The University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP) was founded in 1997 to formally coordinate non-profit organizational needs with faculty research expertise in the Philadelphia area. The underlying premise of the UCCP is that institutions of higher education can play a critical role in urban revitalization through a strategic application of their human capital resources. The UCCP operationalizes this principle through its active partnership with the community-based organizations and through its intentional development of a network of faculty, students, and staff from Philadelphia area colleges and universities who are engaged in action-oriented, community-driven research activities. Ultimately, we hope to develop a better understanding of the problems that plague low income communities, identify solutions to those problems, and develop the organizational capacity within communities for addressing these problems.
In leveraging the human capital resources of universities, the UCCP works closely with two constituent groups–community organizations and youth. The objective in both cases is to increase the capacity of marginalized groups to articulate their goals and to access the resources of governmental, economic and social systems to achieve those goals. The UCCP’s collaborative work includes the following activities: community driven, action oriented research, highly customized technical assistance, strategic planning, coordination of key resources and actors, and direct service provision.
The UCCP focuses its efforts in two primary areas: community economic development and youth civic engagement. Our approach in both areas is one of intensive network development across communities, universities, age cohorts (e.g. youth and adults), social worlds (e.g. college students and low income, inner city youth), and cities (e.g. Philadelphia and Chicago). The UCCP’s formal structure, its outreach, and its collaborative approach to research and other programmatic supports, all foster this development of rich networks.
Website: www.temple.edu/uccp
Contact: UCCP, c/o Political Sciende Dept, Temple University, 1115 West Berks Mall, Philadelphia PA 19122. Director: Barbara Ferman
