The essay briefly outlines the history of community engagement at DePaul University in order to explore how and why universities and colleges are increasingly adopting data collections systems for tracking community engagement. I explore the question of why there is a growing interest in tracking engagement within the academy and suggest that…

In this article, a qualitative case study approach was used to explore the changes that community-campus collaborations stimulate. The authors document the "processes of interaction" (Spaapen & van Drooge, 2011) through which collaborations seek to contribute to positive social change, highlighting the outputs, outcomes, and…

In many parts of the United States it is difficult for families, particularly low- or moderate-income families, to be able to afford a suitable home in a transit rich neighborhood with good schools. Neighborhoods with all three elements are exceedingly rare. As a result, people often have to sacrifice one of three elements to make their lives…

This article discusses the mobilizing work of a disability organization, at the local chapter level. I have spent about a year following the work of a chapter, mainly through contacts, conversations and interviews with the persons who are active on its board. The analysis of the chapter's work takes as its starting point two traditions that…

This study supported the emergence of a transformative learning and planning community among marginalized informal settlers in Manila, Philippines. The research was rooted in transformative learning theory while drawing from systems theory, planning, and development participation. We adapted the Search Conference (SC) to examine the process of…

In this reflective essay, we describe Widener University's 10-year transformation from a disengaged institution to an institution that has a metropolitan-focused mission vested in civic leadership, community engagement, and service-learning. We describe our journey to embed an expansive civic frame that includes concrete practices of pedagogy,…

Higher education has proved to be a significant medium for the socio- economic, political, and technological development of any nation. It is absolutely necessary for equipping individuals with new knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Globally higher education, especially university education is faced with a lot of challenges and difficulties…

Service-learning has the potential to create mutually beneficial relationships between schools and communities, but little research explores service-learning from the community's perspective. The purpose of this study was to (a) understand how community-based organizations (CBOs) benefited from partnering with students and (b) examine whether…

Outreach and engagement initiatives are crucial in promoting community development. This can be achieved through a number of methods, including institutions of higher education. "Changing Urban Landscapes through Public Higher Education" is a critical scholarly resource that examines the unique ways in which the faculty and students of…

This autoethnographic essay represents the authors' critical reflection on their experiences partnering with Liz Lerman and Dance Exchange (a dance company) artists on a collaborative evaluation of "The Matter of Origins", a contemporary art and science dance performance. They describe meaningful moments in their collaboration and reexamine those…

Social mobilization is a proactive measure for community development that salvages the society from destruction and disaster. From sociological perspective, this paper discusses the concept of social mobilization and its implications for cross-cultural research. To do this, the study uses the "Bring Back Our Girls" Global Campaign, as…

Building communities through creative community garden projects is increasingly common and seems to create beneficial effects for participants. This study recognizes the need to understand the impact of gardens on low socioeconomic neighborhoods. By conducting a needs assessment study and establishing a community garden, we were able to study its…

This paper advances the theoretical and applied connection between education policy and community development. We call this community-aware education policy, and it is based on Dean's (2012) conception of human need that is thick (i.e., accounts for a relational context), rather than relying solely on a thin conception (i.e., instrumental view…

The following article examines the issues of open, distance and technology-based informal learning and non-formal education for individual and community development. It argues that these two modes of education, which are estimated to constitute 70-90% of lifelong learning, are insufficiently represented in the literature of open and distance…

This article explores how on-the-ground Extension educators interface with higher education service-learning. Most service-learning in Extension has focused on precollege youth and 4-H. When we look at higher education service-learning and Extension in Wisconsin, we see that there is not as much connection as might be expected. County-based…