The Office of Engagement and Community Affairs (ECA) champions community engagement efforts across the Pitt system. ECA facilitates strategic community initiatives, leads the university’s place-based engagements in the city of Pittsburgh, collaborates with the Provost’s Office to support engaged scholarship, maintains positive relationships with the neighbors and organizations closest to our campus footprint, and ensures that Pitt is a partner and asset to communities, locally to globally.

The Senate Community Relations Committee's mission is to understand how the University operates within and serves the surrounding community. The community relations committee is comprised of faculty and staff representation from across various schools within the University of Pittsburgh, liaisons from Community and Governmental Relations, Community Engagement, Community Relations, Facilities Management and City/County Relations at the University and several pro-team members and partners from the Community.

The University of Pittsburgh’s Engagement Community of Practice (ECOP) is a supportive network that shares an interest in advancing the institution’s ecosystem of community-oriented and partnered teaching & learning, research, service, outreach, and programming. Pitt’s ECOP convenes once per term (Fall, Spring, & Summer) and maintains an active online community through SharePoint (requires Pitt login). To join the group, please provide some information about yourself and your role through the following survey.

Community Engagement Centers (CECs) located in Homewood and the Hill District are welcoming spaces that create a front door to Pitt. The CECs showcase Pitt's 15-year commitment to infrastructure, staffing, and coordination in neighborhoods.

Faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows were invited to participate in the Engaged Scholarship Development Initiative (ESDI) to learn how to implement Engaged Scholarship, connect with other engaged scholars, and advance their own work. The initiative took place in two parts: Part I includes a series of open workshops during the academic year and Part II involves an intensive and competitive summer design workshop for select participants.

The map lists ways that Pitt is working as a partner in communities, local to global, helps us to coordinate community engagement and outreach efforts across the University system, and tracks the progress of the University’s overall engagement and outreach effort.

The University of Pittsburgh Community Engaged Scholarship Forum (CESF) is an annual forum that elevates, celebrates, and reflects on collective approaches to community-engaged scholarship through the development of sustainable partnerships that build deep, reciprocal processes to achieve mutually beneficial, community-identified priorities.

The Tracy Soska and John Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership Award was established in 2020 to honor a faculty member or staff engagement professional who serves the University of Pittsburgh through their outstanding dedication to University-community connections. Through their contributions, the awardee strengthens our institution’s knowledge, understanding, practice, and reflection on the opportunities of community-based collaboration.