UC Berkeley Press Release

Chancellor' Community Partnership Fund established

By Irene Hegarty, Community Relations | 20 April 2006

BERKELEY – A new Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund established by the University of California, Berkeley, will distribute $200,000 in grants this year to support projects that link UC Berkeley with the community to improve the quality of life for Berkeley residents. Funds will be made available annually through 2020.

Local community groups, non-profit organizations and neighborhood associations that establish a project in partnership with a UC Berkeley academic or administrative department or with individual faculty and staff members or students will be eligible to apply for funding.

"The Community Partnership Fund expands UC Berkeley's commitment to public service and to partnership with the city of Berkeley," said Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. "We believe that this fund will stimulate new and creative approaches to meeting community needs."

Through a competitive process, grants will be awarded in two categories. The first is for neighborhood improvement projects that enhance the physical environment of Berkeley neighborhoods or of facilities that serve the community. The other will address community support and service projects that enhance the economic, social or cultural well-being of Berkeley residents.

"I am excited about the opportunities the fund offers to residents and community organizations to become directly involved in the improvement of their neighborhoods," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. "The Community Partnership Fund will help forge closer connections between the community and the campus."

An advisory board of community leaders and representatives of the city and university developed the goals, criteria and process for awarding partnership grants and will review and recommend projects for funding. Grant proposals for the inaugural year are due by June 15, 2006. The grant awards will be announced in August 2006.

As part of its agreement with the city following the adoption of the UC Berkeley 2020 Long Range Development Plan, annual allocations to the fund will be made through the year 2020, and proposals will be solicited on an annual basis.

UC Berkeley's Office of Community Relations and The Berkeley Alliance are hosting an informational public workshop on the grant application process on Tuesday, May 2, at 3 p.m., in room 150 of University Hall, located at the foot of the UC Berkeley campus at the corner of Addison and Oxford streets.

Information about the fund and a grant application package are available at the UC Berkeley Office of Community Relations, 2200 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. For questions about the fund, contact UC Berkeley Community Relations Director Irene Hegarty at (510) 643-5296 or hegarty@berkeley.edu.