Promoting Civic Health Through University Community Partnerships

“In their comparative analysis of several universities from different parts of the world, the authors make a case for the critical roles that higher education institutions can play in building the civic framework in a society.”—Kyle Farmbry, Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University-Newark, United States “By defining community, discussing how universities are often contested spaces, and covering how universities and students engage their communities, the authors make the case for the future university as one that facilitates civic health.”—William Hatcher, Associate Professor, Augusta University, United States; Co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Public Affairs Education “With a rich variety of historic notions, views, projects, examples and policies, the book inspires to re-think current positioning of students, staff and academic institutions in society.”—Goos Minderman, Professor (Extraordinary), University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa This book adds to a robust dialogue about the role of higher education in society by examining the promotion of civic health through university-community partnerships and the role of intellectual leaders, scientists, philosophers, university administrators and students in shaping whole or parts of the world. Our global society faces significant social and environmental challenges. Professors and whole universities have an obligation to help address these issues; how they do so is subject to social, cultural, and institutional context. With lessons from Americans, British, Estonians, Lithuanians, Russians, South Africans and beyond, the authors describe the state of the practice and provide frameworks through which universities and people working within or in partnership with can affect change in communities and civic lives.

Examine how your university can help solve the complex problems of your community Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) sponsored by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have identified civic engagement and community partnership as critical themes for higher education. This unique book addresses past, present, and future models of university-community partnerships, COPC programs, wide-ranging social work partnerships that involve teaching, research, and social change, and innovative methods in the processes of civic engagement. The text recognizes the many professions, schools, and higher education institutions that contribute to advancing civic engagement through university-community partnerships. One important contribution this book makes to the literature of civic engagement is that it is the first publication that significantly highlights partnership contributions from schools of social work, which are rediscovering their community roots through these initiatives. University-Community Partnerships: Universities in Civic Engagement documents how universities are involved in creative individual, faculty, and program partnerships that help link campus and community-partnerships that are vital for teaching, research, and practice. Academics and practitioners discuss outreach initiatives, methods of engagement (with an emphasis on community organization), service learning and other teaching/learning methods, research models, participatory research, and “high-engagement” techniques used in university-community partnerships. The book includes case studies, historical studies, policy analysis, program evaluation, and curriculum development. University-Community Partnerships: Universities in Civic Engagement examines: the increasing civic engagement of institutions of higher education civic engagement projects involving urban nonprofit community-based organizations and neighborhood associations the developmental stages of a COPC partnership problems faced in evaluating COPC programs civic engagement based on teaching and learning how pre-tenure faculty can meet research, teaching, and service requirements through university-community partnerships developing an MSW program structured around a single concentration of community partnership how class, race, and organizational differences are barriers to equality in the civic engagement process University-Community Partnerships: Universities in Civic Engagement is one of the few available academic resources to address the importance of social work involvement in COPC programs. Social work educators, students, and practitioners, community organizers, urban planners, and anyone working in community development will find it invaluable in proving guidance for community problem solving, and creating opportunities for faculty, students, and community residents to learn from one another.

Community engaged universities prepare students to participate in societies in ways that are inclusive. This book presents a coherent argument for higher education institutions not only to encourage students to engage in their communities, but also to develop themselves as community engaged institutions. Analyzing the design and implementation of community engaged teaching and learning practices, author Thomas Bryer explores training in democratic practices and envisions a future in which higher education institutions are better prepared to cope with democratic backsliding. Teaching and professional development cases are woven throughout—developed, adapted, and enhanced by the author over a period of years—and grounded in the great debates happening today. Integrating Community Engagement in Public Affairs Education is a culmination of multiple years of experimentation with different approaches to teaching future and practicing public sector leaders the tools of democratic engagement. The text is grounded in a case‐based design that spans undergraduate, Master’s, and Ph.D. students, as well as local government managers, offering concrete examples of teaching and learning strategies that promote public value and measurable social impact. The book closes with practical strategies for publicly engaged scholars to effectively educate the next generation of students about democratic engagement within divided communities. It will be required reading for public administration faculty, as well as practicing public administrators and those who provide training to them.

Providing a comprehensive overview of volunteer involvement in UK universities, this book addresses a distinct and substantive policy and management issue. Offering examples of volunteer involvement with students, staff, alumni and communities from 148 UK Higher Education Institutions, it provides important background to understanding volunteer involvement. It also introduces key concepts for critically assessing ways in which those who seek to involve volunteers can respond to rapidly changing environments. Drawing on a combination of theoretical perspectives and practical experiences the book systematically explores approaches based on the current structures of volunteer involvement in UK universities, which provides accessible insights for Higher Education Institutions into how they can effectively organise volunteer involvement and maximise its societal impact. Developing 10 indicators with measures to evidence universities strategic approaches and achievements in community-university relations, the book offers practical ways to plan, enable, monitor, and assess the impact of volunteer involvement in universities. Jurgen Grotz is a Senior Research Fellow, and the Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research at the University of East Anglia, UK.

The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools (2011) lamented the “lack of high-quality civic education in America’s schools [that] leaves millions of citizens without the wherewithal to make sense of our system of government” (p. 4). Preus et al. (2016) cited literature to support their observation of “a decline in high-quality civic education and a low rate of civic engagement of young people” (p. 67). Shapiro and Brown (2018) asserted that “civic knowledge and public engagement is at an all-time low” (p. 1). Writing as a college senior, Flaherty (2020) urged educators to “bravely interpret ... national, local, and even school-level incidents as chances for enhanced civic education and to discuss them with students in both formal and casual settings” (p. 6). In this eighth volume in the Current Perspectives on School/University/Community Research series, we feature the work of brave educators who are engaged in schooluniversity-community collaborative educational endeavors. Authors focus on a wide range of projects oriented to civic education writ large—some that have been completed and some that are still in progress—but all authors evince the passion for civic education that underpins engagement in the democratic project.

This book provides empirical evidence on how universities have considered social responsibilities as their prime focus, and engaged with civil society to enhance their values. Case studies from Indonesia to the United Kingdom enrich the book through experience, interventions and narratives.

This insightful Handbook presents readers with a comprehensive range of original research within the field of collaborative public management (CPM), a central area of study and practice in public administration. It explores the most important questions facing collaboration, providing insights into future research directions and new areas of study.

Health Promotion in Canada is a comprehensive profile of the history, current status, and future of health promotion in Canada. This fourth edition maintains the critical approach of the previous three editions but provides a current and in-depth analysis of theory, practice, policy, and research in Canada in relation to recent innovative approaches in health promotion. Thoroughly updated with 15 new chapters and all-new learning objectives, the edited collection contains contributions by prominent Canadian academics, researchers, and practitioners as well as an afterword by Ronald Labonté. The authors cover a broad range of topics including inequities in health, Indigenous communities and immigrants, mental health, violence against women, global ecological change, and globalization. The book also provides critical reflections on practice and concrete Canadian examples that bring theory to life.