ABSTRACT
The chapter looks inward by focusing on how the constraints and limitations imposed by the existing academic culture in top research universities can be diminished in future generations. It starts by detailing how current scholars and the next generation are acculturated into the norms of the academy. The academy prizes the praise of academic peers and technical publications in elite journals. Public service is seldom encouraged or rewarded. The authors propose four questions to assess what it would take to become an engaged university: 1. Could more be done to conduct research relevant to the world of policy? 2. Could more be done to produce research and theory on the utilization of science in policymaking? 3. Could more be done to recognize faculty who engage and excel in policy outreach? 4. Could more be done to better position and reward policy outreach in the university infrastructure? The chapter also describes what a policy-sensitive researcher would look like and what curriculum would be needed to create this new type of scholar and scholarship. The hope is that training in cultural competence would reverse a system-wide trend toward specialization, disciplinary isolation, and community differentiation.
