The University of St. Francis's College of Business and Health Administration operates a campus business incubator for student and community entrepreneurs. The business incubator is an innovative use of space that supports the economic development of the region and entrepreneurial education that includes for-credit and non-credit programming.…

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…

Written in the first person and drawing from an autoethnographic methodological framework, this essay shares aspirations, experiences, and reflections on a faculty member's professional work in a large U.S. public research-oriented university, focusing specifically on her attempts to reconcile her service-oriented civic engagement work with her…

Geology is increasingly involved in the planning and implementation of community development projects throughout the globe. A partnership among the Water For Life organization, Wheaton College in Illinois, and the village of Tushile in Kosovo during the past few years has proven to be successful in potentially sustainable improvements, including…

Distressed urban neighborhoods face challenges on multiple fronts, but most efforts to confront these problems work in isolation of one another. The New Communities Program (NCP) is an exception, helping selected Chicago neighborhoods develop partnerships to address challenges involving employment, education, housing, and safety in a…

Community development through the arts is a process of creating bridges between people. The education and training for student-teaching-artists confronts them with real-world challenges and the need for sensitivity as they move in and out of many different communities. In this article, the author, an interdisciplinary artist, describes an…

This dissertation examines the phenomenon of how communities can effect change in policy and practice to support greater ecological and cultural sustainability. The general purpose of this research is to examine selected local initiatives for ecological and cultural sustainability to better understand the role of adult education in those efforts.…

In the past decade, economic development experts have moved away from traditional approaches to economic development that have relied upon recruiting or attracting large businesses with offers of tax breaks, financial incentives, and other subsidies. Increasingly, communities are focusing their economic development resources on supporting the…

A community school is a place and a set of partnerships connecting a school, the families of students, and the surrounding community. A community school is distinguished by an integrated focus on academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. The community school strategy is central to efforts…

Background/Context: Parent involvement in education is widely recognized as important, yet it remains weak in many communities. One important reason for this weakness is that urban schools have grown increasingly isolated from the families and communities they serve. Many of the same neighborhoods with families who are disconnected from public…

This publication reviews 56 bills introduced in the 95th General Assembly that, if signed into law by the Governor, would have the most direct positive and negative impacts on communities of color. The "2007-2008 Illinois Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity" evaluates the Governor and legislators on their responses to these…

This paper examines a burgeoning network of organizations that is inventing new forms of community renewal and citizenship education. Their names vary--some call themselves public policy institutes, others centers for civic life--yet they share a common methodology, one aimed at tackling tough public issues, strengthening communities, and…

Raymond J. Young (1923-2007) played a key role in the post-World War II development of community colleges in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and elsewhere. This article describes his scholarly and professional contributions in developing "bottom-up," grassroots citizen's participatory studies that led to the establishment of 60 community…

The article discusses three instruments used in evaluating the "Training for Consultants in the Development of a Community Resources Program." Sponsors of the project were the University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University, Illinois State University, Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, and Western Illinois…

"Linking Workforce Development to Economic Development: A Casebook for Community Colleges" is a compilation of best practice examples, which illustrate what it takes for community colleges to achieve their goal of helping people acquire education and skills, helping employers, supporting communities, and building the nation. The book is…