Preparing the Way for Reform in Higher Education: Drawing Upon the Resources of the Community-at-Large
Higher education is being asked to pay more attention to student learning and to contribute to the enhancement of the social and economic conditions of the community it serves. As a result, educational institutions will no longer be self-contained. Community members and organizations have become not only critical partners in framing the goals and intentions of the educational reform movement, but they also have assets that must be tapped by educational institutions that wish to implement change and respond to social needs.
Building a Comprehensive Agency-University Partnership
Abstract University-community partnerships are receiving increased attention in an era of rapid change and fragmented resources. This case study of a multi-county consortium of social service agencies in collaboration with four graduate social work programs and two foundations represents an innovative approach to building a partnership through the use of a consortium as a mediating structure. With a focus on training, research, policy development, and a think tank, specific implications for developing agency-university partnership are identified. The case is embedded in the expanding literature on university-community collaboration.
Preservice courses for interprofessional practice
Preservice education is the arena in which persons begin to formulate, refine, and adopt the values of their profession (Simpson, 1979; Waugaman, in press). These values continue to shape their professional practice throughout their careers resulting in extended professional commitment and a high degree of self-identification with the profession. Education for the professions, therefore, extends beyond the boundaries of transmitting a specific body of knowledge or a particular group of skills. It has a continuing impact on the practice of the profession and the shape of that practice. Preservice education influences the identity and selfunderstanding of the professional long after its formal conclusion.