St. Thomas University (Miami, FL)
The
Campus and Community Alliance for North Dade
Summary
The Campus and Community Alliance for North Dade is the most recent effort
of St. Thomas University, Florida Memorial College, and local community
organizations to come together to address common needs and concerns.
The Practice
The purpose of the Alliance is to work collaboratively with community
organizations, including educational institutions, charitable and governmental
agencies, and private business and its associations, to facilitate social
and economic development in North Dade.
In addition, the Alliance has by-laws and a strategic plan, which will
be evaluated and updated as part of the Community Forum planned for November
2003. At present, the Alliance has 22 members representing educational,
faith-based, for-profit, governmental, and nonprofit organizations. The
Alliance has a simple application form designed to facilitate organizational
participation in the Alliance.
The Alliance has developed three ways to maintain contact between its
members and to move forward with its strategic plan. These activities
include: Alliance meetings, community events, and campus-community projects.
The Alliance meetings are held four times during an academic year with
the location and time of the meetings shifting from institution to institution.
These meetings serve as roundtables where community representatives, faculty,
and staff from St. Thomas University and Florida Memorial College report
on upcoming activities, discuss areas of community need, and areas of
cooperation. This past year the Children and Family Resource Center hosted
these meetings and next year Florida Memorial College will be the host.
The Campus-Community Projects include a variety of co-curricular and
curricular-based activities. While in some cases the activity was initiated
by campus personnel, most of these projects have come from the dialogue
with the community.
Effectiveness
These efforts are evaluated at three levels. The strategic plan and organizational
structure of the Alliance are evaluated every two years in preparation
for and as part of the Community Forum. Currently, a By-Laws Task Force
is reviewing the by-laws to make any necessary additions or corrections
based on the growth of the Alliance over the past two years.
The faculty-community projects are evaluated using three items: a Service-Learning
Survey used for all projects, a faculty report, and a sample of student
reflections. The information from these items is collected and analyzed
by the director of Campus Ministry and Community Outreach. Plans are in
place to make an annual report on these activities and to include the
results of the assessment as part of the ongoing reporting of particular
projects at the Alliance meetings.
Lastly, an unintended but successful outcome was an effort by the local
community to create an incorporated city out of the unincorporated area
of the northern part of Miami-Dade County. Due to the work of the Alliance,
the area received approval to incorporate to the City of Miami Gardens.
A member of the Alliance was elected the first mayor of this new city.
Resources
The following documents are available from the Office of Campus Ministry
and Community Outreach: the Alliance Fact Sheet, the Alliance By-Laws,
the Alliance Strategic Plan, and the Service-Learning Survey.
Contact Information
Rev. Edward A. Blackwell, Jr.
Director
Campus Ministry and Community Outreach
St. Thomas University
16400 NW 32nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33054
Phone: 305-628-6525
eblackwe@stu.edu
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Effective
Practices Exchange
