In this reflective essay, we describe Widener University's 10-year transformation from a disengaged institution to an institution that has a metropolitan-focused mission vested in civic leadership, community engagement, and service-learning. We describe our journey to embed an expansive civic frame that includes concrete practices of pedagogy,…

Respondents to our 2011 survey on the impact of Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) grants administered by HUD between 1994 and 2005 reported deep and lasting impacts on their respective institutions. These grants affected institutional structures, embedded community engagement within institutional cultures and academic curricula, and…

The University Green program of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) is an urban forestry partnership between four universities and their surrounding communities. The program offers excellent strategies for fostering improved college-community relations and stewardship by students and residents alike. University Green aims to improve the…

This article tells a story of practice, a story of theory, and how each informs and transforms the other through a two-way flow of people and knowledge from a city to a campus and back again. By reflecting with fellow participants on the events and outcomes of a sustained city campus partnership, the author introduces a theory of engagement from…

Urban universities are a key resource for municipal government, businesses, community organizations, and citizens to foster partnerships for successful renewal of distressed urban neighborhoods. From its experience over the past decade, the Ohio State University has created a successful model for engagement with its neighborhoods and the City of…

Describes how the University of Pennsylvania embraced the idea that urban institutions have an obligation to help sustain their surrounding communities. Penn's investment of intellectual, financial, and social capital not only created a more vibrant West Philadelphia, but also strengthened town-gown bonds and revived a spirit of activism on…

Asserting that exploration of the role of higher education in community building is not unique to the United States, describes examples of collaborative efforts involving universities and communities working together in the United States, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, and Mexico. (EV)

Describes the University of Illinois at Chicago's Neighborhoods Initiative, a partnership with a community-based development corporation designed to strengthen life in two local neighborhoods. Objectives include university/community agency partnerships, development of community organizational capacity to address future needs, institutional changes…

The University of Dayton's Raymond L. Fitz, S.M. Center for Leadership in Community has a long history that is emblematic of its mission to "initiate and sustain partnerships with urban neighborhoods and larger communities by working at comprehensive community building and providing a context for connected learning and scholarship" (Fitz…

Stone Soup Partnership is a collaboration between California State University at Fresno and its surrounding community to address serious problems in a high-crime, impoverished apartment complex near the university. The program involves students in service learning for university credit, and has expanded from a single summer youth program to a…

An innovative University of Central Florida collaborative project has provided 56 university students with a structured hands-on learning experience. In turn, students have given over 10,000 hours of free assessment and case-management services to the juvenile offender population. The program is described, noting specific considerations and…

Rooted in the business community, the Boise Future Foundation evolved into a trisector initiative: public, private, and volunteer entity. Housed at urban Boise State University (Idaho), the foundation examines critical community issues and informs public policy, debate, and action. The foundation's evolution, highlights, critical accomplishments,…

This paper discusses the development and evolution of the University of Maryland's UniversityCenter in downtown Baltimore since its conception in 1991. UniversityCenter is a geographic location, one of six downtown districts that resulted from Baltimore's latest development plan. It contains not only the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus,…

The University of Louisville (Kentucky) Housing and Neighborhood Development Strategies (HANDS) is a multifaceted program using the university's resources to address the problems of an impoverished urban neighborhood. One component, the Community Design Team, is composed of graduate students and provides technical assistance such as conceptual…

Urban universities are often characterized as economic engines--directly and indirectly serving the needs of the communities within which they are situated. However, the relationship between urban universities and their neighbors is often strained. Reflecting on the University of Illinois at Chicago's Neighborhoods Initiative (UICNI) and its…