Two teams of evaluators and consultants recently appointed by the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education (CAPHE) will evaluate the Engaging Communities and Campuses grant program and provide technical assistance to partners in the program. The two-year grant program is part of the larger Engaging initiative, which includes CIC’s regional teaching and learning workshops, held in the summer of 2001, and the web-based effective practice exchange network, currently in development.
    Thirteen institutions and their community partners received grant awards in January 2001and are now working to increase their respective organizations’ capacities to offer experiential learning opportunities. The technical assistance being provided by the consultants is helping grantees address issues and challenges associated with the four key areas of work addressed by the grant program: assisting faculty members in developing new knowledge and skills (Faculty Skills and Knowledge), establishing an infrastructure for work with community organizations (Institutional Infrastructure), creating an academic culture supportive of faculty work with experiential learning pedagogies (Academic Culture), and strengthening partner relationships with community organizations (Partner Relationships).
    Two evaluators—one focusing on the impact of project activities on higher education institutions and the other focusing on the impact of project activities on community partners—are working collaboratively on the design and implementation of the evaluation. Andy Furco, director of the Service-Learning Research & Development Center in the School of Education at the University of California at Berkeley, is focused on higher education. Sally Leiderman and Jennifer Zapf, president and research officer, respectively, of the Center for Assessment and Policy, a nonprofit organization focusing on social change, community development, and the building of organizational capacity, are focusing on community partners.
    Other consultants are providing technical assistance and expertise to help the Engaging Communities and Campuses grant program participants achieve their project goals and objectives.

Partner Relationships — John Ott, founding partner, Partners in Innovation, an organization that helps state and county collaboratives improve results for children, families, and communities throughout the country.

Academic Culture — Jo-Ann Sipple, special assistant to the president and professor of communications and information management, Bay Path College (MA).

Institutional Infrastructure — Kelly Ward, assistant professor of educational studies at Oklahoma State University.

Faculty Skills and Knowledge — Edward Zlotkowski, professor of English, Bentley College, senior associate, American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), and senior faculty fellow, Campus Compact.

    For more information, contact CAPHE Associate Director Jacqueline Skinner at (202) 466-7230 or jskinner@cic.nche.edu.

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Last updated: April 12, 2002
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