Report on Theme III, Issue No. 3: Community Outreach
and Partnerships
Some questions that are uppermost regarding the issue of
"engaging with the external community and the region"
are: (1) How can the university identify and provide needed
services to the external community which go beyond normal
academic services? (2) How can CSUSB best use its resources
to improve the quality of life in the wider community? (3)
How successful has the university been in community outreach
initiatives, such as those sponsored by the Community University
Partnership (CUP) office?
The importance for the university on the subject of these
issues cannot be overemphasized. In the university's strategic
plan, only three goals are identified. The third of these--"Adopt
a long-term strategy for university engagement in community
partnerships--is the subject matter of this report. The strategies
for meeting this goal, as identified in this university-wide
statement of purpose, are (1) the elimination of barriers
between the campus and the community, (2) building community/university
partnerships in assessing regional needs, (3) improvement
of college attendance rates in the region, and (4) the development
of increased service-learning, among others. The concept of
service-learning is integral to the mission of the Community
University Partnership Institute, in which all participants
(university students/faculty/staff as well as community members)
are both teachers and learners. (http://partnerships.csusb.edu/)
Teaching and learning in these relationships are definitely
not top-down. In service-learning arrangements, the relationship
between the university and community groups must be exceedingly
collaborative. Given its university grounding, service-learning
must always reflect upon the quality, value and accomplishments
of community/university relationships undertaken under its
aegis. It is therefore always self-critical and reflective.
On the CSUSB campus, several Colleges initiated community/university
partnerships long before the establishment of a university-wide
office devoted to that end. As a result, today there are numerous
instances of community/university collaborative engagements
directly administered out of the Colleges of Education, Extended
Learning, Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences,
and Arts and Letters. A thorough listing of these in the College
of Education, together with each project's name, principal
contact, a brief description of each engagement, and community
organizations involved-may be found in College of Education's
"COE Partnerships 2003."
Typically, partnerships in the College of Education are devoted
to local school districts and/or state and federal agencies
devoted to educational matters. These involvements are designed
to support the mission of local schools and the university
priority of improving college attendance rates in the region.
One of COE's longest and deepest community/university partnerships
has been with Hillside School, which is located relatively
close to the CSUSB campus. COE has adopted Hillside as a demonstration
school, a relationship that both enriches the education occurring
at the school and provides multiple opportunities for service-learning
for CSUSB's students. Another COE community/university collaboration
is a project designated "Preparing Paraprofessionals
for the Teaching Profession," which will increase the
number of bilingual teachers in San Bernardino and Riverside
Counties by identifying and working with persons in the community
who show the potential to become certified. This project is
funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Bilingual
Education and Minority Affairs.
Over the last 17 years, the annual Environmental EXPO has
grown from a small initiative to become one of the university's
largest outreach events that deals with environmental issues
and draws over 6,000 community participants to the campus
annually. The EXPO (http://expo.csusb.edu)
enables the University to go beyond the classroom and engage
the community. Under the leadership of Dr. Darleen K. Stoner,
the EXPO has provided an educational and entertaining social
approach to help young people to acquire environmental knowledge.
The EXPO also is sponsored by many community partners who
realize that a healthy environment and an environmentally
literate population go hand-in-hand. (http://nest.csusb.edu/)
The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, like the other
colleges, has been active in a wide range of partnerships
and activities. (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/CSBSFOCUSSUMWRD.htm)
Here is a snap shot of their partnerships:
Center For Study of Hate and Extremism. Faculty member are
deeply involved with Riverside and San Bernardino community
groups against hate and extremism. The Center is a nonpartisan
domestic research and policy center that serves the region
and nation by examining the ways that bigotry, advocacy of
extreme methods, or the use of terrorism deny civil or human
rights to people on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion,
gender, sexual orientation, disability or other relevant status
characteristic. The center seeks to aid scholars, community
activists, government officials, law enforcement, the media
and others with objective information to aid them in their
examination and implementation of law and policy. (http://hatemonitor.csusb.edu/)
Institute for Criminal Justice Research. Faculty members
serve as advisors to local Criminal Justice agencies, prepare
research proposals for agencies and conduct contract research
for agencies. (http://criminaljustice.csusb.edu/researchcenters.htm)
Social Work-Public Child Welfare Training Academy. The academy
provides training programs jointly with San Bernardino County
Historical Museum.
Psychology collaboration with Loma Linda University: CSUSB
faculty teach and participate on doctoral committees in graduate
programs and serve as self-study committees for accreditation
of Clinical programs.
California Council of Economics Education: Economics faculty
work with local schools to design and implement programs for
teaching teachers how to teach economics in the classroom.
(http://www.cacee.org/)
Geographic Information Systems partnership with San Bernardino
city: CSUSB faculty members Provide expertise and works collaboratively
in problem solving city data needs.
Inland Area History Social Science Project: In collaboration
with College of Education and school teachers and principals,
faculty members provide workshops on various aspects of updating
teachers, developing new teaching techniques.
Criminal Justice and San Bernardino County Sheriff is a collaboration
with Training Academy for matriculation into degree programs.
The partnership is also co-sponsored by the Indian Youth Academy.
CSUSB and USDA have made a public commitment to each other,
to the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and to the residents
of the Southwest Border Regions. For more information about
this regional initiative, please click on (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/virtualvill.htm)
Since 1994, The College of Natural Sciences has been involved
in "Focus 92411." This project focuses on improving
the quality of life and health for all residents in the 92411
Zip Code. It has major funding from the Community Hospital
Foundation and California Healthy Cities and Communities.
The university is very active in the community; for example,
the Cross-Cultural Center, Title V grant partnership, the
Water Resources Institutes, and the Community-University Partnerships
(CUP) are all thriving and reaching out to the surrounding
communities in their unique ways. Under the leadership of
John Futch, the Cross Cultural Center has formed strong partnerships.
Since 1998, the center has sponsored the California Indian
Cultural Awareness Conference, which takes place each September.
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is a key partner in the
conference, which runs for three days and invites secondary
teachers and students to learn about the California Indians.
Over 20,000 students, educators, and community members have
participated. Each year the Cross Cultural Center also sponsors
the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians' POW WOW or gathering.
The last gathering had over 10,000 community members and participants.
This involvement with the external community is a good example
of how partnerships can be nurtured and sustained. Our ongoing
relationship with the San Manual Tribe has now resulted in
the recent gift of $3,000,000 for major expansion of the Student
Union's Cross-cultural Center and an endowment for scholarships
and on-going activities and operations of the center.
In 2002 CSUSB was awarded a Cooperative Arrangement Title
V Grant. The five community colleges and state universities
in this Cooperative Arrangement are CSU, San Bernardino; CSU,
Los Angeles; California Polytechnic State University, Pomona;
Mt. San Antonio College; and Oxnard College. The five institutions
first came together, as members of a national, 35-college
consortium called Advanced Networking for Minority Serving
Institutions (AN-MSI) that meets to strategize on how Information
Systems (computers, networks, staff) can best support the
academic programs, institutional management and fiscal stability
of minority-serving institutions and their students. Through
analysis of their own institutional strengths and weaknesses
they all discovered a common set of problems that are seriously
threatening their ability to provide their constituencies,
including students, with secure and reliable technology resources.
Providing secure and reliable technology resources is of utmost
importance to these institutions as they, through their individual
Title V grants and other means, are trying to improve student
outcomes through effective use of technology, reach under-served
populations through distance education, and use technology-based
management information systems for more effective planning,
decision-making and institutional management. (http://www.infosec.csusb.edu/TitleV/)
The Water Resources Institute (http://wri.csusb.edu/)
at Cal State, San Bernardino, was created in part to expand
the borders of the university into the community and to enhance
partnerships with the community. For instance, last year the
WRI gave out its second annual Lifetime Achievement Award
at a banquet which had approximately 120 attendees. The event
raised $60,000 in scholarship funds for CSUSB water resources
students. The WRI has held other successful events. In Fall
2002, the WRI co-sponsored, with the Career Development Center,
a government job fair. The WRI also co-sponsored a quarterly
water issues breakfast with a local water agency, and every
three months, it hosts a breakfast with 50 to 60 community
members. In 2002, the WRI sponsored a field trip to the Salton
Sea and took 45 people on a daylong trip. The WRI is in several
consortia: the Urban Water Conservation Council, the Association
of San Bernardino County Special District, the Southern California
Dialog, and the San Ana River Watershed Group. These consortia
all have different objectives and concerns, which have regional
and statewide implications. Membership in these organizations
has enabled CSUSB to become better known, regionally, countywide,
and statewide. In the near future, the WRI will have a 30-minute
monthly TV Program on the ICTN, which will enable it to focus
on water and environment issues. (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/WRIOutreach.htm)
Many other community/university partnerships have been developed
and are managed out of the university's CUP office, directed
by Dr. Richard Eberst. CUP has a website that indicates specific
"partnership criteria" which helps inform both on-and-off-campus
inquirers exactly what is expected in a CUP collaborative
arrangement. CUPs has developed a strategic plan for its activities
based on interaction with community organizations and leaders.
(http://partnerships.csusb.edu/info_strategic_plan.htm)
In addition, CUP established an executive committee (http://partnerships.csusb.edu/executive_committee.htm)
and a broad-based advisory board (http://partnerships.csusb.edu/info_advisory.html).
Service-Learning, designed to integrate university courses
with these partnerships, is also housed in this office. For
more information on CUP and Service-Learning, please click
on: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/ServLearn.htm.
Projects and partnerships run under the CUP aegis involve
the all of the Colleges, and a significant number involve
campus members outside academic affairs. See list of partnerships:
(http://partnerships.csusb.edu/direct_partnerships.htm)
Annual reports on CUP activities can be seen at: (http://partnerships.csusb.edu/annual_reports.htm)
and its bylaws at: (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/cupbylaws.htm)
We have begun now to track the development and progress of
the clusters of partnerships identified as needing sustained
focus. Brief summaries of recent CUP partnerships are outlined
in the five "WASC Theme III Community Partnership Grids"
attached to this document. These grids outline the performance
indicators, project descriptions, project outcomes, and recommendations
for each of the CUP five focus areas:
Cultural/artistic Enrichment
(http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/gridcacol.pdf)
Economic Transformation
(http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/grideconcolwrd502.doc)
Educational Quality
(http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/grideducolwrd502.doc)
Family/Community Enrichment
(http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/gridfamilycolwrd502.doc)
Health Enhancement
(http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/gridhealthcolwrd502.doc)
Some community issues and topics are treated by more than
one of the focus areas. For example, one partnership concerns
the health status of African American residents of San Bernardino
County. Another seeks to assist in providing technical assistance
to emerging businesses and to assist in the business start-up
process, and a third, called "Arts on Fifth" attempts
to bring the performing arts to inner city youth. (See Issue
1 of Theme III for additional information on this topic.)
Since its inception in the spring of 1999, CUP itself has
funded over 77 CSUSB faculty and employees with CUP Fellowships. http://partnerships.csusb.edu/fell.html These fellowships have been conducted with over 160 community
partners. CUP has generated significant "scholarship"
activities as a result of these scholarships. CUP has also
organized an annual Community-University Partnership Symposium
each year for the last four years, (1998-2003). This year's
Symposium will focus on "Producing Affordable Housing
and Reducing Homelessness: Dialogue for Vital Communities,"
which is co-sponsored with the League of Women Voters and
the Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. We have at least twenty
six major partnerships. (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/cuppartdir.htm)
The Symposium is partly supported by a grant from the California
Endowment. CUP also has offered yearly training sessions for
CSUSB faculty and staff focused on assisting the development
of partnerships and increasing service-learning opportunities.
Additionally, CUP provides extensive consultant efforts in
matching campus members with potential community partners
and vice versa. CUP itself has also generated over 25 professional
papers and presentations at national meetings regarding partnership
efforts. CUP also was successful in institutionalizing community
partnerships and service-learning as major components of all
academic activities at the new CSUSB Palm Desert Campus.
As both WASC and service-learning requires reflection upon
these involvements, problems and concerns will now be addressed.
One area of concern regards the administration of partnership
efforts across campus. Some campus personnel involved in these
engagements recognize the virtue of having all such involvements
under one office devoted specifically to this purpose. Others,
primarily in the College of Education, are reluctant to add
another layer of bureaucracy to their already extensive on-going
community/university engagements.
Another area of concern regards assessment and evaluation
of partnership activities. In some involvements, project outcomes
can be quantified. For example, in the aforementioned example
involving technical assistance to emerging businesses, it
can be documented that 25 individuals from five different
cities were helped, resulting in 18 successful start-ups generating
$1.5 million in additional jobs to the region. In other engagements,
assessment is more difficult. For example, CUP helped sponsor
an on-campus international conference devoted to Sufi (Muslim)
spirituality designed to address regional cultural/artistic
literacy issues. It is improbable that the cultural impact
of such a conference might ever be measured in a scientific
way.
The nature of CSUSB's student body poses significant challenges
for CUP activities. Although the average age of CSUSB students
is decreasing, a large majority of the student body commutes
to campus. Typically, CSUSB students subscribe to a large
class load, work full or part-time off campus, and have significant
family and economic demands. They are often the first ones
in their families to attend college. Thus, there are limited
opportunities for students to engage in the Service-Learning
aspects necessary for successful community partnerships.
The service area of the University is huge; it is among the
largest of any university in the United States and has rapidly
growing population of nearly 4 million. Since less than 30%
of high schools graduates attend college in the region, this
also limits the access the campus has to engaging students
in community efforts.
The involvement of the campus with the region is important
and necessary because the University's service region has
many deep-seated problems. As a county, San Bernardino has
had the highest levels of crime in the State. It recently
had the highest state-wide percentage of welfare recipients
and the highest incidence and prevalence of age-adjusted coronary
heart disease. The county also ranked first in all deaths
per capita, third worst in diabetes and infant mortality and
ranked fifth in homicide rates. Thus, regarding community
partnership, there are both huge needs and pressing demands
on the campus. Over the last three years, CUP has been steadily
growing but the multiple regional needs badly outstrip the
capacity of the campus to meet them. Many regional residents
work outside the region, a fact reflective of many socio/economic
challenges. There has also been a loss of several major economic
drivers, such as several Air Force bases and at least one
major corporation. Additionally, there are only two Fortune
500 companies in San Bernardino county. Thus, there is a relative
lack of external funding possibilities for CUP initiatives.
Faculty members at CSUSB have a relatively high teaching
load, with a maximum of nine courses each academic year for
full-time faculty. Some classes are now offered in large sections
and usually multiple sections of the same course do not lessen
the teaching/preparation burden for individual faculty. With
many new faculty still establishing their teaching and professional
research agendas, there is a great demand on their time thus
limiting their potential for involvement in community and
outreach activities. On the other hand, many of these new
faculty members were recruited and came here because their
interests in community involvement and their scholarly activities
fit well with the goals of the university.
Lastly, the University is on a quarter system, which makes
Service-Learning and other community partnering difficult
to accomplish and sustain in short ten-week sessions. Students
may not stay involved in community partnerships when the quarter
ends, resulting in a significant level of diminished outcomes.
CSUSB has long been engaged in the local community but there
is limited institutional structure to support effective community
partnering. Although there is language in the current RPT
documents suggesting how community partnering and service-learning
efforts should fit into the evaluation category of teaching,
professional growth and service, balancing these three elements
is still difficult.
There are other broad issues and concerns that affect the
University's outreach efforts. Among the issues still to be
addressed are:
- Coordination and centralization of partnership activities
- Risk management and liability aspects
- Start up and sustained funding
- Integrating and incorporating service into academic programs
- Measuring the effectiveness of such widespread and diffuse
outreach efforts
- Making sure that service is recognized and rewarded consistently
in RPT
Appendix of Supporting Materials and Links for Theme III,
Issue No. 3
Community-University Partnership Homepage: http://partnerships.csusb.edu/
Environment EXPO: http://expo.csusb.edu
Network for Environmental Science Teaching (NEST): http://nest.csusb.edu/
College of Education Partnerships: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i1/Complete_COE_Partnerships_2002_.htm
College of Education Collaboratives: http://soe.csusb.edu/collab.html
College of Business and Public Administration Partnerships: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i1/CBPA_FOCUS_AREA_SUM_WRD.htm
College of Natural Sciences Internships: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i1/Inventory_SEM_Feb_2003.htm
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Partnerships:
http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/CSBSFOCUSSUMWRD.htm
Center for Study of Hate and Extremism: http://hatemonitor.csusb.org
Institute for Criminal Justice Research: http://criminaljustice.csusb.edu/researchcenters.htm
California Council of Economics Education: http://www.cacee.org/
CSUSB Outreach: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/CSUSBOutreach.htm
Water Resource Institute: http://wri.csusb.edu/
Title V grant: http://www.infosec.csusb.edu/TitleV/
WRI Outreach: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/WRIOutreach.htm
Service Learning: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/ServLearn.htm
CSBS Focus: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/CSBSFOCUSSUMWRD.htm
Virtual Village: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/virtualvill.htm
CUP Bylaws: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/cupbylaws.htm
Cultural Enrichment Grid: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/gridcacol.pdf
Econ Trans grids: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/grideconcolwrd502.doc
Educational Quality: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/grideducolwrd502.doc
Health Grid: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/gridhealthcolwrd502.doc
Family Grid: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/gridfamilycolwrd502.doc
CUP Partner Direct: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/cuppartdir.htm
CUP Board Recommendations: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/CUPRecomm.htm
Summary of Strategic Plan Accomplishments: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/SumStratPlanAccom.htm
Summary of EPRC Review of Annual Reports CSUSB-Institutes
and Centers: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/EPRC.htm
Service-Learning Curriculum and Infrastructure: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/SLRPT.htm
K-12 Outreach Partnerships: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/CSUSBOutreach.htm
Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS) Outreach Activities: http://hsi.csusb.edu/outreach/default.htm
HIS/HACU Internships: http://hsi.csusb.edu/intern/
Water Resources Institute: http://wri.csusb.edu/
|
