Implementing Urban Missions

The Implementing Urban Missions program assisted small private urban institutions in implementing their urban mission, particularly as they were able to provide professional community development and in the education of diverse learners. Eight private colleges and universities, selected in January 1998, were awarded grants up to $150,000 each to undertake two- to three-year projects to improve and/or expand their missions and activities in serving their urban communities.

Funder: W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Program Status: The program officially ended in winter 2002. The January 2002 issue of the Metropolitan Universities journal "Independent Institutions and Their Urban Missions" is dedicated to the work of the Implementing Urban Missions grant program, and contains articles written by each of the institutional teams, describing and analyzing key features of their respective projects. Single copies of this issue are available from CIC (limited quantities on hand). For multiple copies, please contact: Metropolitan Universities, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, University College, 815 W. Michigan Street, UC 3169, Indianapolis, IN, 46202.

Participating Institutions

Bloomfield College-collaborated with local public schools, the New Jersey Historical Society, and other community organizations to increase the community's recognition and understanding of the area's distinguished history of jazz music. Working together, and drawing on the college's expertise in creative arts and technology, Bloomfield College used a capstone course to create a CD-ROM that documents the history of jazz in Newark and is being used in the official campaign to preserve the Newark jazz culture.

Columbia College Chicago-Over the course of the grant program, the College created the Office of Community Arts Partnerships (OCAP) to bring coordination to and strengthen the many collaborative initiatives with which the institution is engaged. The centerpiece of OCAP and its activities is a carefully structured advisory board characterized by a uniquely strong commitment to shared representation and decision-making powers across community and college representatives.

Holy Family College-The Nursing Department, along with a wide range of representatives from the Frankford community and Mater Dolorosa Parish, created a highly successful community-based nursing and education center for the residents of these communities.

Johnson C. Smith University-Faculty members from several social science disciplines came together to form the Urban Research Group (URG). The mission of the URG is to involve students and faculty in field research projects designed to provide timely information to community organizations throughout the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. Community partners ranged from neighborhood associations to the police department. They use the information to increase the capacity of their organizations to accomplish their respective missions.

Lesley University-The University's School of Management developed a program of technical assistance specifically designed for small, non-profit, community-based businesses. The assistance, including summer workshops, addresses the professional development needs of these organizations.

Marygrove College-As an institution widely respected throughout its community for its teacher education program, Marygrove College partnered with the Detroit Public School System to address the shortage of African American male teachers in K-12 classrooms. The multifaceted approach identifies individuals at three different points in the educational pipeline and provides them with the education they need to enter the teaching profession.

Mount St. Mary's College (CA)-After a study revealed they had more than 300 extant partnerships with community organizations throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the College created a Center for Urban Partnerships through which all partnerships, academic and community-service oriented, are supported and managed. The Center has created an institutional infrastructure to support a smaller, more focused set of partnerships, and is a catalyst for bridging the cultural and educational difference between the downtown, largely commuter campus with the suburban, largely residential campus.

Ohio Dominican College-To maximize its resources and bring coherence to the College's long history of community engagement, the College has defined the boundaries of its community as everything that lies within the 43219 zip code where the colleges resides-commonly referred to as Urban Village 219. Faculty members participated in a mini-grant program designed to support their engagement with local community organizations that serve pre-college youth.