Universities are being asked to prepare our students to navigate successfully in a complex and interconnected world and to contribute to the solution of difficult problems at work and in the communities where they live. Our universities must do the same. We must adapt our approaches to education, scholarship and community involvement in order to…

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…

Argues that without the usual advantages of donor loyalty and institutional prestige, urban universities can make a case for support based on their regional and statewide impact and on the quality, cost effectiveness, and value of academic programs and research. Discusses why people give to urban universities; describes how Portland State…

Development of community outreach partnership centers (COPCs) requires adaptations in the university environment. Institutions must reexamine and reinterpret the roles and responsibilities of faculty, design of the undergraduate curriculum, structures of the university that create the capacity to support and sustain different working relationships…

Efforts at Portland State University (PSU) in Oregon illustrate how an institution can clarify its own purposes, evaluate how the environment supports its academic mission, and effectively institute changes that will bring faculty activities and institutional purposes into a more harmonious alignment. In 1990 PSU began a strategic planning process…