NCJ Number
215623
Date Published
2005
Length
110 pages
Annotation
This special anniversary issue, which commemorates 10 years of Community Outreach Partnership Centers, celebrates the power of campus-community partnerships to revitalize local communities, empower individuals, and set the standard for community development activities nationwide.
Abstract
Congress enacted the National and Community Service Act in 1990, and in 1992 it passed the Community Outreach Partnership Act, which authorized $7.5 million to establish the Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC). These laws gave colleges and universities the tools to conduct teaching, research, and outreach activities that address urban problems. COPC requires that grantees use a partnership approach to these activities. COPC's impact on the Nation over the past 10 years is making a difference for students, faculty, and communities while improving relationships between colleges and universities and the communities in which they are located. This report presents case studies of how specific universities/colleges have partnered with communities to empower local residents and local organizations, improve local communities, enhance the quality of education, help the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development fulfill its mission, and improve relationships between colleges/universities and their communities. As the COPC program enters its second decade, its challenge will be to continue applying its partnership model to the new and more complex issues that emerge in local communities while establishing additional partnerships in communities where they do not exist. Appended list of COPC grantees for 1994-2003 and contact information for the Office of University Partnerships staff