Theme 3: Engaging with the External Community and the Region

Reflective Essay on Theme III, Issue No. 3: Community Outreach and Partnerships

On the CSUSB campus, the academic Colleges and departments have initiated many community/university partnerships, and as a result, today there are numerous instances of collaborative engagements directly administered out of the Colleges of Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Extended Learning, and Arts and Letters. For instance, a thorough listing of partnerships in the College of Education may be found in "COE Partnerships 2000-2003". Many of the partnerships are designed to support the local school's mission and the university's priority of improving college attendance rates. The College of Education (COE) is in its 15th year of partnerships with Hillside Elementary School. For nearly ten years COE faculty have partnered with the RIMS (Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino counties) consortium, working alongside 53 school districts on intern and new teachers induction programs. See All Programs

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 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. In fact, the University has many active partnerships dealing with P-6, Middle school, High school, and Community College programs. For a more detailed description of programs, such as Cultural Ambassadors, Alliance for Academic Preparation, Educational Opportunity Program, Project UpBeat, Upward Bound, Inland Area Science Project, Black Future Leaders, and other projects and programs, please go to (See Projects and Programs ).

Since 1994, the College of Natural Sciences has been involved in "Focus 92411,"a project improving the quality of life and health for all residents in the 92411 zip code. The overall campus has been very active in a number of communities; 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.

The Cross Cultural Center has formed strong partnerships. Since 1998, it 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 close relationship has just resulted in a $3,000,000 gift to the campus to build a 4000 sq. ft. addition to the Student Union to allow us to expand the Cross-Cultural Center and provide an endowment for scholarships, programs, and operation 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 located in Southern California. California State University, San Bernardino; California State University, Los Angeles; California Polytechnic State University, Pomona; Mt. San Antonio College; and Oxnard College 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 the 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, to reach under-served populations through distance education, and to use technology-based management information systems for more effective planning, decision-making and institutional management.

The Water Resources Institute 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, in 2002 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-sponsors 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, statewide, and countywide. 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 environmental issues.

In 1999 a new office was developed to specifically address the third goal of the University's Strategic Plan in a manner which responded directly to the community challenges identified by members of the University's service area and which crossed all disciplinary, College and even Divisional boundaries. This Office, called "Community-University Partnerships"(CUP), was initiated by a large interdisciplinary group of faculty, mostly from "professional-preparation" related programs, who had been using community engagement to advance academic outcomes. See Partnership

The mission of CUP became "To advance community-university partnerships that enhance the overall quality of life of our service region, increase the relevancy of our educational efforts, and bring new vibrancy, repute, and resources to CSUSB and to the community." Over a two-year period, regional stakeholders were systematically asked to identify and prioritize the major community areas in which the University should focus. The results of this effort yielded the following five long-term priorities (in rank order of importance): 1) increasing the quality and quantity of cultural, intellectual, and recreational opportunities available to the community. 2) Assisting to ensure that the region's work force is well educated and employable. 3) Accelerating the transformation to a regional economy that relies upon technology and professional and technical skills to provide well-paying jobs and career opportunities. 4) Enhancement of the over-all quality of health of individuals and communities, and 5) Promoting family and community enrichment. These foci lead to the development of five "Focus Area Partnerships" comprised of on and off campus stakeholders who developed general priorities within each focus area. Over the last four years, the Partnerships have been working to develop specific "indicators" of success in each focus area and programs to address them. Note: The full report has links to grids showing the goals, structure, and progress of the five focus areas.

Since 1999, CUP has also provided a variety of Fellowships to campus members who undertake the development of a partnership to address one or more of these five focus areas. Through the 2002-03 AY 77 of these Fellowships have been awarded to campus members from all five Divisions.

Over the last five years the campus has undergone a major transformation in the area of community engagement. It has developed from being substantially behind most of the other CSU campuses to being one of the major leaders in the System. In fact, in 2001 the CSU Chancellor's Office of Community Service Learning recognized CSUSB with its "Pioneer" award for community engagement. For more information about see Service Learning and a Report to the Chancellor's Office about community Service Learning.

Many more students are engaged in academic service learning and other levels of community engagement. There is a CUP Community Advisory Council which helps determine the areas of community engagement, leads the engagement process, and assists with program implementation. Faculty and students have been recognized for exemplary community engagement efforts receiving such awards as Students That Are Recognized for Service (S.T.A.R.S), the National Thomas Ehrlich Service Learning Award (finalist) and the Ernst A. Lynton Faculty Award for Community Engagement (Honorable Mention). The College of Education oversees a large service cohort of Liberal Studies students who are considering teaching as a career. The students are placed in schools throughout the region and assist teachers while working with small groups of children (P-6).

Additionally, the campus holds an annual Community Partnership Symposium where community stakeholders and campus members join together to create, expand and report on community engagement activities. There is now a single common location for community members to contact, and which provides community partnership and service learning development assistance. There is also a formal process to inventory all community partnership efforts. Each year a comprehensive interview process related to community engagement is conducted in at least one college. There are also a wide range of information sessions and workshops available to assist campus members in building and maintaining community partnerships.

There are many, many more small and large projects and community partnerships underway and the above-mentioned examples are just some of the more visible and university-wide projects. The recent 5-year report on progress made toward our strategic planning goals and objectives is full of descriptions of the kinds of meaningful engagement that is underway between our academic departments and the communities in our region. The Long-range Planning Council report also indicates, while CUP may continue to be a centerpiece of our efforts and a convenient referral point or first contact for many community groups and individuals, the extent of our outreach and partnerships is now so widespread throughout the campus that many independent projects and other points of inquiry and engagement are underway. The need for good communication and coordination of these efforts will be critical to the ongoing success of our partnerships and community involvement efforts.

In summary, the University has made remarkable strides to become more active and to take a leadership role in assisting the social, economic and cultural development of our surrounding two-county region. While the payoff for many of our projects is a long-term one, we have already had major effects in the areas of education, student internships, service learning, planning and economic analysis, local government boards, and health care issues--and there is potential for even greater impact. Despite pending budget problems, it is essential that the University maintain its commitment to service and to mutually beneficial partnerships with the community. Many of the projects we have initiated have the potential to be self-sustaining and even generate funds that can be used as seed money for new projects, faculty research, and further integration of our students, faculty and staff into the fabric of the our regional society.

More precisely defining and gaining a better understanding of the University's role(s) in the community will require a constant dialogue both internally and externally. Many of our Centers and Institutes are ready to participate more fully in our outreach and service efforts, and even more colleges and departments are poised to engage in projects with the community that are meaningful and mutually beneficial. As these efforts grow, assessment and evaluation of these many endeavors will be an on-going challenge.

(See full Report on Community Outreach and Partnerships )