As educators reconsider higher education's public good mission, community colleges face a monumental task. These colleges still serve a student population that includes many low-income, traditionally underrepresented, first-generation college students with family and job responsibilities that demand their attention. For community colleges, the…

This case involves a small town in the southwestern United States. Background descriptions of the community and school are provided, including historical and demographic information. As the community and school transition from a small ranching town into a bedroom community for the large city nearby, tensions related to race and wealth erupt in a…

Can civic engagement become a "core business" of the contemporary university, or is it an attractive "add-on" that is not affordable in the current economic climate? Contemporary universities often play an important role in local community development and, as such, have the opportunity to develop civic engagement strategies to…

Today, the U.S. Department of Education joins the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, the American Commonwealth Partnership, and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools in a new national call to action to infuse and enhance civic learning and democratic engagement for all students throughout the American…

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…

While universities can play a major role in advancing research-based community development, academic discourses of rigor, quality and ethics often conflict with the participatory and collaborative approaches required by community development principles. While experienced academics often have difficulty negotiating these issues, they present…

Universities are structurally constrained from engaging in community development. Traditional concepts of teaching, research, and service make it difficult to focus on the needs of the community as a motivating force in the higher learning process. Historically black public universities, however, may have fewer such constraints than large private…

Schuykill County, Pennsylvania, has launched a coordinated community development effort with six areas of focus (economic development, education, infrastructure, quality of life, government, and private-sector leadership) and four overall goals: job creation, increased earnings, improved education, and lowered poverty rate. Interlinked projects…

This workbook presents suggestions for people who yearn to build strong, active, involved communities. It discusses how organizers can conceptualize networks and the practices that will help to bring this about. The guide discusses issues that arise in the first stages of community development, beginning with basic questions about understanding…

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…

This report describes principles of community organization that can contribute to sustainable community renewal. Community is composed of social networks which form the community infrastructure. Relationships among people with the same roles are passive; relationships that cross role boundaries are active. Communities that exhibit active…

The Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) is a national program that supports the efforts of community colleges in distressed rural areas to move their people and communities toward prosperity. RCCI's goals are increasing access to education and developing regional economies. RCCI demonstration sites have produced a wealth of information about…

Higher education is being asked to pay more attention to student learning and to contribute to advancement of community social and economic conditions. As a result, educational institutions will no longer be self-contained. Community members and organizations have become critical partners in framing goals and intentions of educational reform, and…

This book is dedicated to helping readers modify environments--classrooms, schools, communities--in ways that move away from resiliency depletion and toward resiliency building. The book is organized with emphasis on the concept of community. Part one, which includes the first two chapters, explores the meaning of resiliency and why it is so…

This paper addresses the nature of educational reform and recommends strategies to better reflect the needs of rural schools and their communities. The furor over education reform is largely produced by those who stand to gain from it, including politicians who promote their own agendas and consultants, professors, and experts who make a good…