CPCS Masters Succesful Partnerships Between University and Community

In higher education circles, there is no shortage of rhetoric upholding the value of "partnering with the community." But what exactly does a successful university-community partnership look like anyway?

One recent afternoon, the answer could be found in a sunlit fourth-floor Wheatley Hall conference room, behind closed doors and far from photo ops and podiums. It was a meeting of those involved with the College of Public and Community Service (CPCS) project Healthy Initiative Collaborative: Community University Partnership, or HIC CUP.

For students enrolled in the course, taught by Human Services Professor Joan Arches, participating in HIC CUP qualifies as a capstone course in youth work. For members of the Harbor Point community, the project has great potential for empowering youth and matching more and more UMass Boston resources with community needs.

Joining Arches at the table were Kevin Johnson, Geiger Gibson youth coordinator; Audrey Morgenbesser, Columbia Point Community Partnership (CPCP) director; Lorna Rivera, CPCS Community Planning professor; and Susan Allmendinger director of the Office of Community Outreach.

With warm familiarity, the group shared beverages and passed around photographs of students participating in the recent Good Neighbor Day. Arches began the meeting, announcing the success of Good Neighbor Day and the "Dunk the Vote" initiative. She also gave an update on the book drive to stock the library at the Walter Denney Youth Center. "We"re really gathering a lot of books. We"re very excited."

Johnson reported on a recent meeting held at the Dever School and shared some concerns of area youth. Morgenbesser reported on the efforts of CPCP's beautification committee and mentioned CPCP's recent contracting with a nutritionist to present healthy eating guidelines for Harbor Point residents.

"Would our College of Nursing and Health Sciences be able to help with that in the future?" suggested Allmendinger. Morgenbesser nodded. Allmendinger made a note to follow up.

HIC CUP seems to provide an ideal context for this sort of collaboration. It also functions as a means by which complementary efforts can be combined. Rivera noted that one of her students working in Harbor Point was able to help with Dwight Giles's upcoming three-week Leadership in Higher Education course. Rivera's student had already been doing research in the area targeted by Giles: demystifying the college application process.

Arches's students have a particular focus of their own. Community youth participating in the HIC CUP project, ages 12 to 16, have worked to define what constitutes a healthy community and to identify problems affecting the health of their community.

"Participants expand their understanding of health to include psychological, social, spiritual, economic, political, as well as physical components of well-being," explains Arches. "As they make the connection between their personal well-being and that of their community as a whole, they will identify projects and activities that they feel would make their community a healthier one."

To accomplish this, the youth, in collaboration with the CPCS students, learn a theory and method of practice called Social Action. Practiced widely in Europe, it builds on the work of Paulo Freire, explains Arches.

The students have defined three areas of concern: civil rights and the treatment of youth in Harbor Point, a dearth of parks, and a desire to convert Harbor Point tennis courts into basketball courts. They are in the process of selecting one problem to address, and in the fall semester will work to implement and institutionalize it.

According to Arches, two more UMass Boston faculty, Professors Timothy Sieber from Anthropology and Shirley Tang from American Studies, have expressed interest in collaborating in Harbor Point outreach.

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