Recent reforms in the Carnegie Foundation classification system and regional accreditation standards have fueled momentum for community engagement in higher education. This study employs a knowledge-flow conceptual framework to identify barriers and facilitators that influence the adoption of an engagement agenda at land-grant and urban research universities. With data drawn from six cases, broad themes related to institutional setting, history, epistemologies, leadership, structures, and boundary-spanning roles of faculty and staff emerged as key levers or inhibitors of community engagement at research universities. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)