University-Community Engagement during a Pandemic: Moving beyond "Helping" to Public Problem Solving

Autor/inn/en	Ohmer, Mary L.; Finkelstein, Carrie; Dostilio, Lina; Durham, Aliya; Melnick, Alicia
Titel	University-Community Engagement during a Pandemic: Moving beyond "Helping" to Public Problem Solving
Quelle	In: Metropolitan Universities, 33 (2022) 1, S.81-91 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1047-8485
Schlagwörter	School Community Relationship; COVID-19; Pandemics; Partnerships in Education; Social Change; Democratic Values; Problem Solving; Citizen Participation; Higher Education; Community Needs; Community Involvement + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hochschulpartnerschaft; Sozialer Wandel; Problemlösen; 'Citizen participation; Citizens'' participation'; Bürgerbeteiligung; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen
Abstract	The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major disruption in higher education, challenging universities to engage with community partners in unprecedented ways. Among them was an accelerated challenge to ways of engaging with surrounding communities and the resulting importance this holds for social change. A common approach has been for the university to offer mutually beneficial help to communities through top-down directives and strategies. Another approach prioritizes democratic engagement, including co-constructed knowledge generation and political action where the university is part of a larger ecosystem engaged in public problem solving and deeply sustained ways of collaborating. Moments of economic and social crises put into stark view higher education's intentions: are we playing at community involvement, or are we committed partners, leveraging our unique missions to join our communities in solving the problems facing us? This article discusses how a university's response to the pandemic illustrates democratic community engagement, including how the university partnered with community organizations to alleviate the dire impacts of the pandemic on peoples' basic needs and equity. Lessons learned for university-community engagement during normal times and times of crisis are shared, including ways to foster social change that addresses the inequities illuminated by the pandemic. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252. Tel: 410-704-3700; Fax: 410-704-2152; e-mail: cumu@towson.edu; Web site: http://www.cumuonline.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01