Evolution of a Campus/Community Partnership: The University-Oakland Metropolitan Forum

Abstract

The University-Oak/and Metropolitan Forum, a partnership of jive colleges and universities with the Oakland, California community, has become a valued source of technical support and the initiator of many community-building programs in the areas of economic development, education, and neighborhood revitalization. The Forum has evolved through three distinct stages over eight years, first building trust and credibility, then organizing several major policy development campaigns, followed by a period of diverse, smaller-scale applied research activities. Now the partnership is entering a fourth stage in which it will strengthen the bonds among the five institutions of higher education and broaden its support of community services.