Dear AITF Members:
 
This has been an important Tenth Anniversary year for the Anchor Institutions Task Force.  Numerous developments transpired during 2019.  This note cannot adequately captured just how much ground AITF covered this year.  Here are a few matters that come to mind upon reflection:

  • We held a monumental Conference, which launched an Anchor Fellows Program as well as an Education Subgroup.  
  • We held our first U.S.-based Local Strategic Dialogue, which catalysed a significant new effort in San Diego on moderate income housing, which was showcased at the conference.  
  • AITF’s influence in localities, such as Newark and others, continued to evolve through guidance to various anchor partnerships and initiatives.  
  • Our three longstanding subgroups (Health Professionals, Higher Education Presidents, Economic Development Executives) all made important new contributions to our field, having advanced conversations on the future of anchor leadership, the social determinants of health, and equitable hiring and purchasing.  
  • Internationally, AITF continued collaborating with the Council of Europe toward a European network on the local mission of higher education.  
  • Additionally, the substantial representation of international participants in our conference, demonstrated the growing globalization of our movement.  
  • Regarding publications, AITF produced another issue of the Journal on Anchor Institutions and Communities, and AITF was featured prominently in an edited volume, The Local Mission of Higher Education: Principles and Practice, which grew out of our 2018 meeting with the Council of Europe involving higher education leaders in Dublin.
  • AITF’s structure evolved as well, as we established an Advisory Council representative of numerous fields.

Overall, AITF has taken on many new dimensions since our inception.  As we advance toward the next decade, we can look forward to the continued development of our multifaceted agenda.  

  • We anticipate continuing to expand our presence in various localities.  We expect to conduct additional Local Strategic Dialogues, which are designed to help anchor institutions and their partners address pressing issues and agree to pursuing unprecedented collaboration toward these concerns.
  • Our collaboration with the Council of Europe will enter a new phase as we move toward planning the official creation of a new network on the local mission of higher education across the continent.
  • AITF will likely enter into new partnerships globally and in the United States, as various exciting conversations are underway.
  • AITF’s new Education Subgroup will begin shaping its plan of action.  As reflected in the group’s well-attended first meeting at the conference, this will be AITF’s largest Subgroup.  This emerging formation can take many directions in its inaugural year.  One area we know they will address is the role of education as an engine of social mobility.  For anyone interested in exploring this topic more deeply, note that AITF is working with Rutgers University-Newark on an event on March 27 (anyone who is interested should let me know).
  • Our inaugural cohort of Anchor Fellows will work with AITF’s Presidential Subgroup to strengthen the pipeline of future leaders of anchor institutions.  We will soon open the application process for the 2021 cohort.
  • Our other longstanding Subgroups, Economic Development Executives and Health Professionals, will continue to refine their unique contributions to the field.  We can expect important programming, such as webinars, from both groups.
  • AITF’s Adivisory Council will continue to grow and AITF’s structure will undergo some changes as well.
  • Finally, our Annual Conference will take place on November 5 and 6 back at the same location as the Tenth Anniversary Conference – the Sheraton Times Square Hotel in New York City.  We will open registration in the late winter/early spring.

Many other developments will transpire over the course of 2020, which we expect to be an extraordinary year for AITF, democratic anchor institution-community partnerships, and the anchor movement as whole.  We look look forward to reporting on our wide array of developments over the months to come.

Hopefully, you and yours will have a wonderful holiday season and joyous start to the New Year.


Warm Regards,

David

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Here are a few articles listed below.  If you have any articles our announcements you would like shared in a future message, please let me know.  
Near West Side Partners, in Milwaukee, was founded in 2014 through the support of five anchor institutions: Aurora Health Care, Harley-Davidson, Marquette University, MillerCoors and Potawatomi Business Development Corporation. Five short years later, NWSP has racked up an impressive list of accomplishments. Among them are refurbishing 10 homes in one block in Miller Valley; installing exterior lights and/or security cameras outside of neighborhood businesses; addressing nuisance properties, etc.

14 healthcare systems across the United States have committed to over $700 million in “place-based” investments, with a primary goal being the development of affordable housing. They are all part of a group called the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN), a project of the Washington-based research group Democracy Collaborative. The strategy for the network, which represents more than 700 hospitals — about 20% of the country’s total, said director Zuckerman — is based on the community-building power of what the Democracy Collaborative refers to as “anchor” institutions.

The University of Indianapolis held an unveiling ceremony Wednesday to commemorate the installation of a new, unique artwork created by University of Indianapolis Art & Design faculty. “This project is another great example of how the University of Indianapolis connects with the city as an anchor institution and extends its cultural and intellectual reach in ways that benefit the community.” said Robert L. Manuel, the president of University of Indianapolis.

This article featured recent conferences on anchor institutions, which included some highlights from AITF's Tenth Anniversary Conference. The article illustrates university-community engagement by using examples including the Newark Alliance, and it summarizes many AITF’s keynote speakers’ points in areas such as university responsibilities to the local community, good practices in addressing racial equity, and the importance of teamwork.

Ten private colleges and universities in Northeast Pennsylvania generated a regional economic impact of nearly $1.3 billion and produced more than 11,500 jobs in 2018, according to a study released by the Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Pennsylvania.

Forty-one nonprofit medical systems across the United States, plus four government providers, have formed the coalition, the Healthcare Anchor Network, with the mission of doing more business with local companies in the communities they serve. Most are concentrated in major American cities, from Chicago to Los Angeles. Collectively, these systems spend more than $50 billion a year on a range of services — from construction to catering to laundry.

University of Virginia faculty and administrators and local community leaders have teamed to launch a groundbreaking initiative that seeks to build better relationships between UVA and the Charlottesville community and tangibly redress racial and socioeconomic inequality.

The Equity Center – fully named the UVA Democracy Initiative Center for the Redress of Inequity Through Community Engaged Scholarship – will be led by a local steering committee of Charlottesville-area leaders; a faculty director, UVA School of Law professor Dayna Bowen Matthew; and nationally recognized leaders.

Across the country, libraries serve as great equalizers and safe spaces. They are institutions of change and models of equity and inclusion, allowing visitors free access to resources, irrespective of economic and social barriers. It is in this setting that Bard College, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Public Library, will soon launch its “microcollege,” the first ever accredited two-year associate’s degree program in a public library, which will provide nontraditional students with access to a quality tuition-free higher education.

Academic Journal Articles:
Abstract: The chapter describes the university-assisted community school approach developed by Penn's Netter Center for Community Partnerships with its school and community partners since 1985, as well as adapted nationally. The approach is grounded in John Dewey's theory that the neighborhood school can function as the core neighborhood institution that provides comprehensive services, galvanizes other community partners, and helps solve locally-manifested, universal problems such as health inequities and unequal education. Academically-based community service is presented as a core strategy for engaging the Penn's academic resources with the schools and community. Penn's evolution towards becoming a democratic anchor institution is discussed to highlight the importance of engaging the full resources (academic and economic) of the university in community partnerships. Providing concrete examples from nearly 35 years of work, the authors argue that university-assisted community schools is a promising approach to significantly improve schooling, communities, and universities.

Reference : Harkavy, I., Hodges, R.A. and Weeks, J., 2020. Transforming Schools, Communities, and Universities: University-Assisted Community Schools as a Case Study. In  Emerging Perspectives on Community Schools and the Engaged University  (pp. 114-131). IGI Global.

Abstract : With no moral compass, the current higher education civic engagement movement has wreaked havoc on inner city communities, especially for low-income people and people of color. This chapter explains why this happened, who it benefits, and why it largely continues unquestioned. A bold new vision is charted for higher education's civic engagement movement that is built upon principles of systems change and a fundamentally reimagined version of cities founded on social justice. Theoretical and practical solutions are also discussed.

Reference : Luter, G. and Taylor, H.L., 2020. Building the Neighborly Community in the Age of Trump: Toward a University-Community Engagement Movement 3.0. In  Emerging Perspectives on Community Schools and the Engaged University  (pp. 98-113). IGI Global.

Description: This presentation will discuss the use of a faculty practice to create a culture of health in an area facing health disparities. The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) has had a partnership with Paul's Place, an agency serving homeless and low-income individuals in West Baltimore, for over 30 years. The relationship between these two organizations grew to a formal partnership eight years ago through a 40% faculty practice agreement.

Reference : Doran, K., Doede, M. and Barrett, B.A., 2018. MDAC 2018:“Using a Faculty Practice to Create a Culture of Health in West Baltimore”.

Description: In thinly-populated rural and tribal areas, community anchor institutions (CAIs) can be vitally important to connecting residents to the rest of the world. Schools, libraries, health clinics, and many other anchor institutions rely upon high-capacity broadband to provide education, health, and information services to rural consumers. Unfortunately, because of the economic factors, anchor institutions in rural and tribal areas have an especially difficult time obtaining high-capacity broadband connections at affordable rates.
This report provides detailed suggestions that policymakers should give high priority to the broadband needs of rural community anchor institutions.

Reference : Endnotes, V.I.I. and Bio, V.A., 2019. Rural Broadband Programs and Community Anchor Institutions. Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition