Regional Council of Colleges Committee Meeting
The focus of the discussion revolved around a handful of issues: Most centrally, what would the benefit of such a Council be for colleges, communities (government, nonprofit, and private sectors), and the Assembly? Without mutually beneficial benefits, the concept would not work.
What would the mission be? The Assembly as facilitator of discussion about how colleges can usefully link with communities for the benefit of all involved. The Assembly would work to make sure that mutual needs are met, that colleges and the public, nonprofit, and private sectors all benefit from the effort. That best practices are developed and discussed and disseminated. Based on discussion summarized in this paper, the purpose of the Committee would be as follows:
Purpose of Committee: When the Committee is fully constituted, including representatives from regional colleges and universities, the Committee’s purpose will be to facilitate communication among educational institutions, to involve these institutions in an organized manner in Assembly events (such as Summits and workshops) and to explore and share “best practices” in areas such as economic development, community outreach, making research capacity available to the larger community, and other domains of mutual interest. With time, the purpose of this committee could evolve as needs change. Colleges and universities would use the Council to better link themselves to larger communities and to address issues of interest within the region, as well as to share “best practices” with one another.
What activities might move this effort forward? A number of ideas were advanced:
1. Civic engagement programs by colleges could benefit larger communities. E.g., Franklin & Marshall’s Ware Institute for Civic Engagement supports internships to help the community, service learning built into multiple courses each semester, facilitates student volunteers working with community partners, and so on.
2. Colleges, through the KIZ program, work to facilitate economic development. Is there a program that could allow for broader discussion among the three KIZ’s in the Assembly’s eight county arena? To share best practices?
3. Colleges have research capacity. Can this be tapped by community partners for mutual benefit? What about colleges providing policy analysis to be a part of policy-making discussion?
4. Can we determine ways of involving colleges in a more coherent fashion in developing regional summits as well as more narrowly focused issue forums?
Near-term and medium-term action steps.
1. Identify people at the various educational institutions to discuss the role of the Assembly.
2. Group meetings to share best practices (e.g., civic engagement, research activity focusing on the larger community).
3. Perhaps a series of workshops where a speaker would be brought in to set a tone; then, breakout sessions where college representatives and community stakeholders could follow up with action-oriented suggestions.
4. Use of technology for virtual discussion around specific policy/community issues. For example, communities might indicate specific research needs. Colleges could seek out students who could respond and note how their skill sets might be used to address those needs. The end products could be placed on the Assembly web site for wider distribution to interested parties.
5. Could something like TED Talks be used to facilitate ideas springing from item # 4?
6. Sponsor discussion on how to address “town-gown” issues?
Other Issues as per the “Charge” Document
There was not enough time for detailed discussion with respect to funding, but the sense was that this Council would have to discuss how the initiative could be made sustainable. This would be the subject for a follow up meeting.
It was deemed too early to identify non-Board members to take part. This would be a focus of a follow up meeting.
Assessment of effects of the Council’s work would be the subject of a later meeting, after more specific goals and action steps were finalized.
What would the mission be? The Assembly as facilitator of discussion about how colleges can usefully link with communities for the benefit of all involved. The Assembly would work to make sure that mutual needs are met, that colleges and the public, nonprofit, and private sectors all benefit from the effort. That best practices are developed and discussed and disseminated. Based on discussion summarized in this paper, the purpose of the Committee would be as follows:
Purpose of Committee: When the Committee is fully constituted, including representatives from regional colleges and universities, the Committee’s purpose will be to facilitate communication among educational institutions, to involve these institutions in an organized manner in Assembly events (such as Summits and workshops) and to explore and share “best practices” in areas such as economic development, community outreach, making research capacity available to the larger community, and other domains of mutual interest. With time, the purpose of this committee could evolve as needs change. Colleges and universities would use the Council to better link themselves to larger communities and to address issues of interest within the region, as well as to share “best practices” with one another.
What activities might move this effort forward? A number of ideas were advanced:
1. Civic engagement programs by colleges could benefit larger communities. E.g., Franklin & Marshall’s Ware Institute for Civic Engagement supports internships to help the community, service learning built into multiple courses each semester, facilitates student volunteers working with community partners, and so on.
2. Colleges, through the KIZ program, work to facilitate economic development. Is there a program that could allow for broader discussion among the three KIZ’s in the Assembly’s eight county arena? To share best practices?
3. Colleges have research capacity. Can this be tapped by community partners for mutual benefit? What about colleges providing policy analysis to be a part of policy-making discussion?
4. Can we determine ways of involving colleges in a more coherent fashion in developing regional summits as well as more narrowly focused issue forums?
Near-term and medium-term action steps.
1. Identify people at the various educational institutions to discuss the role of the Assembly.
2. Group meetings to share best practices (e.g., civic engagement, research activity focusing on the larger community).
3. Perhaps a series of workshops where a speaker would be brought in to set a tone; then, breakout sessions where college representatives and community stakeholders could follow up with action-oriented suggestions.
4. Use of technology for virtual discussion around specific policy/community issues. For example, communities might indicate specific research needs. Colleges could seek out students who could respond and note how their skill sets might be used to address those needs. The end products could be placed on the Assembly web site for wider distribution to interested parties.
5. Could something like TED Talks be used to facilitate ideas springing from item # 4?
6. Sponsor discussion on how to address “town-gown” issues?
Other Issues as per the “Charge” Document
There was not enough time for detailed discussion with respect to funding, but the sense was that this Council would have to discuss how the initiative could be made sustainable. This would be the subject for a follow up meeting.
It was deemed too early to identify non-Board members to take part. This would be a focus of a follow up meeting.
Assessment of effects of the Council’s work would be the subject of a later meeting, after more specific goals and action steps were finalized.
