Dear AITF Members:

I hope that you have been enjoying your summer months.  As is usually the case at the time of year, there is quite a bit on the horizon for AITF.  
 
Our Tenth Anniversary Conference is continuing to take shape. We have a couple of updates to share with you.

First of all, we are very pleased to announce our keynote speaker for the morning of October 25: Andrew Delbanco, President, The Teagle Foundation. Read more about Dr. Delbanco .  

Also, thanks to those who submitted session ideas. We are excited about the sessions that will take place on October 25 at 10am:

  • Connecting Kids for Community: Grinnell Education Partnership
  • Organizer: Monica Chavez-Silva, Grinnell College

  • Anchor Institutions and Community Development Financial Institutions: Leveraging Capital to Strengthen Communities
  • Organizer: Amir Kirkwood, Opportunity Financial Network

  • Building Partnerships with South African Higher Education Anchor Institutions: Some Lessons and Strategies
  • Organizer: Kyle Farmbry, Rutgers University-Newark

  • Creating a K-20 Continuum on Campus
  • Organizer:Ron Berkman, Cleveland State University

Our Tenth Anniversary Conference will take place on October 24 and 25 in New York City at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel. Here is the  frame of the conference program . We will include names of confirmed speakers on the conference agenda very soon.  Conference  registration remains open. Note that the early bird registration rate will last until one month before the conference.  You can still make hotel reservations at our  group rate .
 
Thanks very much to those of you who have already agreed to sponsor, including the Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation, the Teagle Foundation, Hahne and Company, Prudential Financial, The New World Foundation, the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania, and Rutgers University Newark. Anyone interested in sponsoring should review our   sponsorship levels to see how you can support AITF and the conference and/or place an ad in the conference program. 

Beyond conference preparation, this has been a busy year so far, including significant engagement in local communities, including international travel.  Many AITF members, in fact, participated in the  The Global Forum on Academic Freedom, Institutional Autonomy, and the Future of Democracy that was held at Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg on 20 – 21 June 2019.  This event led to a significant declaration , which stresses the importance of academic freedom and institutional autonomy for higher education institutions and recommends various actions by leaders in higher education, government, and other fields.  We are particularly pleased that the declaration specifically stressed higher education’s “will and ability to work with and contribute to the communities in which colleges and universities reside.”


Reminder: the Health Professionals Subgroup’s upcoming webinar:

Value Added: How Anchor Institutions Are Adopting
a Social Determinants of Health Lens

Sep 24, 2019 at 12:30 PM EDT

This webinar is the first in a series, which will highlight the ways in which members of the Anchor Institutions Task Force's Health Professionals Subgroup are bringing a social determinants of health lens to their community engagement. The webinar series follows the publication of a paper produced by the Subgroup,  Value Added: Adopting a Social Determinants of Health Lens ( https://www.margainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/AITF-White-paper-on-SDOH.pdf ). This webinar will feature the efforts of Nationwide Children's and the University of Pennsylvania. You can register for this webinar here:  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8047198460059106059

We have gathered numerous relevant articles and publications over the last several weeks, which are listed below.  If you have any articles our announcements you would like shared in a future message, please let me know.  

Best Regards,
 
David
Here are some relevant news items and articles from our field:
MetroHealth’s president and CEO Dr. Akram Boutros announced on June 28 at its annual meeting that MetroHealth will build more than 250 apartments, monetarily incentivize its employees to live in the neighborhood, bring job and school readiness programs to its neighbors, open summer lunch sites for schoolchildren and more. As a non-profit and public health care system, the MetroHealth serves the residents of the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
Lynchburg, VA leaders plan to engage "anchor institutions" for economic growth in its plan for economic growth in Lynchburg through 2023. Goal two of the plan is focused on the anchor institutions with goals ranging from formalizing partnership programs to future investment.
July 2, 2019


Baltimore City’s hospitals announced plans on July 2 nd  to help end homelessness for hundreds of people. Ten hospitals including Johns Hopkins Hospital committed $2 million toward housing and services for 200 people experiencing homelessness.
July 4, 2019


The Chronicle of Higher Education has published the report  The Campus as City , which points out that “Today a college performs many of the functions of a local municipality, like planning, housing, transportation, public safety, and health care.” This Chronicle report examines the tensions and challenges of running a city within a city; it also explores creative new ways for colleges to deliver services, what it means to be a responsible anchor institution, and the deep collaborations that drive large-scale projects.
July 15, 2019


ProMedica, the health care network of specialized hospitals located in Toledo OH, announced on July 15 that it would give $5 million over the next 15 years to support the planned redevelopment of the current SeaGate Convention Centre and ballroom addition. Robin Whitney, Chief Strategic Planning of Promedica said “As an anchor institution in Toledo, we think it’s important to continue to support projects that help our community thrive.”
July 11, 2019


Ted Slowik’s article published on Daily Southtown proposed that “The closing of a hospital, school or other institution can pose a serious challenge for a community but the changes also can present opportunities to remake central areas, according to planning experts.” Slowik reviewed several redevelopment cases in Chicago’s south suburbs where anchor institutions’ buildings were demolished and sites were subsequently redeveloped according to the best use of them for the community.
July 19, 2019


Analysis now shows there are well over 100 innovation districts emerging globally in cities with vastly different economic starting points, regional advantages, and population sizes. Innovation districts are evolving geographies of innovation anchored by R&D-intensive universities, medical institutions, and companies. For example,  Philadelphia shows how innovation districts can use the economic power of anchor institutions to drive job growth in areas of deprivation and catalyze the formation of community businesses, minority-owned businesses, and social enterprises.
July 27, 2019


This article written by By Janis Bowdler, President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, summarises seven traits of advancing cities and civic leaders that are successful in pursuing inclusive economic growth that prevents displacement of resident and business. One of the seven traits is “Engage anchor institutions”, which means that if ” anchor institutions like Nationwide Children’s Hospital, civic leaders, nonprofits, government and business adopt a ‘we’re in this together’ mindset to cultivate communities where all residents have the opportunity to participate in and share the rewards of a growing economy.”
August 2, 2019


The University of Missouri–St. Louis has made clear its commitment to community engagement and economic development in one of five compacts laid out in the strategic plan adopted last year. Part of its mission is to serve as an anchor, supporting and securing the community in which it rests. To that end, UMSL created a director of Anchor Institution Initiative position and appointed Karl Guenther to the position.
August 9, 2019


To help combat the housing crisis in Greater Boston, Harvard University is recommitting $20 million to an initiative aimed at increasing the amount of affordable housing in Greater Boston. Through the Harvard Local Housing Collaborative, the University has partnered with three local, nonprofit community-development lenders to create and preserve affordable housing, build and revitalize healthy communities, and create economic opportunities for low- and middle-income residents throughout the region.
June 24, 2019


Stanford has submitted an offer letter to Santa Clara County detailing a proposed $4.7 billion package of housing, transportation and public school  benefits that the university would like to provide as part of a development agreement addressing its new long-term land use permit, called a General Use Permit.
August 9, 2019


A new report, titled  The Overlooked Anchors: Advancing a New Standard of Practice for Arts and Culture Organizations to Create Equitable Opportunity in America’s Cities , published by the Boston-based nonprofit  Initiative for a Competitive Inner City  (ICIC), and funded by the  Kresge Foundation , examines the potential for arts and cultural groups such as theaters and museums to apply this approach. While this report focuses on how arts institutions could benefit from a greater understanding of anchor-based approaches, it also demonstrates the many ways that city economic development departments and nonprofit hospitals and universities could benefit from paying more attention to the many arts and cultural institutions in their midst.
Recently published academic papers related to AITF
Published on 08 July 2019

Abstract : This study examines how a university’s research activities are viewed through the priorities of both of the university and the surrounding community. Framed by the notion of anchor institution, the study reports the results of a case study of the US regional university within an urban context. The findings demonstrate the lack of consensus around the role of the university, the disconnect related to research priorities between the community and the university, and the role of faculty activities and rewards. The analysis shows the challenges with universities with high research activity serving as anchor institutions, particularly related to social concerns. Implications for universities and researchers are also addressed.
Published online on 15 July 2019 

Brief Summary : This study has examined the facts, reasons and negative effects of the closure of 106 American rural hospitals, which are anchor institutions for local commuities. The paper points out that “Closing any anchor institution has the potential to affect a community heavily in terms of care, jobs, and the presence of potential role models and pillars of the community. It is important, then, for policymakers and leaders at all levels of government to help consider the best ways to help that community move forward.”
In this book:
The Local Mission of Higher Education
Maurrasse, D., 2019. What is an Anchor Institution and Why? (pp. 16-27).

Summary: Firstly, the Anchor Institutions Task Force (AITF) has been introduced and anchor institution has been defined. The AITF sees anchor institutions as enduring organizations that remain in their geographical settings and play a vital role in their local communities and economies. These are entities of varying types that have a stable presence, often over generations, in their neighbourhoods, cities, and regions. This article also covers topics such as anchor institution’s future movement and anchor institution’s role in local mission of higher education, equitable growth, policy, philanthropy and its global movement.
Ozarowska, J., 2019. The University and Local Civic Engagement: an Irish Case Study. (pp. 29-38).

Summary:  This chapter examines an Irish case study, that of Dublin City University, located in an area of marked social disadvantage but also noted for its proactive and impactful engagement with its local community. Dublin City University has recognized the importance of its immediate surrounding area and has made concerted efforts to engage with local stakeholders through creating mutually beneficial partnerships and links.

Weeks, J., 2019. Campus and Community Revitalization in the United States: Penn’s Evolution as an Anchor Institution. (pp. 39-58).

Summary: As described in this article, civic engagement has increasingly moved from the periphery to the core of Penn’s work. It has required presidential and faculty leadership; integration of local engagement in the university’s academic mission, and its role as a corporate citizen; development of mutually beneficial, mutually respectful partnerships with the community; and creation of organizational units and operational integration within the University to sustain the commitment over time.
Published on 14 February 2019

Abstract : As campuses seek to advance community engagement, and embrace their role as anchor institutions within their community, questions emerge regarding how this role connects to and informs priorities within larger institutional mission and goals. Welch & Saltmarsh (2013) have noted that, historically, infrastructure—a center or office that supports and coordinates community engagement—has been a key component to institutionalizing community engagement. This article differentiates between infrastructure and organizational structure. It identifies some implications of this, as institutions build a foundation for their anchor institution mission—who, how, and to do what. The article calls attention to what is necessary if we are to fulfill our public missions and is useful as campuses consider who is involved in conversations about their anchor work, why this is important for the community and the campus, and who should be involved.