As educators reconsider higher education's public good mission, community colleges face a monumental task. These colleges still serve a student population that includes many low-income, traditionally underrepresented, first-generation college students with family and job responsibilities that demand their attention. For community colleges, the…

The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist Russell Ackoff referred to as "messes"--complex dynamic systems of problems that interact and reinforce each other over time. In this article, the authors argue that the lack of progress in managing messes is in part due to the predominance of…

The AgShare Phase I Program, conducted at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, was formed to create open education resources for teaching and community development through action research. The study was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of investigators from fields of veterinary medicine and agri-business. Two master of science students…

Today, the U.S. Department of Education joins the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, the American Commonwealth Partnership, and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools in a new national call to action to infuse and enhance civic learning and democratic engagement for all students throughout the American…

Universities are structurally constrained from engaging in community development. Traditional concepts of teaching, research, and service make it difficult to focus on the needs of the community as a motivating force in the higher learning process. Historically black public universities, however, may have fewer such constraints than large private…