Abstracts - 20.1 Building Bridges to Regional Stewardship
Minority Perspectives on Enhancing Engagement and Belonging in a Liberal Arts Environment
Michelle Dunlap, Penney Jade Beaubrun, and Christina Burrell
Three women of color - a professor and two students - describe the role that community engagement has played in helping them gain a sense of belonging in a predominately white, liberal arts college environment. They discuss how engagement with one another within these three domains assists in their adjustment and retention, as well as how their engagement contributes to the community.
Situated University, Situated Writing
Ann M. Feldman
This article argues that teaching as a situated, civic activity must be a core intellectual activity in the engaged metropolitan university. Situated writing provides the key pedagogy for the Chicago Civic Leadership Certificate Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, an engaged public research university. The role of writing, or discourse, is emphasized as a link between engaged faculty research and student civic engagement.
The Metropolitan University as a Principal Ally and Agent of Change for Economic Development
John C. Stockwell and Darrell Parker
The University of South Carolina Upstate requested permission of the USC Board of Trustees in September 2007 to undertake planning to locate its business school in downtown Spartanburg. Since that request millions of dollars in private donations have been raised, including the naming of the business school as the George Dean Johnson Jr. College of Business and Economics (JCBE). Construction began in November 2008 and will be complete in the summer of 2010.
Partnering with State Government to Transform a Region
John D. Welty and Michael Lukens
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 Initiative and California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. This article will examine the university's role as a regional change agent through its initiatives.
Advancing an Urban Agenda: Principles and Experiences of an Urban Land Grant University
Geoffrey Maruyama, Robert J. Jones, and John R. Finnegan, Jr.
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 human development, vital communities, and health areas that engage faculty and community partners in collaborative endeavors to resolve complex challenges that confront our urban core.
Civic Engagement and Gentrification Issues in Metropolitan Baltimore
Matthew Durington, Camee Maddox, Adrienne Ruhf, Shana Gass, Justin Schwermer
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 outputs center on a variety of topics that detail the history of the community and the contemporary efforts of residents toward urban sustainability.
Collaborating with Community Partners to Create New Directions for Young Children
Jaesook Gilbert, Kimberly Miller, and Helene Harte
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 steering committee's journey in development and dissemination of a kindergarten-readiness definition for the region.
New Models of Cross-Disciplinary Collaborative Education
Billie Jo Zirger and Mary Beth Privitera
This paper presents three models of cross-disciplinary collaboration. The authors argue this mode of education coupled with traditional college-based courses better prepares students for the demands of an increasingly complex and ambiguous work place. The paper details the benefits of this educational approach and suggests ways schools can integrate these pedagogies within their programs. Finally, the authors identify efficiencies that can be attained through a more systematic approach to structuring these programs.
