Ohio University will host the 2026 Engage OHIO: Community and Place-based Engagement Symposium on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 5-6, at the Ohio University Inn and Conference Center in Athens, bringing together faculty, staff, students, community partners and regional leaders, the university announced.
The symposium is designed to explore how universities and communities can work together, with two days of sessions built around partnerships already working across southeastern Ohio and the chance to build new ones.
The event opens Thursday, Nov. 5, with the Community Engagement Awards and the Place-Based Teaching and Learning Plenary at the Ridges Auditorium, featuring plenary speakers Joe Brehm and Bryn Sowash of Rural Action, according to the university.
Among the 2026 Community Engagement Award recipients is Sarah Simmons, communications and external relations manager at Ohio University Southern, who will receive a Community Engaged Administrator Award. Other honorees include the Southern Wayne Advocacy Council as OHIO Partner of the Year and Dr. Pamela Kaylor, professor of instruction in communication studies at Ohio University Lancaster, who will receive the Community Engaged Faculty Award.
Friday’s program begins with a student poster session and continues with concurrent sessions on community-engaged teaching and learning and nonprofit capacity building. The afternoon includes mobile experiences at campus and community sites demonstrating partnerships in action.
“Engage OHIO is an opportunity to bring everyone into the same room to build the relationships that can grow into partnerships, and learn from the collaborations that are already working,” said Courtney Lefebvre, interim executive director of Ohio University’s Center for Community Impact and a member of the symposium planning committee.
Registration is open, with full program details available on the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment’s website, according to the university. For Athens and the surrounding region, the symposium puts the town-gown relationship at the center of the conversation for two days in November.