Report Finds Charlotte Makes Significant Contributions To Urban Challenges
UNC Charlotte is one of eight urban-serving universities featured in an academic white paper, produced by the University of Pennsylvania, that highlights how institutions are making significant contributions to their communities and addressing pressing urban challenges.
The white paper, “Restoring the Public Purpose of America’s Urban Universities,” argues that higher education must dramatically enhance its contributions to the public good, focusing specifically on urban colleges and universities working closely with their local communities.
Charlotte’s case study, authored by Byron White, associate provost for urbanCORE, and Tamara Johnson, director of engaged scholarship in urbanCORE, highlights how the University has developed its community engagement efforts to address critical social issues and advance civic contributions.
Over the past decade, UNC Charlotte has intentionally worked to enhance its civic impact by focusing on its engagement with the Charlotte region. In 2020, the University established what is now known as urbanCORE (Community-Oriented Research and Engagement) to sustain its cross-campus engagement work.
urbanCORE integrates existing staff and programs and prioritizes its efforts under three core functions: policy and data support, in collaboration with the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute; faculty and student engagement; and community partnerships for social impact.
Through staff programs, urbanCORE aims to equip faculty, students and community stakeholders with relevant data to address social issues and policies, foster participatory action research and real-world learning and build impactful community partnerships. Key lessons from this initiative include maintaining commitment to core engaged scholarship principles, improving the assessment and sharing of quantifiable impacts and being strategic in resource generation without overextending new initiatives.
Produced by University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships with support from the Teagle Foundation, the white paper features Augsburg University, Columbia University’s Freedom and Citizenship Program, De Anza College’s Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action, Rutgers University-Newark, University at Buffalo Community Health Equity Research Institute and the University of San Diego.
Each example illustrates how urban-serving universities are leveraging their resources to advance educational, research and societal outcomes.
Since its publication in June, the white paper has received international coverage including a report from University World News that highlights the paper’s emphasis on the transformative potential of urban universities in addressing urban issues.
“We are honored to be featured in this white paper and to share our experiences at urbanCORE,” White said. “By highlighting our efforts and best practices, we hope to provide valuable insights. As a preeminent urban research university, UNC Charlotte’s goal is to inspire and support the broader higher education community in driving impactful, community-oriented scholarship that address pressing urban challenges.”
The whitepaper concludes with reflections on future directions for urban universities, particularly the role that foundations can play in supporting these efforts.