Institutions of higher learning are located within the context of neighborhoods. But to what degree do they see themselves as neighbors? What does it mean to be an engaged institutional neighbor? Inspired by this question, I utilize place-based community engagement principles, combined with self-study research methods, to trace the development of…

The University of Sydney has a long-standing record of commitment to social inclusion in tertiary education. The Australian government agenda has brought into sharp focus the importance of universities engaging with rural and remote communities. The University of Sydney provides placement opportunities and pathways to attract more undergraduate…

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…

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…

Vision 2015 is an initiative to improve the area and quality of life for people living within the Northern Kentucky region. A key aspect to Northern Kentucky's future is in reaching by 2015 the Educational Excellence goal of having all children enter kindergarten with the skills necessary to succeed. This paper focuses on the first phase of the…

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…

An engaged metropolitan university can play a critical role in transforming its region by using its resources for the solution of problems and the improvement of the citizens' lives and livelihoods. California State University, Fresno has impacted its region through university-led collaborations and partnerships such as the Fresno Regional Jobs…

Our urban-located land grant institution has long been committed to engaged research, teaching, and service. This paper describes efforts to articulate and implement a strategic urban land grant vision that places urban/metropolitan engagement at the center of our institution's "urban age" future. We describe intentional and broad-based efforts in…

Since the fall of 2006 a number of Towson University students concentrating in the discipline of anthropology have been part of a civic engagement and service-learning project focusing on an historic African-American community in Baltimore. While the focus of the research project concentrates on the processes of gentrification, individual student…

C. Wright Mills would be a friendly critic of service learning, acknowledging its benefits for providing students with experiential learning opportunities to connect personal troubles with social issues. Yet he would be critical of service-learning practices that perpetuate institutional power inequalities and that do not advance the social change…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to the University of Dayton (UD) on November 5-7, 2008, to conduct interviews with individuals who played significant roles in the university's teacher preparation program (see Appendix A). These interviews, along with additional materials provided by UD and identified by the AED…

Prodigy is an example of a program that is successful due to its being a program that is community engaged. Prodigy is a community arts program, crime prevention and diversion program, serving ten thousand people in seven counties. This article discusses the roles, challenges, and successes of the partnerships with the School of Social Work at the…

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 New Orleans' Research and Technology Foundation, which relied heavily on Steven Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" to create an innovative model of ownership, construction, and financing to overcome paralyzing barriers to facility development. The effort has resulted in multiple development…