Initiatives

Given Baylor’s position within the local community of Waco, it began a multi-pronged strategy to drive COVID awareness and vaccinations within the local community. As part of this effort, Baylor created an open and transparent COVID dashboard to detail real-time information on COVID cases and vaccination rates (students & employees), transformed into a mass testing and vaccination site for the community, using its own facilities to administer tests and vaccines, and built its own testing lab to process PCR exams to drive 100% testing of the student body each week during Spring 2020.

The economic shutdown has displaced many workers in Southern Nevada, an economy which is heavily reliant on hospitality and tourism. Many minority communities in Southern Nevada have been significantly impacted by the pandemic, and the College of Southern Nevada's (CSN) Ability to Benefit program will facilitate serving students that have historically been underserved or do not have the resources to access short term training through Workforce Education and Training programs, either for lack of resources to cover tuition costs or due to having minimal resources to continue their career pathway that leads into a credit program and credentialing.

Georgia Tech's new strategic plan sets the university's ambition to "Be an anchor institution, partner, and catalyst of sustainable development in our city and our state." Central to amplifying impact as an anchor partner in the community are relationships with the PreK-12 community. This initiative will expand on Georgia Tech's existing PreK-12 STEM programs to amplify the university's impact by identifying, engaging, and developing PreK-12 students (and their educators) to cultivate early interest and aptitude in STEM. This effort will help to elevate the socio-economic status of local communities by measurably increasing the number of Pre-K-12 students from financially vulnerable situations who strengthen their knowledge and skills in STEM.

Envision Green is a joint program of Michigan State University (MSU) and Lansing Community College (LCC) designed to help students start at LCC and finish their bachelor's degrees at MSU. As LCC's former President Knight said early in the planning process for Envision Green, "The leap across Michigan Avenue [the street that separates MSU and LCC] is fraught for LCC students." This is especially true for first generation and Pell-eligible students and for students who identify with minority groups. Envision Green addresses the roots of these challenges in order to maximize access, equity, and opportunity for mid-Michigan students and increase the number of Michigan citizens with college degrees.

COVID impacts on communities of color have been disparate. Disproportionately negative impacts have exacerbated disparities in healthcare, financial equity, employment and access to services. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University's initiative focuses on inclusive recovery by using our newly developed model of Innovation and Economic Engagement (Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities). The summit is an event and a partnership process to support engagement opportunities and strengthen existing partnerships for economic development.  

Pathways to Opportunity is a statewide initiative being led by PCC that aims to close opportunity gaps and increase economic mobility by expanding the federal, state, and local resources available to low-income students so more individuals can attend and complete community college. The initiative seeks to help students who are experiencing at least one form of basic needs insecurity (food, housing, etc.) access services and braid together funding. Basic needs insecurity is the major barrier to access and completion for a large percentage of our students. These basic needs have to be addressed in order to have a holistic understanding of how to support the most underserved student populations toward degree/credential completion. 

Southern New Hampshire University's (SNHU) upskilling initiative supports unemployed and furloughed workers who were laid off during the pandemic. Through reskilling and upskilling opportunities for underemployed and unemployed workers at Southern New Hampshire University, these students can better prepare themselves for a career in the wake of COVID.

The $10 million Beyond Completion Challenge partners with Taskforce institutions and provides vital funding to launch, test, and scale innovations that improve career and life opportunities after graduation for more students, especially for those who have faced the greatest barriers to success.

Finding Opportunities and Resources to Grow Entrepreneurs (FORGE) is a new unit at the University of Arizona dedicated to cultivating entrepreneurial thinking on campus while simultaneously advancing an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the community. In addition to the devastating health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, local businesses have also struggled to survive and created challenges for those hoping to start new businesses. The Advanced Entrepreneur Program (AEP) responds directly to these community and economic needs by offering early-stage entrepreneurs with an 8-week ‘business bootcamp’ that covers customer discovery, market validation, and team formation with the aim of preparing them for launch or incubation.

UC Davis, the city of Sacramento and Wexford Science & Technology signed the Aggie Square Community Benefits Partnership Agreement (CBPA) that solidified a commitment to neighborhoods around Aggie Square, the university’s new campus-hosted innovation district. Aggie Square is located on the UC Davis Sacramento campus. Central to the CBPA and the public-private partnership is a collaborative effort to bring jobs and job training to Aggie Square. It promotes affordable student housing, better transportation options, and youth education programs. Jobs for local community members are being prioritized, and more than $50 million is being directed to an affordable student housing fund.

University of Minnesota's program aims to increase graduating teachers of color by allowing working professionals in schools to become certified while continuing their employment. This will benefit schools and K-12 students by increasing teachers of color and help address the severe shortage of teachers of color in Minnesota. Participants will receive a graduate degree, and potential for higher income and job security.

Oregon Public Health Corps is the natural successor to the Corona Corps, where the University of Oregon will more permanently develop a program to teach, train, and deploy the next generation of the public health personnel. The program will equip the state and a student workforce prepared to respond to a range of future public health challenges. With an initial focus on Southwest Oregon, the Oregon Public Health Corps will: strengthen Oregon's public health infrastructure through student education, training and deployment; reduce health disparities by providing equitable access to public health support; and expand the entire state’s future public health workforce.

The development and implementation of new anti-racist instruction is currently underway at the Center for Urban Education Success at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education, in conjunction with school districts and community partners. The curriculum continues to be taught in Monroe County classrooms this school year. Local school leaders recognize the necessity to engage students in rich learning experiences about Rochester’s history with issues of equity and social justice. According to a 2020 EdBuild report, Monroe County has the most economically segregated school district border in the nation, walling off the high-poverty education system from its affluent suburbs that surround the city. 

Wake Tech's service area (which includes Raleigh, Wake County, and the Research Triangle) is a talent magnet. But talent magnets do not necessarily serve the needs of locals in need of economic mobility. Through Wake Tech's Ladder Works initiative, the college is taking strategic action to strengthen its role as a talent ladder, reaching out to the under-resourced and under-employed, connecting numerous options for training and higher education, and assembling a seamless ladder from high school to a livable wage.