UC Berkeley chancellor to announce university/community partnership awards
BERKELEY – On Thursday, Sept. 18, eight of the leading innovative programs that represent partnerships between the University of California, Berkeley, and northern California community groups will be honored on campus at the fourth annual Chancellor's University/Community Partners Recognition reception.
Hosted by UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl and his wife, Peg Berdahl, this community recognition event highlights projects in the areas of access to higher education, public health, science and environmental education, social welfare, services and resources for persons with disabilities and learning difficulties, and youth/business mentorship. The programs being honored involve a broad representation of UC Berkeley faculty, staff, students and community groups.
"These exemplary partnerships between the university and our neighboring communities align many strengths," said Chancellor Berdahl. "Working together, we can increase our impact substantially. I am very proud to recognize and celebrate these remarkable partnerships, which improve many lives and demonstrate the kindness, determination and strength of the human spirit."
The 2003 programs being honored are:
- Community Health Academy: This public health partnership includes the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Alameda County Public Health Department and East 14th Street Crossroads neighborhood of Oakland. The academy promotes the physical, mental, spiritual, environmental and economic health of the community by training participants as community agents of change.
- Destination: College AmeriCorps Program: Over 70 UC Berkeley undergraduate AmeriCorps members are trained and placed in more than 20 Bay Area schools to tutor and mentor low-income, potential first-generation college students about college acceptance rates and admissions, test scores and grades.
- Eastmont Digital Griots En-Route to College (E.D.G.E.): A digital storytelling class for middle and high school students, E.D.G.E. combines training in filmmaking, writing, critical thinking and preparation for college. Partners include the campus's Institute of Urban and Regional Development and other UC Berkeley departments, Castlemont and Fremont high schools and University Preparatory Charter Academy in Oakland, Eastmont Computing Center and Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal.
- New Learning Clinic: The UC Berkeley Extension Department of Education works with various local schools, nonprofit organizations and agencies to provide low-cost screenings, assessments, one-on-one remediation and small group instruction for students and adults with learning disabilities. Participants in the clinic, which recently partnered with the City and County of San Francisco Department of Human Services, receive in-depth assessments and information on successful models for improved learning environments, effective workplace accommodations and academic skillbuilding.
- Plant Genomics Training and Education Program: The National Science Foundation's Potato Genome Project promotes science education and environmental awareness through public exhibits, community biodiversity gardens, and summer training and education workshops using real-world application of the latest genomic technology. Partners include the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), UC Berkeley Plant Gene Expression Center, College of Natural Resources, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC Botanical Garden, El Cerrito High School, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Yakama and Makah nations of the state of Washington.
- School of Social Welfare - Allen Temple Baptist Church Partnership: This unique social welfare outreach program works with Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland to bring UC Berkeley social work students into the inner city. The students provide comprehensive and preventive services by mobilizing community resources and bridging the division gap in social work education between direct services and community organization.
- World Institute on Disability/Disability Studies Program: A long-standing partnership between the Oakland-based institute and UC Berkeley created the campus's Disability Studies Program. Today, it involves 35 faculty members from academic units across the campus. The institute is leading the effort to bring disability groups together to develop in the city of Berkeley the Ed Roberts Center, which will provide services, research, education and advocacy for people with disabilities.
- Young Entrepreneurs at Haas: Using the principles and real-life lessons of business finance and entrepreneurship, undergraduate mentors from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business motivate, educate and support students in grades 9-11 to achieve higher education and connect school personnel to campus resources. Community partners include McClymonds High School in Oakland and Mission High School in San Francisco.