public service sector. Understanding of social issues, design implementation, and project management is developed both inside the classroom and within the community. By the end of the semester, students improve their skills in communications design management, put these skills to physical practice, and achieve a greater understanding of what they can do to help a local community in need.

Syracuse University serves as an excellent model for providing students and faculty with an opportunity to apply scholarship to community involvement. As more institutions of higher education adopt this idea of a “third space” for civic engagement, a greater community of individuals devoted to social change will develop.