University & Community Partnerships

MODELS & BEST PRACTICES

Center for Community and Economic Development (Michigan State University)
www.cedp.msu.edu
The Center for Community and Economic Development at Michigan State University in East Lansing operates with the express purpose of developing and applying knowledge to address the needs of society – primarily in distressed urban communities.

*UPDATED*
Center for Community Partnerships (University of Pennsylvania)
www.upenn.edu/ccp/
The Center for Community Partnerships is the University of Pennsylvania’s primary vehicle for community-oriented real-world problem solving. The center enlists the broad range of knowledge available at a research university in its efforts to help solve the complex, comprehensive and interconnected problems of the American city. By linking theory with application, CCP works to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the University and the West Philadelphia community. The center’s programs focus on local schools, urban nutrition, and other community initiatives.

Center for Democracy and Citizenship
(University of Minnesota, Minneapolis)
www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/cdc/index.php
The Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis has undertaken a number of partnership initiatives, as well as advocating on the policy level for a greater university commitment to community engagement.

Center for Economic and Community Development (Penn State)
http://cecd.aers.psu.edu
The Center works closely with Pennsylvania regions and communities on issues of economic development, land use, local government finance, and community asset building, as well as developing community profiles, posted on its web site, of individual county economic and demographic indicators.

Center for Urban Initiatives and Research
(Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee)
www.uwm.edu/Dept/CUIR
The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee has been a national leader in the movement to increase universities' community engagement. Its Center for Urban Initiatives and Research (CUIR) provides research services and technical assistance to public and non-profit organizations in many areas, including strategic planning facilitation, survey research, and neighborhood analysis and mapping.

Center for Urban Research and Learning, Loyola University
(Chicago, IL)
www.luc.edu/curl
The Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) of Loyola University Chicago connects Loyola faculty and students with community and nonprofit organizations, civic groups, and government agencies. By working closely with community leaders outside the university, the Center combines the knowledge and experience of both university researchers and individuals or organizations in non-academic settings to effectively address community needs.

Community Outreach (Rutgers University, Camden, NJ campus)
http://camden-www.rutgers.edu/community.htm
Rutgers Camden campus has a wide variety of community programs. One of these efforts is the LEAP Academy, a K-12 charter school initiated by the university that is designed both to directly provide public education for up to 700 students at one time and to develop model practices for implementation in surrounding public schools.

The Cornell-Ithaca Partnership Computer Project
(Cornell University, Ithaca, NY)
www.cs.cornell.edu/wallis/COPC/
The Cornell-Ithaca Partnership Computer Project, aims to address the “digital divide” by providing under-served youth with opportunities to acquire computer skills and Internet access in their own neighborhood.

Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership (Durham, NC)
www.community.duke.edu
The Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership began in 1996 as a way to engage Duke University and its people in a structured partnership with the surrounding community. To date, Duke has helped to raise more than $12 million to invest in its partner neighborhoods. Duke's work in this area includes support of affordable housing (including a $4 million investment in Self-Help), the operation of two community health centers, and after-school program for at-risk students in local public schools.

East St. Louis Action Research Project
(University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana)
www.eslarp.uiuc.edu
Since 1990, this program of mutual learning and assistance has been an important part of the growing neighborhood revitalization movement in East St. Louis, Illinois and more recently four adjacent communities: Alorton, Brooklyn, Centreville, and Washington Park. Areas of concentration have included youth skill development, neighborhood organization capacity building, and affordable housing.

EPICS-Engineering Projects in Community Service
(West Lafayette, IN)
http://epics.ecn.purdue.edu
Founded at Purdue University in the fall of 1995, since its founding over 2,000 Purdue students have participated in 150 projects. Each team has a multi-year partnership with a community group. Projects can focus on human services, access and abilities, education and outreach, or the environment. Purdue's EPICS program is a model in engineering for marrying learning and engagement and is headquarters for the National EPICS program. Today, EPICS programs are operating at 15 universities, with over 1,350 students participating on 140 teams in 2003-04.

Great Cities Institute, (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago)
www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci
The UIC Great Cities Institute is a research center committed to creating, disseminating and applying interdisciplinary knowledge to urban affairs. It implements dozens of teaching, research and service programs designed to improve the quality of life in metropolitan Chicago and other urban areas. Among its programs is its Neighborhoods Initiative, which works with local community groups on health, technology, leadership development, and other issues of mutual concern.

Institute for Urban and Regional Development (Berkeley, CA)
www-iurd.ced.berkeley.edu
Since 1991, IURD has focused on supported community development efforts in neighboring Oakland, raising more than four million dollars for such efforts since 2000 alone. Faculty and students involved in these projects have been drawn from many of the University of California, Berkeley different colleges, including the College of Environmental Design, the College of Natural Resources, Civil Engineering, the School of Education and the School of Public Health.

Irwin W. Steans Center, DePaul University (Chicago)
http://cbsl.depaul.edu
The Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning was founded to integrate the service concept into the University's curricula. DePaul's commitment to service is part of its Vincentian, Catholic, and Urban Mission: to foster through higher education a deep respect for the dignity of all persons, especially the materially, culturally, and spiritually deprived; and to instill in its students a dedication of service to others.

Old North Partnership Project (Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis)
www.umsl.edu/services/pprc/onnp/preservation.html
Over a 3-year period, faculty, students and staff at the University of Missouri–St. Louis collaborated with residents of Old North St. Louis to cultivate a sense of place and spur neighborhood revitalization through historical research. One outcome of this ongoing partnership was the book From Village to Neighborhood: A History of Old North St. Louis, published in 2004, which documents the history of the neighborhood through research, interviews, and archaeological excavations.

Partnership for Community Development, Colgate University
(Hamilton, NY)
www.partnersatwork.org
Founded in 1998 as a partnership between Colgate University and the Town and Village of Hamilton, New York, the Partnership for Community Development has fostered small business development; provided design help and funding to improve building facades and streetscapes in the five-block business district of downtown Hamilton; helped restore the Village Green; and established retail and marketing support for local arts and crafts. To date, Colgate has provided $630,000 in funding, which has leveraged over $1.5 million from private sector, foundation, and government sources.

Phoenix Project (Springfield, VA)
www.phoenixproject.org
Founded in 2006, the Phoenix Project works to foster mutually beneficial partnerships between colleges and universities in Virginia’s most economically distressed communities; recruit and train future nonprofit leaders; and work to accelerate the development of social entrepreneurship throughout the state.

Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance
(Trinity College, Hartford, CT)
www.trincoll.edu/UG/UE/SINA/Mission.htm
Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA) is a partnership between Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford Hospital and Trinity College that works cooperatively with the community to develop leadership and improve the economic, physical and social characteristics of Hartford's Frog Hollow, Barry Square and South Green neighborhoods. The partnership has promoted homeownership, jobs for neighborhood residents, and community commercial development.

Student Leadership and Civic Engagement (Colorado State)
www.slce.colostate.edu
Colorado State's office of Student Leadership & Civic Engagement (SLCE) promotes leadership development, service-learning and volunteer opportunities. One of its programs is its Alternative Spring Break program, which places approximately 100 students a year in short-term intern positions with non-profit community groups from across the country.

University of Georgia, “Public Service and Outreach”
www.uga.edu/outreach
The University of Georgia has a broad vision of its public service mission. Current areas of concentration include anti-poverty initiatives, working with Georgia's Latino communities, economic development, and service learning.

University of Utah, Lowell Bennion Community Service Center
(Salt Lake City, UT)
www.sa.utah.edu/bennion
Founded in 1987, the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center adheres to a team approach to recruiting, training, and selecting issues on which to focus. Through student leadership, volunteer participation grew dramatically (from 546 to 1409 volunteers) in the first year. At last count, the Center had 6800 volunteers performing more than 152,000 hours of service to the community.

West Virginia Rural Health Partnership (Morgantown, WV)
www.wvrhep.org
Developed with the support of the Kellogg Foundation and the state government, the Rural Health Partnership program developed to fulfill a gap in the delivery of health services to rural West Virginians. Now a statewide program, the effort has grown to include 13 training consortia or networks of community-based health, social, and education agencies, covering 47 of West Virginia's most underserved counties.