There is a long history of efforts to embed community engagement deeply in universities so that it becomes a fundamental part of their mission.  Although universities are slow to achieve change at a deep level, four universities in a project funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Engaged Institutions program, have engaged their surrounding communities in a much more organic fashion.  These initiatives, which were evaluated by PolicyLink over a four year period beginning in 2009, were designed and financed  by Kellogg  to improve family lives in these neighborhoods, develop models for other colleges and universities to follow, and help groom new leadership.

The four universities -- the University of Texas at El Paso; University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus, and Penn State University-- have changed their curricula and  budgets to deepen their institutional engagement with the community.

The Engaged Institutions project includes a number of different child development initiatives:

• mentoring young people about career opportunities;
  
• expanding the support systems of low-income students of color to increase success rates in college applications;
  
• teaching low-income parents how to most effectively read to their preschool children in order to build a foundation for academic success;
  
• conducting applied research on critical housing and community safety issues; and
  
• providing training to leaders of nonprofit organizations.
  

Leadership and Civic Engagement and Economic Inclusion

Initiatives such as the Center for Civic Engagement at UTEP and the Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community at UC Santa Cruz, are primary resources for grassroots and community organizing.  Others, such as the Konopka Institute at Minnesota and the FOCUS program at Penn State, were among the state’s leading providers of evidence-based testimony, trainings and publications for the reform of youth policies.   The centers supported community-based research, and significant resident-led social change developed in and with a number of school districts and communities, using a variety of methods.

Go to Engaged Institutions site for more information.