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.
(http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i1/Complete_COE_Partnerships_2002_.htm)
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. 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 (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/CSUSBOutreach.htm).
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.
(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, 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. (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/WRIOutreach.htm)
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. (http://partnerships.csusb.edu/)
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
Service Learning, please click on the following web site:
(http://partnerships.csusb.edu/sl_atcsusb.html)
and a report to the Chancellor's Office about community Service
Learning. (http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/appendix/i3/ServLearn.htm)
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 at: http://thewasc.csusb.edu/edueffrev/thm3/thm3iss3fr.htm)
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