UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 7
October 17, 1996
UD hosts joint national conference on urban service

     More than 100 persons representing about 75 universities
across the country, including Yale, Stanford and Texas A&M,
gathered in Wilmington last week for a joint national conference
of the Urban Community Service Programs of the U.S. Department of
Education and the Community Outreach Partnership Centers Programs
of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
     There was one main reason for the conference's location in
the First State: the University of Delaware.
     As one of the few universities in the United States to have
federally funded community outreach programs funded by both DOE
and HUD, the Center for Community Development in the College of
Urban Affairs and Public Policy was asked to serve as host for
this national conference, held Oct. 8-9 at the Holiday Inn in
Wilmington.
     "We're very pleased we were asked to serve as host for this
first national conference of university community service
programs," Dan Rich, dean of the College of Urban Affairs and
Public Policy, said, "and it's especially fitting that the
conference is taking place on the 35th anniversary of our college
and of urban community service programs at the University of
Delaware. It's wonderful to have all our colleagues- in the state
and region, as well as from the national level-with us to affirm
the value of such programs."
     The conference's keynote presentation by Chester Hartman,
executive director of the Poverty and Race Research Action
Council, focused on "Bringing Researchers and Activists Together
To Fight Poverty and Racism." He told the conference participants
he was impressed by the community outreach work under way. "I
really salute you for making universities real tools of social
change, of constructive, progressive social change. That's what
universities-at least a good part of them-ought to be all about."
     Other conference speakers included Charlotte Kahn, director
of the Persistent Poverty Project of the Boston Foundation;
William L. Smith, director of Empowerment Zone/Enterprise
Community Task Force of DOE; and Michael Stegman, assistant
secretary for policy development and research at HUD.
     The conference also included field trips to a variety of
local agencies, including the Latin American Community Center,
the Ministry of Caring, Neighborhood House, Peoples Settlement
and the Delaware Center for Justice. The University is working
with these agencies on projects that are partially funded by DOE
and HUD grants.
     In conjunction with the conference, the College of Urban
Affairs and Public Policy marked an important milestone as it
celebrated 35 years of community service. A reception at Arsht
Hall on Oct. 8 was held for conference participants, University
administrators and faculty and community leaders. Delaware Lt.
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner presented a certificate of appreciation for
the college's service to Delaware's communities.
     In 1961, the Ford Foundation awarded the University's
Division of Urban Affairs a $500,000 grant to develop a
permanent, ongoing system of education, research and service
relating to urban policy issues of particular concern to the
state and region.
     The division conducted a longitudinal evaluation of the
impact of efforts by the private-industry-funded Greater
Wilmington Development Council to improve housing and social
service delivery in the city and worked with both Democratic and
Republican Wilmington mayors to evaluate and recommend changes to
the city's tax structure, which were implemented through state
and local legislation. The division's success was recognized in
1966 by a supplemental Ford Foundation grant to continue its
outreach programs.
     Over the next 10 years, the division launched an
interdisciplinary graduate program addressing the challenges of a
changing urban society, including both the M.A. (first awarded in
1973) and the Ph.D. (first awarded in 1976), as well as the
Master of Public Administration (first awarded in 1978),
undertaken in cooperation with the Department of Political
Science.
     By 1976, in recognition of its growing responsibilities in
graduate education, research and service, the division was
renamed the College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy.
     College public service and research programs continue to
benefit the state and its communities, even as they have expanded
their scope to national and international issues and provided
opportunities for graduate students to gain professional
experience.
     Each year, 300-350 public, private and nonprofit
organizations use the college's research expertise and
educational services to collect and analyze information, evaluate
policies, develop management systems, plan for future needs and
train managers, officials and community leaders.
     These groups include international organizations, federal
government agencies and national nonprofit organizations, in
addition to local, county, statewide and regional organizations
and agencies in the mid-Atlantic area.
     Through its role as the secretariat of the Urban Affairs
Association-the professional organization for urban scholars and
researchers-the college also works closely with other leading
urban affairs programs in North America and Europe. In addition,
the college has cooperative research agreements with institutions
in Europe, Africa and Asia.
     The college's Center for Community Development is-in
mission-the lineal descendent of the original program funded by
the Ford Foundation. The center aids public, nonprofit and
private organizations in Delaware addressing the needs of low-
and moderate-income communities.
     It also supports graduate education and conducts
interdisciplinary research on local and community-based economic
development, housing, poverty, urban and neighborhood planning
and governance and the use of nonprofit and private resources in
community development.
                                                    -John Brennan