Universities often serve as anchor institutions in the communities in which they exist. This role has come under increased scrutiny as higher education institutions seek to efficiently and effectively fulfill their core purposes while also increasing commitments to other values like social responsibility and community responsiveness.…

In the United States, people often feel like they need to choose between pursuing a conventional four-year college degree or working, leaving millions of people with no opportunity to achieve the professional and economic advancement that comes with a bachelor's degree. What if this is a false choice? Apprenticeship Degrees offer a hybrid option…

After decades of consistent growth, California transitional kindergarten (TK) through grade 12 public school enrollment has been declining and is expected to continue to do so for at least the next two decades. This report provides guidance on how districts in California and elsewhere can respond to declining enrollment in ways that strengthen…

Purpose: This paper aims to identify ways by which the core functions of human resource development HRD can be used to enhance the university-community partnership (UCP) in lieu of the "town and gown" era. Furthermore, the paper addresses the need to extend HRD activities beyond the organization and leverage HRD to spearhead the…

Higher education resources are increasingly limited due to declining budget revenue and other challenges. Thus, it is vital for Cooperative Extension to synergize efforts of disseminating education to the public. Promoting public scholarship in and beyond Extension is a promising initiative that can foster collaborations by leveraging existing…

Policy makers have long seen parents and families as key levers for improving U.S. student outcomes and success, and new cross-sector collaborative policy and initiatives provide a promising context for innovations in efforts to engage nondominant families in educational equity reform. Drawing on a lens of equitable collaboration, this study…

As campuses seek to advance community engagement, and embrace their role as anchor institutions within their community, questions emerge regarding how this role connects to and informs priorities within larger institutional mission and goals. Welch & Saltmarsh (2013) have noted that, historically, infrastructure--a center or office that…

Educators use school gardens to incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math programming into their curricula. Extension agents are called on to assist with planning and long-term support of these gardens, often working with educators who have no horticultural experience. University of Georgia Extension's school garden team created a…

Effective principal pipelines can lead to benefits for student outcomes, according to a groundbreaking 2019 study. But could these pipelines be designed to advance a district's vision of equity as well? If so, what would that design look like? That's the question tackled in this think piece by a team of six education scholars. They consider how…

The second of three "bright spot" briefs examines how states are leveraging ARP funds to improve SEL for all students through collaboration among schools, families, and communities. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) provided a $122 billion historic federal investment in K-12 education to help states and districts safely reopen…

Purpose: Social participation of university refers to the creation of knowledge and participatory processes with local communities in solving community problems in order to achieve sustainable development. Identifying the university's social participation strategies was the main purpose of the present study. Design/methodology/approach: In order…

This article examines how university-community outreach was an enabler for integral human development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative information about the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Community Outreach Program (COP) is described and analyzed. In particular, the Kabagis Aeta Projects succeeded in its initial…

On November 14th, 2022, a group of Black community leaders from the Saint Louis, Missouri, area met to discuss their experiences with the serious issues surrounding urban schools in their communities. Although this discussion is specific to a particular time and place, the concerns expressed, and solutions, offered are transferrable to many other…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand student experiences of authentically assessed community partnership projects and reflect on authentic assessment from a social and environmental sustainability perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The authors present an elaborated case study including graduate-level courses at a university…

In the summer of 2020, our team created virtual community-engaged learning (VCEL) modules in response to the need to move classes to online and hybrid delivery styles during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. These modules addressed engaged learning concepts and were designed with faculty, students, and community partner organizations in mind.…