University of Minnesota
HHH
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The Humphrey School of Public Affairs is the University of Minnesota's school of policy and planning.


Community Engagement

Engagement with the community and with partner organizations is fundamental to our work.

Community Partners

  • Association of Metropolitan School Districts
  • Communities of Color Institute for Organizational Leadership and Development
  • Faculty of Aboriginal and Islander Studies, University of South Australia International Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Education
  • University of Auckland McKnight Foundation
  • Minneapolis Urban League
  • Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning
  • McKnight Foundation
  • National Community Reinvestment Coalition
  • Urban Coalition

Communities of Color Institute for Organizational Leadership and Development

One of the most important outcomes of the Wilkins Center's 1996 report on Minnesota eighth-grade test scores was a series of community meetings the center conducted with communities of color to discuss the achievement of their children. Working with the Communities of Color Institute and a group of community leaders, the center conducted one forum in each community of color—African American, American Indian, Asian, and Latino/Chicano. Each night the discussion focused on the achievement of that particular community's children. Each meeting was held in a central community meeting place, facilitated by a member of the community, and publicized in community media. Because of this planning, participants felt a sense of ownership and comfort about the forums. They felt free to discuss the research, ask questions, and consider, as a community, solutions for improving achievement. Each forum attracted more than 100 participants. In addition to community participants, representatives of the Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools and the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning attended each forum. Due to the reported success of these events, this model will serve as a model for future center outreach efforts.

Faculty of Aboriginal and Islander Studies, University of South Australia International Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Education, University of Auckland

Since 1996, the Wilkins Center has built important working relationships with its colleagues at the Universities of South Australia and Auckland. The second World Conference was presented by the Wilkins Center and Faculty of Aboriginal and Islander Studies, with important contributions by the International Research Institute. Both organizations also were instrumental in the Wilkins Center study trip to Australia and New Zealand. Scholars from all three organizations have also visited their overseas counterparts and participated in important information exchange and research.

Minneapolis Urban League

Out of the 10-year strategic plan grew a further alliance with the Minneapolis Urban League. The League asked the Wilkins Center to conduct a survey of grocery prices in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Humphrey students collected grocery prices in a variety of neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding suburbs. They then determined that inner-city residents pay higher prices and have less choice when buying groceries than do suburban residents. This project helped Humphrey students strengthen their data collecting skills and analysis through the process of both collecting the primary data and reaching a final conclusion.

Minnesota Department of Children Families and Learning, Association of Metropolitan School Districts

In 1995, the Association of the Metropolitan School Districts approached the Wilkins Center to conduct the initial study of eighth-grade test scores. With the association's assistance, the Department of Children, Families and Learning joined in the project and provided support and data essential to a comprehensive analysis of student achievement. In the current center study of test scores, analyzing 1997 and 1998 results, the relationship with the Department of Children, Families and Learning has been key to designing the study and obtaining all test score and demographic data needed to complete the analysis.

Community Dialogues

The initial effort to reach out to local communities of color was developed through the Community Dialogues program. This program helps improve communication and understanding between individual communities of color to help them work together on pressing social and economic issues. Individual communities first meet as a group to discuss concerns and issues they would like to address at the next meeting with another community. Through this initial meeting, each group focuses on its interests, and participants learn to work together. In a subsequent two-hour forum, the two communities meet to discuss common issues as well as misunderstandings that hinder a better relationship between the two groups. Sessions are facilitated by community leaders and remain off-the-record to promote a safe, comfortable setting in which participants can honestly address issues separating communities and to plot a course for future relationships.