Asserting that exploration of the role of higher education in community building is not unique to the United States, describes examples of collaborative efforts involving universities and communities working together in the United States, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, and Mexico. (EV)

When metropolitan universities refer to serving the entire metropolitan area, they often refer to rural fringes as well as concentrated urban populations. Working with rural communities requires somewhat different approaches to planning programs and understanding needs. Survey research helps the campus understand the perceptions and realities of…

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…

Stone Soup Partnership is a collaboration between California State University at Fresno and its surrounding community to address serious problems in a high-crime, impoverished apartment complex near the university. The program involves students in service learning for university credit, and has expanded from a single summer youth program to a…

An innovative University of Central Florida collaborative project has provided 56 university students with a structured hands-on learning experience. In turn, students have given over 10,000 hours of free assessment and case-management services to the juvenile offender population. The program is described, noting specific considerations and…

Rooted in the business community, the Boise Future Foundation evolved into a trisector initiative: public, private, and volunteer entity. Housed at urban Boise State University (Idaho), the foundation examines critical community issues and informs public policy, debate, and action. The foundation's evolution, highlights, critical accomplishments,…

Creating genuine partnerships between urban universities and their communities is self-interest for the academic institution because their survival is in danger. Commitment to access is only one dimension of collaboration; it must be enhanced by full participation of the university, as corporate citizens, in community development. Partnerships are…

The University of Louisville (Kentucky) Housing and Neighborhood Development Strategies (HANDS) is a multifaceted program using the university's resources to address the problems of an impoverished urban neighborhood. One component, the Community Design Team, is composed of graduate students and provides technical assistance such as conceptual…

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…

A University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign program involving faculty and students in participatory action research to improve community-based organizations in East St. Louis (Illinois) is described. The project's origins, management, community development strategy, and accomplishments are documented, and some of the institutional, environmental,…