JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT

(hide abstract) For historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), engagement is not an enhancement of their curriculum but part of their birthright. Founded in the Civil War/Reconstruction era, HBCUs had as their core mission educating freed slaves and other free black people to participate in the economy. Later, during the Jim Crow era, HBCUs educated the men and women who built black communities and dismantled segregation. Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, almost every college includes cohorts of African American students, and African Americans can be found at every level of the economy and the society. But despite this progress, the black-white education attainment gap continues to widen, depriving many young African Americans of the education they need to begin productive careers, and depriving the economy of the professionals it needs to keep pace in the global economy. It is to these challenges that HBCUs' tradition of engagement now turns.

(hide abstract) Universities are structurally constrained from engaging in community development. Traditional concepts of teaching, research, and service make it difficult to focus on the needs of the community as a motivating force in the higher learning process. Historically black public universities, however, may have fewer such constraints than large private institutions. In any event, there is great need in the world and all institutions must respond to that need according to their ability. Universities have great ability to effect positive change should they choose to use it. Perhaps a different model, where learning relies on the praxis of thought and action, could simultaneously produce better students and create better communities.

(hide abstract) Coppin State University is committed to meeting the educational needs of its urban population and improving the quality of life in its urban community. An institutional pioneer in urban education, Coppin State University is the first higher education institution in the state to assume responsibility for the restructuring and administration of a public elementary school. It is the only higher education institution in the state to locate on its campus a public high school, for which it also serves as operator. The university is actively engaged in preservice and in-service teacher education programs and, in response to the Board of Regents directive, envisions even more involvement in teacher preparation. The West Baltimore Pre-K to 16 Urban Education Corridor is one such initiative. In partnership with the Baltimore City Public School System, the university chose this particular academic focus because of its longstanding urban mission.

(hide abstract) The justice studies program at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is designed to produce a new breed of justice practitioners whose understanding of justice and its administration is broadened to include the political, social, economic, and cultural conditions within which issues of crime and punishment are pursued and addressed. While it covers the bases found in criminal justice programs, justice studies at WSSU goes beyond those basics to prepare students to recognize, analyze, and address issues of justice both within and outside the practice of law enforcement. By connecting Department of Social Sciences faculty and students to the university’s research, outreach, and training center, the program also emphasizes the many opportunities and positive outcomes inherent in the university’s engagement with the broader community.

(hide abstract) This article delineates Benedict College’s strategies for transforming the community to foster a strong sense of connectedness and inclusivity to the institution. Reciprocal partnerships between the college and the community have served as a vehicle for achieving the mission of the college and addressing critical community issues. Benedict College has collaborated in such community development endeavors as renewal of the area surrounding the college, including improved housing for underserved local families. In its efforts to holistically organize college and community, Benedict College has institutionalized service-learning as a sustainable method of integrating community partnership into higher education. Information presented in this article focuses primarily on the methodical partnership between Benedict College and its surrounding community to collaboratively address the issue of economic and community growth through unified, sustainable plans and decisions.

(hide abstract) This article explores the integration of technology into community engagement and service-learning activities at Tennessee State University (TSU). We have used active learning experiences to develop action-oriented research questions that help both students and local community members connect theory with experience and thought with action through technology. Technology is an important component of our work because it enables archiving of work and dissemination of lessons learned. Results have included a Web design curriculum for local middleschool- aged children; educational computer laboratories in several community-based organizations; and literacy and technology training conducted with key community partners. This work has also engendered a statewide consortium to provide digital media tools and training to underserved communities in Tennessee. Outcomes continue to be encouraging: community members display a growing interest in education, and TSU students continue to improve their ability to ask well-formulated research questions that can be answered through ongoing civic action.

(hide abstract) Tougaloo College has built on its tradition of community outreach—highlighted by its vanguard role in the Mississippi civil rights struggle—by serving as the founder of the HBCU Faculty Development Network in 1994 and creating its own Center for Civic Engagement & Social Responsibility in 2004. The network has been hosting the annual HBCU Faculty Development Symposium for the past thirteen years and has included community service and service-learning in its focus areas. The network and the Center for Civic Engagement have cosponsored conferences and workshops in service-learning and civic engagement and are currently planning a summer institute on community-based participatory research for June 2007. The Tougaloo model is one of creating expanding networks. This effort includes linking minority and nonminority institutions in the promotion of community outreach and providing opportunities for HBCU faculty to enhance their skills and knowledge related to serving the community.