Update:
*** Over 20 people attended the Open Forum on “Building Capacity for Campus-Community Partnerships” on January 15, 2001. Those present included representatives of: the Community Development departments of Lafayette and West Lafayette; a number of community agencies; the Cooperative Extension Service at state and local levels; and other campus areas, as well as Task Force members. An especial thanks to State Rep. Sheila Klinker for taking time out of her busy schedule to attend, and also to Mary Ellen Burke of the HUD office in Indianapolis for her participation.
*** Task Force assistants, led by Rebecca Spears, facilitated numerous reflection sessions at the conclusion of service activities for the very successful Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service organized by the Diversity Resource Office.
*** Sara Solloway, Erin Taylor, and John Pomery gave a presentation on service opportunities at the Mortar Board Leadership Conference on January 27, 2001.
*** Undergraduate candidates for the Purdue University (West Lafayette) nominee for the ICC Wood Award were interviewed at the start of February. Recommendations for this nomination, and for the national faculty-level Erlich Award nomination, are expected to be with President Jischke no later than February 9, 2001.
*** Candidates for the Service Learning Ambasador Program are being sought. Eligible students should have taken at least one service learning course, and be articulate and enthusiastic about service learning. The application process includes focus groups, a written application, and an interview. (Rebecca Spears is Program Coordinator for the Ambassadors.)
*** Mgmt 190S, “Intro to Service Learning,” is being offered as an open enrollment course this semester, with a varied group of participants. In Fall 2001 the course will be offered as part of the Leadership and Service Learning Scholars learning community for freshmen.
*** Kate Murray (SLA, 12/00) has joined the Task Force as a professional assistant for a semester while awaiting graduate school for Fall 2001. Kate joins graduate assistants Peter Desmangles, Eva Ross, and Rebecca Spears, as well as volunteer assistants Marisol Jimenez and Jack Tedeski.
*** Contact information: Task Force Chair, and Community Service Director: John Pomery, Krannert 547, 494-4515,
Secretary: Brenda Allie, Krannert 544, 496-6912,
Assistants: TFCE desk, Boiler Volunteer Network, Stewart Center G-4, 494-8864.
URL: .
Boiler Volunteer Network has a variety of Community Action Days planned in the future including:
2/17/01 – Valentine’s Day – YMCA Women’s Shelter; IN Veteran’s Home; 3/24/01 – Community Action Day – Mental Health Association, YWCA Women’s Shelter; 4/7/01 – Boilermaker Spring Community Day – multiple sites; 4/25/01 – Community Action Day: Project Move Out – Memorial Union.
Hot needs (as of late January):
IN Veteran’s Home: general office duties
LUM Afterschool Program: activity leaders for K-5 children
Tippecanoe Community Health Clinic: clerical workers
Tippecanoe County Public Library: internet trainers
For more details on action days and hot needs, see:
Questions about a “Purdue COPC”
[Background for current exploration of a proposal for a Purdue-based Community Outreach Partnership Center.]
What is a COPC?
A COPC is a Community Outreach Partnership Center, funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Office of University Partnerships. Institutions of higher education, working with community partners, can apply for funding of a COPC. The application should focus on a designated geographical area, preferably one characterized by low average income or other indications of high community needs. It must identify about four community needs that will be addressed by providing the community with increased access to resources of the institution of higher education. A proposal should show evidence of very high levels of current and expected collaboration between campus and community. The proposal should be very specific in terms of what is proposed, and how the activities will be executed and evaluated. A significant match is required. Funds can be used for administrative purposes, and at most a small portion is intended for programs in the community. Awards can be up to $400,000 over three years.
What is the purpose of a COPC?
A COPC is designed to build capacity for the institution of higher education to enter into, or to continue and expand, sustained and effective collaboration with a specific geographic population while addressing specific, and community-identified, needs. COPC funds are not sufficient to run large-scale programs, but they can support the infrastructure upon which such programs can be built. Continued on next page:
Continued from previous page:
Who is exploring a COPC initiative at Purdue?
The Task Force on Citizenship Education has been in conversation with a large number of stakeholders both on and off campus. A steering committee has beencreated, including: Harry Brown (Executive Director of the Greater Lafayette Volunteer Bureau); Dennis Carson (Executive Director, Lafayette Urban Enterprise Association); Scott Rumble (Tippecanoe County Extension Agent); Marne Helgesen (Director, Center for Instructional Excellence); Janet Ayres (Agricultural Economics and the Leadership and Community Development arm of the Cooperative Extension Service); Janet Gordon (Interim Chair, 4-H/Youth Development); Pamala Morris (4-H/Youth Development); John Pomery (Community Service Director and Task Force chair); and Eva Ross and Kate Murray (Task Force assistants).
What geographic area is under consideration?
The steering committee recommended an initial focus on the (state-designated) Lafayette Urban Enterprise Zone (LUEZ). This area, with some nontrivial additions or omissions of a few blocks here and there, includes land to the east of the Wabash River, to the south of the northern stretch of US 52, to the west of the CSX railroad tracks when north of Greenbush, and to the west of Elmwood Avenue or the (soon-to-be-removed) Norfolk-Southern railroad tracks south of Greenbush, and as far south as the Cargill plant on Wabash Avenue (although not including several blocks between Cargill and the Wabash Avenue railroad underpass). This includes the downtown area of Lafayette, the Linnwood, Washington, and Miller elementary schools, and numerous businesses. (As noted below, this choice is motivated by a desire to make the strongest case for a COPC by identifying a clearly defined geographic area which is already recognized as meriting an influx of resources, by making strong ties with major stakeholders in this area, and by focusing on a limited number of needs and collaborative functional areas in the context of very specific and concrete proposals. Emphatically, this choice does not capture the willingness of the Task Force to seek a much wider range of geographical partners as the level of engagement rises.)
What are the potential benefits to neighborhoods where COPCs operate?
The communities in the LUEZ are encouraged to think about specific community needs that are being insufficiently addressed, or not addressed at all, because of limited or absent resources. Are there needs that could be addressed if there were access to additional resources, in terms of the knowledge and energy of Purdue students, the research capability of Purdue faculty, and other campus capabilities? While external funding would still be needed for programs addressing such needs, the campus-community collaboration inherent in a COPC provides a much broader array of resources and skills, as well as serving as a guarantee of campus commitment to long-term partnership and an indicator of careful planning and of responsiveness to community voice. Thus the presence of a COPC makes bids for external programmatic support even more likely to be successful.
What are the potential benefits to Purdue University?
A COPC representing a Purdue University-Lafayette Enterprise Zone collaboration should bring many benefits to the campus. Such a structure is particularly valuable to an institution such as Purdue, committed to excellence as an engaged institution and already involved in a wide range of outreach from community service and volunteerism by students and student groups to outreach by (for example) the Cooperative Extension Service, the School of Education, the Technical Assistance Program, and a range of service-learning courses. First, a COPC can help support an administrative core of professionals who can link campus and community as well as service with the academic curriculum. Second, it provides a range of opportunities for effective and reflective community-based learning opportunities for students, with the attendant anticipated benefits in terms of satisfaction with the college experience, and in terms of studying, learning, retention, interpersonal and leadership skills, ability to work with diverse populations, and more. Third, it should strengthen the positive image of the university in the local community and with state legislators, as well as providing more students with the kind of educational experiences that many employers and alumni claim to value highly. (It seems possible that it could also boost retention, after graduation, within the state of Indiana.) Fourth, it can provide faculty with challenging practical research options, and with teaching experiences where students are typically proactive, deeply involved and enthusiastic. Moreover, as indicated below, a COPC can be a staging point for expansion, in a wide range of directions, of the specific and geographically-focused activities initially proposed.
How might the activities of a COPC grow?
The initially-limited focus, both geographically and in terms of needs or issues addressed, is not viewed as an end-point, but rather as a staging point: to allow successful programs or projects to be exported to other localities; to permit additional needs and projects to be addressed as collaborative experience and understanding grows; and to allow benchmarking with other COPCs and other communities throughout the state and the nation. There are numerous networks in the state. Indiana Campus Compact (ICC) provides a linkage of thirty campuses, where ideas and resources can both be pooled and also directed to geographic areas that make good locational sense. There is a possibility of creating a network of Indiana-based COPCs as one channel for higher education to contribute to the state as a whole. The cooperative extension service has a network of county-level agents throughout the state, and should this be linked to the ICC academic network, the growing number of COPCs, and other statewide networks, then the capability of the extension service might be taken to new levels. In this manner, Purdue University has the potential to grow in its role as a coordinator and facilitator of resources to communities statewide. One can add to this Purdue University’s existing excellence in distance learning, the suggestion of having service-learning experience as a component of Advanced Graduate Teaching Certification, and a move to expect service learning or community service in Purdue University Lilly Endowment Retention Initiative’s learning communities, honors courses, and first-year experience courses; then one has the potential for engagement to be interwoven throughout the campus in a very transversal manner. Thus a well-thought-out and well-executed COPC is not a final goal, but an important stepping-stone to continued growth in engagement in a manner that is academically and pedagogically sound.
How competitive is the funding process for COPCs?
There were nearly 120 applications for around 16 new COPCs last year, and the competition is expected to grow. However, thanks to the outstanding leadership of Indiana Campus Compact in the area of developing service learning and engaged campuses, Indiana colleges and universities have tended to be more successful than the national average. Purdue University has strength in its current involvement in many sustained campus-community collaborations. The Greater Lafayette community offers proactive partners possessing effective infrastructure.
Where are there COPCs in Indiana?
There are currently several COPCs in the state of Indiana. The range of possibilities is illustrated by this list of some Indiana-based COPCs and their activities, as taken from the “Outreach” page of the Office of University Partnerships web site, URL:
(1) Indiana University Northwest (Gary): A Business Plan for the Neighborhood; Access to Community Services; Assessing the Business Climate; City Government Liaison; Community Asset Mapping and Leadership Development; Community Policing Substation; Comprehensive Rehabilitation; Creating a Community Park; Crime Prevention through Environmental Design; Evaluating the COPC Project; Pilot School Program; Teacher Training; Tutoring Neighborhood Youths.
(2) Butler University (Indianapolis): Art Administration Training Program; Bringing the Permanent Housing Model to Indianapolis; Commercial Revitalization and Cultural Enrichment; Community Workshops on Housing Law; Conducting Research on Community Issues; Conflict Mediation Course; Creating Internships in Nonprofit Organizations; Interventions to Address Urban Problems; Measuring Housing Discrimination; Mediating Conflicts Among Middle School Students; Mediation Skills for a New Beginning; Reducing Violent Responses to Conflict; Restoring Vacant Buildings; Studying Perceptions of Crime; Tracking the Success of Preschool Instruction.
(3) Ball State University (Muncie): Citizenship Education and Leadership Program; Core Revitalization Study; Employment Opportunity Initiative; Homeless Initiative; Neighborhood Support Initiative; New Fair Housing Policy.
(4) Indiana University (South Bend): see list for Indiana University Northwest (Gary).
(5) Valparaiso University: Improving Race Relations; Mentoring Program; Reviving Fatherhood; Student Research Supports Community Revitalization; Training Local Leaders; Using Volunteers to Build Affordable Housing.
How might a Purdue-based COPC fit with Purdue’s mission and current vision?
Purdue University has an expressed vision in moving to new levels of excellence in areas of discovery, learning and engagement. In particular there is a commitment to be a resource to the state of Indiana in ways that fit with Purdue University’s comparative advantage as a large, land-grant, Research-I institution with especial strengths in areas involving high-tech dimensions of science, engineering, communication and management. A COPC would create the potential to tap into Purdue’s strengths in response to community-voiced needs, in a way that benefits the institution and its major stakeholders, including faculty, students, staff, employers, local and statewide communities.
What are the steps envisaged?
The initial Open Forum of January 15, 2001 is being followed by a meeting on February 2, 2001, at the Chamber of Commerce building at 337 Columbia Street, Lafayette. This second meeting will involve some key stakeholders within the Lafayette Urban Enterprise Zone. It is designed to encourage sharing of ideas about needs in this geographic area and about the potential of a COPC to impact those needs, as well as to sound out the level of community commitment to such an endeavor. This meeting will be followed by interaction, including focus groups and discussions, with a much wider range of stakeholders, including individual residents, community agencies, local businesses, and local churches. It will also be crucial to identify the depth and breadth of support on the campus side for such a project. Without adequate support on campus, the proposal cannot get out of the starting gate. There is expected to be another public meeting, open to anyone from campus and community, in late March 2001, to offer an outline of a possible proposal. At this meeting, the steering committee will be very open to suggestions and criticisms about the choice of which needs to target and about the choice of methods proposed to deal with them. After this round of feedback, a combined group of campus and community members expect to craft a proposal that meets all the COPC criteria and that is a strong candidate for funding. The deadline for applications is expected to be in late May or in June, 2001. If an application is submitted and is successful then a Purdue-based COPC might start in Fall Semester 2001 or by January 1, 2002.
Indiana Campus Compact: 2001-2002 Funding Opportunities:
Type of OpportunityAmountDeadline(s)Applicants
(1) Faculty Fellows$5,0003/31/01Faculty
For faculty to integrate community engagement and service learning into all aspects of their professional life. (Faculty who
teach first-year courses and/or engage college students in service work with K-12 youth especially encouraged to apply.)
(2) Scholarship of Engagement$1,000 - $3,000Round 1: 3/31/01Faculty
Mini-GrantsRound 2: 10/31/01
Fund academic courses, research projects, or professional service activities that engage faculty in community. (Faculty who
teach first-year courses and/or engage college students in service with K-12 youth especially encouraged to apply.)
(3) Campus-Communityup to $3,0004/27/01Faculty/staff
Dialogue Grant
Awarded to groups of diverse individuals who commit to a series of topical discussions about a commonly perceived issue facing
w/ community partners their community.
(4) Community Engagementup to $2,0004/27/01Faculty w/ community
Grants partners
Issues-based grants funding development and implementation of partnership between a faculty member and a community organization or K-12 school.
(5) Community Service Director $2,0004/27/01Faculty/staffFellowships in CSD role
Provides a new model of Community Service Director professional growth, with fellows identifying aspect of work allowing personal and institutional growth.
(6) Student Citizen Fellowships$2,0004/27/01Students
Supports student participation in public works through: (a) leader of student group or large-scale project; (b) liaison between campus and a community organization; (c) as a SL assistant to a faculty member or academic department; or (d) as the developer of a community-based research project.
(7) Community Service Mini-Grantsup to $1,00015th of every monthStudent groups
Fund projects planned and implemented by student groups (working with community partner and utilizing the COOL model). (8) Partnership in Action Grants TBA 9/14/01 Campus-Community
Dialogue Team
Will fund implementation of action plans developed through Campus-Community Dialogue program (or comparable processes).
See ICC Web Site for more details; web site often contains application forms. URL:
Mailing address: Indiana Campus Compact, c/o University Place Conference Center, 850 W Michigan Suite 200, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Phone: 317-274-6500. Fax: 317-274-6510.
(Or contact the office of the Purdue University Community Service Director, or the Boiler Volunteer Network.)