Greater attention than ever is being paid to town-gown relationships and how colleges can help communities adjust to the realities of a global world—not only by training people for jobs, but also by improving the quality of life. The four P’s—Perspective, People, Place, and Prosperity—provide a framework for helping boards apply the academic strengths of their institutions to their communities, whether defined as local, regional, national, or international.
Perspective. Board members must understand the trends that affect our institutions and their communities; otherwise there is a tendency to allow community outreach to just happen—or not.
At Morehead State University, a small regional university in the heart of Appalachia, the prevailing model once was one campus in one city. Now the board governs campuses in several surrounding cities, each catering to its own community. In a region of low educational attainment, such multiple campuses are an acknowledgment that many students are place-bound—and often working adults. That recognition has also led to innovative partnerships with community colleges.
Boards should ask: How do the needs of our community fit with our institution’s mission to deliver quality education?
People. Today’s students are increasingly inclined to choose an educational journey that leads to an immediate job. Colleges must demonstrate to students how higher education provides many other benefits, including meaningful work over the long haul and a stronger community.
Youngstown, Ohio, hidden in the shadows of Detroit, has seen the death of a once-thriving steel industry—a victim of the changing economy. Youngstown State University is playing a major role in the city’s revitalization. Students learn firsthand how to apply the academic tools of urban development to a Midwestern town determined to remake itself. Ron Cole, director of university communications, points specifically to student involvement in projects with the homeless and other citizen groups.
Boards should ask: Who are the citizens we serve? And how do we prepare them for not just a job, but also a better life?
Place. Even in our globalized world, higher education institutions most often reside within particular communities, states, and regions. Trustees—often hailing from a variety of locations—may need to understand better their institution’s specific place.
In Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho, one issue of concern was the distance between the institution and Boise, the state capital. Citizens and university officials created an initiative that crossed state boundaries and joined the strengths of the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash.—just eight miles from Moscow. The institutions, along with the community, formed the Palouse Knowledge Corridor, dedicated to cutting-edge economic development to uplift the entire region. While the state of Idaho remains vitally important to the University of Idaho, the realities of place were predominant for success.
Boards should ask: What is our institution’s place and how does it figure into how we implement community-outreach strategies?
Prosperity. Boards must grapple with the question of what prosperity is for their institution’s community. Increasingly, it is not just about jobs, but also about quality of life and a strategy that reflects the community’s need for lifelong learning and perhaps even worldwide service.
Grinnell College in Iowa has developed a strategy around its mission to educate students to be global citizens and give back to their community on a local, regional, national, or international basis. The institution provides an avenue for practical, results-oriented service learning. Students do “on the street” work, like teaching English in Ecuador or assisting the elderly in a French nursing home.
Boards should ask: Has an effort been made to define prosperity and how it translates into community outreach?
In short, boards must recognize that a new and different kind of thinking about community is required—one that is far broader than that of yesterday.
Share on LinkedIn
