ABSTRACT
This chapter shares how the author have intentionally paved new pathways for engaged scholarly practice in her hybrid roles as staff, program directors, and special advisers to university leadership. Barbara is a research associate and practitioner-scholar at the University of Guelph, where she nurtures and supports partnerships among the university, community organizations, and students. Individually and collectively the author pave new professional pathways within the field of community engagement scholarship and practice. The current neoliberal environment has encouraged higher education institutions to focus on revenue generation and cutbacks, and therefore it is a challenging time to initiate and foster alternative pathways that challenge existing structures. She therefore question the extent to which it is possible to work within higher education in a hybrid or an alternative role and do meaningful work with external communities without having to compromise one’s own financial and career stability.
