With the digital age in full swing, helping rural communities transition to, plan for, and prosper in digitally minded ways is critical. This article describes an innovative outreach process that relies on asset-based community development and the intelligent community concept. More importantly, the process relies heavily on Extension personnel…

A partnership between Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency blends effective community outreach with rigorous research. Community outreach of the partners ranges from home buyer education to foreclosure prevention in Ohio. Research projects of the partnership target program design, pilot testing, and evaluation. The…

This paper focuses on how the University of Michigan-Flint's Innovation Incubator supports emerging for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations through programming, business plan development, and ongoing mentorship. The Incubator is especially interested in supporting start-ups that address key social issues in the surrounding community,…

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…

All corners of the media are scrutinising David Cameron's "Big Society", from every conceivable angle. While the concept has caught the public's imagination, the greater challenge of fleshing out what the Big Society will actually offer and require of communities is unfinished business. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations…

Community is important to many institutions of higher learning, but it is very difficult to imagine Berea College disconnected from its primary community--the Appalachian region. Since its mid-nineteenth-century beginning as a radical experiment in interracial education and coeducation centered in community, the college has been dedicated to…

This article uses story as a process to highlight the work in a South Texas community that focuses on the education of youth and the development of community. The work is guided by a new consciousness of place, community engagement, and identity formation. The work is local, but breaking the isolation of youth, families, and ideas has been part of…

The Coeur d'Alene Reservation spans 345,000 acres of mountains and farmland in northern Idaho. Most people on the reservation live in the communities of Worley, Plummer, Tensed, and Desmet. Roughly 50 miles south of Plummer is the University of Idaho's main campus in Moscow. The university is Idaho's land-grant institution, with a statewide…

During her presidency (1988-2001), Claire Gaudiani reconnected Connecticut College with New London, the college's home city, whose citizens through grassroots fund raising and donations of land established the college in 1911. Through an emphasis on service-learning, community outreach, and an education not for oneself as well as economic…

This article documents the contribution of local elementary teachers and examines the teachers' role as a conduit between an urban school and its community. Based on participant observation and interviews with local teachers and parents, the research considers the teachers' bridging position as professional practitioners and community constituents…

This article reports that a Virginia Tech professor whose wife was among 32 people killed by a student gunman last year will become director of the university's new Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. Jerzy Nowak will give up his job as chairman of Tech's horticulture department to take the new post on July 1. His wife, Jocelyne…

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…

In March 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that the situation in the Chinese countryside is desperate and claimed new resources would be devoted to healthcare and education. This announcement should have pleased architects of the Chinese "learning initiative" who are building learning cities and villages. The authors describe why…

This report highlights the contributions of universities and colleges to local community revitalization efforts, focusing on the efforts of Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC), which provide seed money to institutions of higher learning to encourage and help them reach out to distressed local communities. The COPC program provides 3-year…

Describes and explains the process adopted by one community group in its attempt to conceptualize, design, and implement training programs for the preparation and development of community workers. (CT)