The Australian Higher Education, Community Engagement and CivicResponsib

Dear Service-Learning Colleagues,

This project forms the Australian component of the International Research
Project: Universities as Sites of Citizenship and Civic Responsibility, a
project of the International Consortium on Higher Education,
Civic Responsibility and Democracy (ICHECRD <http://iche.sas.upenn.edu/>).
The Council of Europe's Committee on Higher Education and Research is the
administrative and operational centre of activity for the European
research. The University of Pennsylvania is the organizational centre for
the Universities as Sites of Citizenship and Civic Responsibility Project,
a research project that explores the actual activities of institutions of
higher education that support democratic values and practices; assesses
their dispositions and capabilities to promote democracy; and examines how
the use of university resources can improve the contributions of higher
education to democracy on the campus, and in the local community and wider
society. The Community Service & Research Centre at the University of
Queensland Ipswich is the organizational centre for Higher Education,
Community Engagement and Civic Responsibility which will form the
Australian element of the project.

The objectives of this research project are to:
Complete a comprehensive and comparative International/Australian
literature review of university citizenship and community engagement
theories and practices;
Conduct an audit of the existing national, state and institutional
initiatives and programmes promoting the community engagement
and/or civic responsibility of higher education;
Examine various student and staff perceptions of active citizenship and
their levels of local community participation;
Identify any correlations between the student and staff perceptions and
practices and the respondents' socio-economic status, regional location,
ethnicity, nationality, disciplinary focus, or institution;
Document the findings for each institution selected;
Produce and distribute to relevant stakeholders, the final report into the
state of community education practices by higher education in Australia
and suggest recommendations for effective practice and improvements to
existing programmes.

Other elements of the research project include a raft of opportunities to
explore community engagement principles and practices both in Australia
and globally through the Consortium. These include:
Quarterly Engaged Perspectives E-Journal.  Engaged Perspectives
<engagedpers.html> is an academic journal dedicated to the promotion and
examination of theory and case studies of all aspects of Higher Education
Community Engagement, Civic Responsibility, Community Capacity Building,
and Service Integration. The editors solicit articles, essays, studies,
reviews and opinion pieces from Australia and overseas. The editorial
board includes academics, policy makers and community leaders.

Policy Research Reports
The research project delivers two forms of reports on university-community
engagement. The first is the comprehensive individual university reports
which are made available as they are concluded. The second will be the
final report which will contain summaries of all the individual university
reports including national and state by state results as well as
recommendations for government policy makers, universities and
community groups.

National Engagement Website
The website would form the core of the information collection and
dissemination strategy of the project. The website will enable effective
access to the data collected from the research project on an on-going
basis as well as providing a framework for the housing of best-practice
models, community engagement theory exchanges and the provision of a
clearing house for community engagement opportunities and ideas. The
website aims to be the first port-of-call for those seeking a better
understanding of engagement theories and/or attempting to develop
engagement opportunities. Other elements include:
* Individual University Reports
* Community Engagement Discussion Forum
* Community Engagement Theory-House
* Monthly Datacasts from leading experts
* Engaged Community Group Contact Register
* National Network of Engaged University Centres
* Community Engagement Project Clearinghouse

If you would like to become involved in this project, please register your
interest by contacting the CSRC by email: n.sunderland@uq.edu.au
<mailto:n.sunderland@uq.edu.au>, by phone on (07) 3381 1532 or by fax on
(07) 3381 1407.


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Community-Campus Partnerships for Health is a nonprofit organization that
promotes health through partnerships between communities and educational
institutions.  Check out our website at www.ccph.info

Mark your calendar for CCPH's 7th annual conference - April 26-29, 2003 in
San Diego, CA. The conference will feature a symposium jointly planned and
sponsored by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office
of University Partnerships and the Community Outreach Partnership Centers
program. This will present an unprecedented opportunity for advancing
community-campus partnerships that truly span the campus and contribute to
public problem-solving and healthier communities.

CCPH is the Higher Education Senior Program Advisor for the Learn and
Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
Visit the Clearinghouse at http://www.servicelearning.org
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