Evaluation and Consultation Report (April 8, 2006)

This report is based upon review of COPC grant application and supporting UNP materials and reports as made available before, during and after a site visit from March 8-10, 2006, as well as from observations, interviews, and meetings with university and community partners.

University Neighborhood Partners University of Utah Community Outreach Partnership Center Evaluation and Consultation Report April 8, 2006 Submitted by: Tracy M. Soska University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work 2025 Cathedral of Learning Pittsburgh, PA 15260 412-624-3711 Introduction The evaluation and consultation report is prepared for the University of Utah's University Neighborhood Partners (UNP), a Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of University Partners. This report is based upon review of COPC grant application and supporting UNP materials and reports as made available before, during and after a site visit from March 8-10, 2006, as well as from observations, interviews, and meetings with university and community partners. This report is a first-year review of a three-year COPC grant. It should be recognized that the UNP was in existence at a basic level prior to the COPC; however, the COPC grant served as a critical catalyst for intensifying university outreach across academic disciplines and university units. During the site visit, meetings and interviews were held with University leadership, COPC staff, faculty, and community leaders related to all major UNP-COPC activities. The openness and accessible of UNP partners and information was a strong and favorable indication about the commitment and engagement in the University of Utah's COPC. Early on, UNP staff provided a tour of its Westside neighborhoods and an orientation to its community and university partners and their various community sites and activities. Visits were made to COPC projects during which meetings were held with staff, faculty, student, and community partners in all major activity areas. The site visit also provided an opportunity to observe and engage with the UNP Advisory Board, meet with a key university administrator, and interact with a unique Community Ambassador forum sponsored by the University of Utah. This report will analyze and report on findings and recommendations from those meetings and site activities as well as from reviewing supporting materials provided on UNP outreach activities. It will present discussion and analysis in the areas of: • UNP Staffing • Community Presence and Engagement • COPC Programmatic Initiatives and Work Plans • Institutional Support • Sustainability Following discussion of these major areas based on this site visit and review, an overall evaluation of the first operational year will be offered, as well as consultation recommendations for developing and sustaining the UNP beyond the COPC grant. A summary will conclude die report and provide a brief overview of the findings and recommendation of the evaluation and consultation site visit. This reviewer thanks the University Neighborhood Partners' leadership, faculty and staff, the University of Utah administration, and the UNP community partners in the Westside Neighborhoods for an interesting, informative, and hospitable site visit. 2 UNP Staffing An early meeting with staff underscored the seasoned leadership of Irene Fisher who, as Special Assistant to the President, commands both community and university respect and has established UNP on a solid foundation of collaboration. She is well assisted by Sarah Munro who provides strong direction and coordination for outreach activities and serves as a key liaison between university and community partners in day-to-day activities. The other UNP administrative staff draw significantly from experienced community and student support that "walk the talk" of university-community partnership. Business management seems very well established in this COPC with Betty, who also has strong identification with the neighborhoods and their residents, as well as a well-grounded understanding of the importance of higher education for those residents. All necessary administrative systems seem in place and performing more than adequately at this stage of the COPC. Kate and Susan represent student staff support that is very mature and also reflective of the university's connection to community service. Several faculty members also provide key program leadership, notably Rosemarie Hunter, Megad Sendel, and Luke Garrott, but they will be discussed later under program areas. Administrative staffing seems to be a strong point in UNP. While the administrative staff strength is readily apparent, it should be noted that this staffing is also in transition with Irene scheduled to step down by summer, and both Kate and Susan leaving in the near future for Peace Corps assignments. Still, there is a strong remaining administrative core, which can provide stability through the transition of key UNP administrative and student support staff. The University's strong service-learning center also serves as an excellent conduit for other student leadership in support roles in the COPC. The replacement of Irene in her leadership position will be discussed later in this report as a critical challenge for this COPC. Community Presence and Engagement - Community Tours and Outreach Facilities One of the first implementation challenges for any COPC is establishing its presence in the community. HUD's Office of University Partnership (OUP) has long stressed the importance for COPCs to have a physical presence in their target communities, especially when the University is not directly located in the target community. From the scope and depth of tours of Westside neighborhoods, it was clear that staff have a solid and close connection to these neighborhoods and their leadership. Further, the UNP community outreach sites demonstrate a significant COPC presence in and connection with the community. Within the first year, this COPC has also established a clear and deep presence in the COPC neighborhoods through several outreach sites. The location of the primary UNP office provides a central and visible community presence for the COPC. Further, this outreach office demonstrates a strong partnership between the University and Salt Lake City. The main office has high utility and is clearly identified to and by community residents. Because the University is not located within the COPC neighborhoods, this facility provides a base for outreach, as well as great 3 potential for further program and partnership activity in the building and its surrounding grounds. It is hoped that UNP will realize the further potential for its main site. Using space provided by its key community partner, Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), UNP has established an accessible and vital space for its neighborhood leadership training (Westside Leadership Institute) as well as for its emerging Westside Studio, where design workshops are now underway in once vacant commercial space operated by NHS. All facilities visited appeared to be places of visible activity and were interesting to those passing by or observing the space. Again, these outreach facilities are clearly a strong measure of a COPC with a well-established community presence. Outreach space and activities at the Northwest Multi-Purpose Center also underscored UNP neighborhood presence and the strong partnerships established with community-based agencies and programs. The United for Kids space, while limited in size, clearly takes advantage of an important community facility, and the Westside Studio design workshop activity attended during the site visit, clearly showed a vibrant use of community partner facilities in ways that made COPC activities accessible to the community and its residents in highly visible ways. However, the Hartland housing community, a subsidized housing development with a highly diverse, low-income population, was a most visible reflection of UNP outreach. The scope of activity and connection to residents was clearly evident on a visit during a typical day. UNP has established a vital outreach presence in this subsidized housing community and serves an eclectic mix of ethnic groups, many of whom are recently resettled refugees and immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. Using two apartment units provided by the developer - one donated and one paid by the university -UNP's Hartland initiative serves as a model for COPC integration of university partners working alongside community partners in a very challenging neighborhood setting. It was apparent during the visit that faculty, staff, students, community partners, and residents are part of a vibrant and activity outreach experience. It is clear from this site visit that UNP has established a significant and well-received community presence in its targeted Westside neighborhoods that is based on strong community partnerships and in-kind support. COPC Programmatic Initiatives and Work Plans UNP has three major COPC program initiatives: 1) Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization, 2) Education, and 3) Community Organizing. Each of these program areas has multiple outreach projects and activities. Information was provided on all program activities during the first year; however, it was not possible to observe all program activities given the limited visit schedule and the time 4 frame of program activities throughout the year. A substantial number of sites were visited and most programs observed, and UNP provided opportunities to meet with key university and community partners engaged in program efforts under the COPC grant. Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization The two efforts reviewed during this visit were the Westside Studio and the Hartland Apartments. Both programs were engaged in intensive activity during the site visit, which were either routine or serendipitous to the visit. The Westside Studio was engaged in its first community planning process, which was held at the Northwest Multi-Purpose Center. Residents were invited to hear student presentations on various design proposals for Neighborhood Housing Services developments in the area, and the energy level by the end of the evening event was quite high and contagious. Examples of design work was visible throughout the room along with neighborhood atlas booklets on Westside neighborhoods developed as baseline planning tools during the first year of the grant. These atlases were obviously in use in this planning process. Students were also very willing to talk about the importance of this service-learning experience and their work. In addition, it was apparent that Westside Studio lead faculty, Maged Senbel, was engaged with both students and community partners in this project, in particular, Neighborhood Housing Services. An opportunity was also provided to visit the Westside Studio facility in a commercial storefront owned by Neighborhood Housing Services, as well as to talk with key faculty working through the Studio and NHS - Megad Sendel and Luke Garrott. The space reflected an active design studio, and Megad's story about students building the in-kind furniture was an indicator of student engagement. The location of the Studio in this under-utilized commercial development could also help spur other neighborhood investment. Although only in the initial period of grant output, products like the neighborhood atlases and the design workshop are indicative of the essential foundations needed for a community design studio. These young faculty members are very effective role models for their students, and while they have short tenure at the University, both have been recognized as Community Scholars in Residence for their community engagement, a recognition that seems well-deserved. One area of concern discussed during the visit is the need to engage the Business School for its business planning, marketing and entrepreneurship technical assistance, which is important to the commercial side of neighborhood revitalization. It was obvious during the neighborhood tours and discussion with NHS that, while housing development has been successful in many neighborhoods, commercial development has been slow and in need of greater attention from UNP. The Business School has the expertise to assist both in business planning and marketing. The Hartland Apartments program, as previously noted, is a visible display of multiple partnerships and a center-piece for UNP. Clearly, reports on this program activity reflect both quantity and quality of activity, and this is apparent to the routine visitor. From the 5 informational signs displayed in multiple languages, to the flurry of youth and adult visitors, to the many students, faculty and staff engaged at Hartland, this project represents partnership at many and intersecting levels. The commitment of the developer, Evergreen Management Group, is important, especially the apartment that serves as the hub of activity - another apartment has been leased to provide child care, a program need that was taxing the existing, limited space. Given the limited space for activities, the scope of services provided through the School of Social Work and other university and community partners is commendable. The COPC progress reports reflect performance in keeping with the proposed work plan, and the publications and informational materials developed and available on Hartland document this work effectively. The work at Hartland is mutually beneficial to residents and students, and this makes sustaining this effort imperative. It is under the strong social work faculty leadership of Rosemarie Hunter. This is a model outreach project in a low-income housing development that is substantially serving the needs of resettling refugees and immigrants. HUD should look more closely at this initiative as a best practice worthy of dissemination. Hartland is a major outreach initiative that will require long-range, strategic planning to sustain and grow. Staff, faculty, and student engagement must remain at a very high level for continued success, and that is a crux for UNP sustainability in Hartland. How best to sustain this work and how to structure this given the limited service capacity of the University, even with a strong School of Social Work involvement should be considered. Issues of increased facility/space needs - willingness of Hartland management to fund this - ongoing programmatic funding needed to support staff and student engagement, empowerment of residents and their tenants group as a more formal community-based organization, and enhanced collaboration from other community partners are all important topics for sustainability. Education A priority for UNP has been developing a parent resource network, now called United for Kids (UTK), to better link parents and schools in support of children's educational needs and issues. A visit was made to a field office established at the Northwest Multipurpose Center, a community partner, where an AmeriCorps member staffing the UFK office provided an overview and the community center's director noted the strong collaboration with UNP and its programs. United for Kids had recently completed training its first Community Advocate cohort of 16 parents who are being placed with partner schools in the UFK network. These Spanish-speaking parents will be better able to support educators working with their children in local schools, as well as to take advantage of educational opportunities in exchange for their advocacy service. This program is just in its early phase of implementation, but it now has a cohort of Community Advocates whose efforts can be monitoring in the coming months. The Youth Education and Success (YES) initiative is working to encourage the pursuit of higher education among students at all grade levels by engaging educators, parents, and children in activities that support higher education exploration. This initiative has 6 two goals: 1) attracting Westside neighborhood residents to the University of Utah and 2) enhancing student diversity at the University. Informational materials have been developed for every level of education from elementary through middle and high school. A visit to one elementary school provided an opportunity to meet with an educator and community leader who are working with the YES effort and to see how this effort is a mutually beneficial partnership reaching out to Westside children and showing them the possibilities and pathways to higher education. While both of these educational initiatives are in their early stages, they demonstrate successful implementation of the programs according to COPC work plan. Schools and the community seem to have strong buy-in. While concerns remain with the larger evaluation of these educational initiatives as they move forward, engagement of the University's School of Education faculty members could be enhanced in support of this community/school-to-college link. YES's mutually beneficial goals make for a realistic community, school and university partnership. Community Organizing Community organizing efforts in this COPC are primarily community and organizational capacity building efforts through three major program activities: 1) Westside Leadership Institute, 2) Neighborhood Involvement Alliance, and 3) West View Community Newspaper. While it was not feasible to see these activities in action, it was possible to see the products of these activities and to meet and talk with university and community partners engaged in these efforts. The Westside Leadership Institute (WLI) through the first year of the grant has trained one grassroots leadership cohort and has begun the second. This reviewer was able to visit the training site at the NHS offices where a training session was recently conducted and another was being set-up. Outputs from the training were visible and reflected hallmarks of the Leadership Plenty training approach, which WLI is using and with which this reviewer is very familiar. Discussion with UNP staff around the use of the Leadership Plenty model underscored that this approach was well-suited to the basic level of these grassroots neighborhood leaders. It was also apparent at meetings, such as those of the Community Ambassadors, Hartland Apartments and UNP Advisory Board that WLI graduates and trainees are already becoming active at various levels through UNP community partners and activities. The Neighborhood Involvement Alliance (NIA) was a more complex community organizing process and activity, which Luke Garrott was able to explain during a meeting at the Westside Studio. The UNP assisted the Glendale Community Council, one of several formal community councils connected in advisory capacities to Salt Lake City government, with resident focus groups and reporting processes that addresses issues of minority participation in the community council process, as well as broader public decision-making and political processes. This community organizing activity was completed within the first year of the COPC as planned. Professor Garrott was also able to use his service-learning classes to support this activity and is continuing this service- 7 learning engagement with the NIA, particularly with residents in the Rose Park neighborhood. Using this resident engagement process, service-learning classes have assisted with community festivals and other community building activities focused on enhancing inclusion of minority residents in Rose Park and other Westside Neighborhoods. Plans have been developed to continue survey work through the Westside Studio and with YouthCity, an agency of Salt Lake City government. It was apparent that engaging minority residents and including them in Community Council activities is a more complex and challenging task that may require other capacity building strategies that reflect another concern that will be discussed shortly. The final community capacity building organizing activity, the West View community newspaper, was not a focus on the site visit, although a sample was made available. It is clear that UNP has succeeded in helping the neighborhood publish regular issues of the community newspaper, albeit through a new and expansive publication opportunity. It was also noted that local editorship is again changing the direction of this publication. What is important in this evaluation is that the University has clearly connected its faculty and students from Communication have supported this newspaper effort and that the neighborhood has a stronger communications capacity. The connection between community news publication and UNP web-based resources and publication might also prove a future direction, and it is hoped that UNP will continue its partnership in enhancing neighborhood communications vehicles and networks. While recognizing that community organizations and processes differ in various parts of the country, this reviewer was interested in the lack of alternative community and faith-based groups that are growing in many other regions of the country. While Salt Lake City does have a significant structure of formal community councils for neighborhood involvement and participation in local decision-making and interface with elected officials, it is obvious that minority resident inclusion has been and continues to be an issue. What is surprising is that, unlike other cities with which this reviewer is familiar, there has not been formation of and involvement in alternative grassroots and faith-based groups and organizations that often flourish in communities where inclusion in established organizations is limited. UNP has a surprisingly limited number of resident or grassroots community and faith-based partners, although it does maintain strong collaboration with several very strong and legitimate community-based partners. Such a community organization capacity building culture does not seem to be the norm in the Salt Lake City neighborhoods; however, this reviewer is unclear as to why this is-perhaps a factor of the dominate, long-standing presence of the Mormon Church. This visit did not provide enough time for further assessment or clarification on this observation. Institutional Support Another area for evaluative review was institutional support for the COPC, and, in this respect, UNP shows very favorably, particularly at the administrative level. Meetings were held with the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, David Pershing, and with 8 a group of senior faculty from several professional and academic disciplines, as well as with the Director of the Bennion Center, Marshall Welch, and key service-learning center staff, such as Shannon Gillespie. These conversations provided a strong sense of an institutional awareness and commitment to civic engagement and the COPC as well as of a good level hands-on engagement with UNP. Clearly, the establishment of and recent decision to maintain a position of Special Assistant to the President to oversee the UNP is an important indication of institutional sustainability. Dr. Pershing was very open to ideas on enhancing faculty engagement in community outreach, especially where this can support faculty teaching and research. Discussions on raising the academic dialogue on university-community partnerships and exploring applied research that can build on the University's priority for multi/inter-disciplinary research were very encouraging. It was apparent that senior university leadership sees the mutuality of goals in the university-community partnership, especially as this outreach provides a bridge for diverse community residents to a university education, enriches the student learning experience through community service activities related to their academic work, and enhances faculty opportunities for applied research and engaged scholarship across disciplines. Continued support for the Community Scholars in Residence recognition, as well as an interest in promoting other forums for academic dialogue on engagement and partnership work, was further indication of a supportive administration at the University of Utah. The Bennion Center represents a parallel unit of student and faculty engagement in service learning that, while different from UNP, seems to complement and connect with UNP. Through a meeting with key Bennion Center staff and a tour of the Center facilities, there is no doubt that this long-standing service-learning resource center needs to continue and to expand its linkages with UNP. Presently, this connectivity seems sound, but it is also a relationship built on the presence of Irene Fisher, who directed the Bennion Center prior to heading UNP. Certainly, UNP represents outreach activities that extend well beyond the scope of service-learning courses; however, there are many commonalities between these two units that should be nurtured to ensure a long-standing collaboration both on the campus and in the community. The connection between these units might be a matter of also linking their respective advisory boards and formalizing some regular exchange between directors, especially in the wake of Irene's retirement. Having a faculty director of the Bennion Center also helps to raise the recognition of service-learning and outreach work among faculty, which could provide a stronger extension from faculty in service-learning to sustained faculty engagement in community outreach partnerships that support both faculty and community interests. In a campus meeting with engaged faculty from key professions and disciplines, the larger issue of faculty awareness of and connection to UNP was discussed. While faculty are aware of UNP and its outreach activities, this engagement is primarily in relation to certain faculty and some students in disciplines like social work, urban affairs, education, and communication. Even with the long-standing service-learning work of the Bennion Center, faculty have not yet seen a strong connection between their academic work and community-based participatory research that is often core in university-community 9 outreach initiatives. Discussions on creating avenues for greater graduate student and faculty applied research and engaged scholarship seemed to resonate with these tenured faculty. It was felt that UNP could serve as a catalyst for applied research that would engaged professional schools and their graduate students and tenured faculty, as well as support interdisciplinary collaboration and research. Sustainability Issues for Consideration and Recommendations During the site visit and meetings several issues of sustainability were addressed and this report offers discussion for consideration and recommendations on the following areas: • Staff/Leadership transition, • Faculty involvement in UNP, • Connection between Bennion Center and UNP, • Development of an applied research and engaged scholarship agenda and capacity, • Need for sustaining funds for UNP and its outreach program activities, and • Capacity building of community partners to sustain this work in linkage with university. These issues focus on both internal and external levels of sustainability that should be part of the short and long-term strategic directions. Considerations under each sustainability issue will be briefly discussed and analyzed with recommendations offered to address these issues. Staff/Leadership Transition For the short-term, the leadership transition in UNP is a priority concern considering Irene Fisher will be retiring by summer. The University has already begun the selection process for a new UNP director and, more significantly, has moved to maintain this position as an Assistant to the President with clear reporting lines to the University leadership. This stability in transition is sends a crucial message to the community about long-term commitment and short-term change. The advantage of having an assistant director and other strong faculty leaders who are seasoned in the UNP initiative is obvious, but it is important to consider this added level of leadership support in the selection process. That the UNP initiative pre-dated the COPC funding and that funding for core leadership support is not dependent on COPC funding are also advantageous in this transition. Replacing a founding director, especially one with the experience and community reputation as Irene, is always a challenge. While this is, at the end, a University decision, the selection process should draw heavily on the UNP Advisory Board and its strategic deliberations. Often in such a key leadership transition, where much of the initial direction has drawn on talents and expertise of one person, leadership succession is an excellent opportunity for a board to take a stronger role in shaping future direction and renewing the mission of the organization. Clearly such a dialogue is happening in UNP at this time, and it should significantly influence the selection process. That UNP has stable administrative and faculty support in this transition is a real plus. Developing 10 future leaders is a critical issue for leadership transition in any organization, and, hopefully, the selection process will consider emerging UNP staff leaders. Beyond the key leadership transition, there are two other administrative/program staff members who are shortly leaving for Peace Corps assignments. Especially where these staff positions have emerged among student service-learning leaders connected with UNP and the Bennion Center, there should be strong consideration given to maintaining this articulation of student leaders into UNP support positions. One of the clear strengths of UNP is its administrative and program staff with strong ties to both the community and to the educational and service missions of the University. It is recommended that UNP continue to build on this student leadership base in replacing these staff members. The use of student interns, AmeriCorps, and other support staff resources are key to UNP's success, especially when these also draw from the neighborhoods and the educational linkages that UNP is promoting. It was obvious during the site visit that the roles of administrative/program support staff were vital to UNP's good work, and these transitions should not be overlooked in the larger leadership transition. Consideration might also be given to some level of post-directorship consultancy for Irene in this transition, but this also depends on her willingness and availability. In such situations, a clear delineation of roles is important; however, some areas like funding development and larger community connections to UNP might provide an opportunity to take advantage of Irene's expertise during post-retirement. Faculty Involvement While the UNP enjoys intense faculty involvement from several key disciplines: social work, urban planning, political science, education, and a few others, the majority of key faculty engaged in UNP are non-tenured or junior faculty. The level of faculty, their disciplines, and what engages these faculty members are issues for UNP attention. Key faculty (Rosie, Maged, and Luke) represent real assets to UNP, and the recognition of some of these faculty through the Community Scholars in Resident designation is important for institutional recognition of this university-community partnership work. Hopefully, this award will continue as an institutional commitment to faculty recognition and reward. Still, discussions with these and other faculty underscored concerns with engaging tenured and senior faculty. The importance of COPC programs for advancing multi- and inter-disciplinary collaboration and research cannot be stressed enough. In addition to the level of faculty engagement in UNP, the background of faculty engaged is vital. Given UNP's program priorities, such as neighborhood revitalization and education, the lack of Business School involvement to bolster commercial development work and the limited School of Education engagement are areas for discussion and recruitment. COPCs need to mobilize University resources to address community-identified issues, and UNP needs to work at tapping faculty with expertise and their students who can engage in applied research and outreach activities, especially in business and education. Even within engaged disciplines, such as social work, urban affairs, language and communications programs supporting English as a second language, 11 and others, further dialogue is needed to show how faculty teaching and research can be connected to UNP efforts. It should be noted that this is not just a University of Utah issue, but it is one that looms large at most COPC institutions, especially those within major research universities. The University can support this deepening and expansion of faculty engagement by creating a dialogue within the shared governance structures and through academic lectures. Some universities have used university plenary programs to highlight dialogues on connecting the community service mission to those of teaching and research. Placing faculty engagement as an institutional priority on the academic agenda is as important as continuing such recognitions as the Community Scholar in Residence award. The Bennion Center has also demonstrated the ability to engage faculty using limited support and recognition, and UNP should continue its strong connection with this service-learning center as another vehicle to identify and recruit senior faculty to UNP programs. The heart of any university is its faculty, and engagement of the academy is essential to institutionalizing university-community partnership efforts for the long-term. While service is one of the three missions of any university, teaching and research are the primary business of higher education institutions. Faculty can only become fully engaged if service advances their teaching and research. Toward that end, the University and UNP should look to make one further major investment toward this goal. Development of an Applied Research and Engaged Scholarship Agenda and Capacity In discussion with several senior faculty familiar with UNP efforts, as well as with the core program faculty, opportunities for research and scholarship are a vital long-term concern. Applied research and engaged scholarship should look to attract both faculty, as well as graduate students for whom faculty are seeking such academic opportunities. Through the limited discussion during die site visits, it was clear that many faculty have not fully explored how their teaching and research could be connected to UNP initiatives in ways that could benefit both academic and community goals. Applied or community-based participatory research (CBPR) has become a major focus at many major research universities through programs in public health, urban affairs, education, social work, and even business and law. National dialogues such as the CBPR listserv in the Campus-Community Partnership for Health and others have been fueling a growth in applied research, as well as scholarship opportunities derived from this engaged research. The University of Utah should look to UNP as a vehicle to develop such an applied research/CBPR capacity. Core UNP and faculty in critical disciplines could be supported in better connecting service to teaching and research through an applied research mechanism. Already faculty collaboration is occurring across disciplines in the programs like Hartland, United for Kids, and the Westside Studio, and this underscores the importance of COPC grants in enhancing cross-disciplinary collaborations for both faculty and students. UNP 12 could serve as an important catalyst for the University's desire for stronger interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as serve as a base for applied research. UNP represents an active network among faculty and students from various disciplines, and a small university investment in an applied research infrastructure under UNP could yield rich opportunities for faculty cross-disciplinary collaboration that would increase faculty involvement and advance engaged scholarship from this work to bolster faculty portfolios. The University should give priority to this applied research direction. Connection between UNP and the Bennion Center The connection between UNP and the Bennion Center was evident during the site visit; however, much of the linkage stems from Irene Fisher's role in both initiatives. Marshall Welsh, in directing the Bennion Center, seems well-informed on UNP and, most importantly, represents a faculty leader in this important service-learning institution. The interaction and cross-fertilization between UNP and Bennion Center can also promote the enhanced faculty involvement noted above, as well as provide another catalyst for applied research and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The University and the UNP Advisory Board should ensure that the connection between UNP and the Bennion Center is strongly maintained in the coming UNP leadership transition. Finding opportunities for visible collaborations between these parallel, yet distinct, efforts can enhance the Academy's perception of this work and also ensure the strong student linkage to UNP. Need for UNP Sustained Funding in Support of Outreach Sustaining UNP with its core staffing remains a University commitment, and this is very positive. However, sustaining outreach programs in UNP and generated from the COPC synergy should be an important consideration for the University and the Advisory Board, especially as they look at leadership and staff transition. Ideally, UNP would benefit by adding a core position that would support funding development for both university and community partners. Such a staff position should, in time, be able to generate its own positional funding, as well as program support, but a realistic lead-time is necessary in any early funding development strategy. Building stronger connections to the funding community, especially the network of industrial banks in Salt Lake City, would be important to this strategy. Perhaps this is one area where Irene Fisher might also be helpful in a post-retirement consultancy position. There are also other major grant opportunities, special events and alumni connections that might be promoted to sustain UNP efforts. The site visit showed UNP to be a very complex and busy operation that demands full-time administrative and programmatic support, and funding development, while part of that role goes well beyond the current administrative positions. How best to support such a position in the short-term is the primary consideration, but maintaining the UNP programs, which are growing day-by-day, should be addressed in the coming year. Sustaining COPC initiatives needs to examine both internal and external opportunities. The University and Advisory Board needs to strategically assess how large an outreach 13 operation it can and should sustain given its focus on teaching and research, and how much the UNP should support growth of outreach through capacity building in community partners to take on and sustain the service components of the COPC. One of the key roles the Advisory Board should play at this stage is considering the programmatic limits of UNP on the university side and the role it should play in enhancing community partners. Thus, while there is a need for future funding to sustain UNP efforts, this funding and staffing should work to help both the University and its community partners to build the UNP. Capacity Building of Community Partners The external strategy for sustaining UNP means placing as great a focus on community partner capacity building as on forming university infrastructure to support UNP. Already the COPC programs are creating grassroots leadership capacity through activities such as the Westside Leadership Institute and the Community School Advocates, as well as the unique Community Ambassadors initiative, which also merits sustaining. UNP and the Advisory Board need to consider how this leadership will be used to build organizational and community partner capacity in UNP initiatives and neighborhoods. It is one thing to build leadership and another to connect those emerging leaders to opportunities in existing and new community-based organizations. One strategy for sustaining UNP efforts should consider the role of enhancing and even developing new community partners. From a funding development perspective it may be easier to secure funding for community partners to continue effective UNP projects rather than sustain them through university infrastructure, which is not primarily for service provision. Also, there is the opportunity to sustain and grow projects at both university and community partner levels. A root question in sustaining UNP is "what capacity does the University leave behind in the neighborhoods, were it not able to sustain its partnership role?" HUD asks COPCs to address sustainable capacity building on both community and university sides of the partnership. One example of this potential capacity building is the Hartland Apartments initiative, which places significant demands on the School of Social Work, in particular, to sustain a outreach service agency in the community. Leadership development is occurring among residents, but they are largely organized as a tenants association, not a "community" association. Consideration could be given to developing the tenants association into a formal community organization that might then formally sponsor and administer the Hartland programs in collaboration with UNP. The difference in this option is that UNP and the School of Social Work would then support this effort through this new community organization as the lead community partner. What is left behind should UNP or the School of Social Work be unable to continue their work at Hartland? Thus, building and sustaining outreach projects based in community partners and supported by the UNP becomes a strategic priority. Similar scenarios might develop relative to the school-based initiatives, and in several instances during the site visit, questions were raised as to how best to encourage community partners to expand or 14 modify their role and capacity to better support community needs. In any case, the issue is whether UNP should grow its outreach service role or focus more attention on its role in supporting outreach services by and through community partners. Currently, the UNP COPC is divided between direct outreach service and capacity building, but in sustaining these efforts, the University and the UNP Advisory Board need to consider where best to invest in the center's own growth and development and where to invest in community partner capacity on the service side. Summary This report examined both UNP's program implementation after its first full year of operations and the longer-term issues of sustainability that must be a concern for all COPC grantees. That the university, UNP staff, and the Advisory Board are already focused on these issues of sustainability is a further indicator of the stability and soundness of this COPC. As concerns the programmatic performance of UNP, HUD-COPC written reports documented achievements that met or exceeded all work plan outcomes for the first year of operation. This successful implementation and performance was validated by observations in the field, as well as through discussions with staff, university and community partners. UNP reflects a university-community partnership that is open and mature in its level of trust and collaboration, at least between the University and its primary community partners, such as Neighborhood Housing Services, Northwest Multipurpose Center and the Hartland Apartments. While, in this reviewers opinion, the University of Utah and its University Neighborhood Partners has satisfied its first year implementation and performance measures as outlined in their COPC application work plan, this evaluation cannot assess the longer-term community impact measures intended by UNP from this stage in its work. Active program sites, collaborating university and community partners, engaged Advisory Board members, and supportive University administrators are all strong indicators toward an anticipated positive community impact. IMP afforded this reviewer an intensive look at most program operations, opportunities to engage faculty, students and administrators, formal and informal opportunities to interact with community partners, and serendipitous occasions to observe projects in action. Each of these encounters were characterized by open discussion and consideration of challenging issues of partnership and sustainability, which reflect most favorably on staff leadership and the University's commitment in this initiative. The aforementioned sustainability issues for consideration are among the major ones that emerged from this site visit. In discussing each issue, key recommendations have been highlighted to underscore their importance in this reviewer's estimation. That the discussion of core mission and values along with longer-term sustainability issues are a focus for both the University and the UNP Advisory Board at this time of critical leadership transition demonstrates a maturity and sharing of leadership in this partnership 15 ' • that speaks well to the goal of institutionalizing the COPC at both community and university levels. However, this reviewer feels it important to stress some considerations: • Broadening senior faculty engagement, particularly through greater graduate student involvement, development of applied research opportunities, and forums for multi-disciplinary dialogue on community outreach; • Building capacity in community partners as a strategy for sustaining outreach; • Enhancing funding development for both university and community partners to sustain the COPC activities as needed; I trust that this assessment and analysis is helpful to sustaining the short and long-term work of what is clearly a very effective university-community partnership. 16