Thank you for participating in the 2017 CUMU Annual Conference: The Urban Advantage. Take some time to explore the program and create a customized schedule. Use the search and filter functions to view presentations by date, presentation type, keyword, presenter, and home institution. You can also save a seat for yourself in limited-occupancy sessions.
As anchor institutions, urban Universities are uniquely positioned in their local communities to influence the economy, support community organizations, and be a change agent in combating social issues in their geographical area. For organizations with a mission to improve the community, collective impact may be the best way to maximize the effects of that influence. Collective impact describes an effective form of inter-organizational collaboration in which multiple organizations with the same mission align their activities and goals in order to more efficiently mitigate social and economic problems. How valuable is this kind of approach? What do Universities need to know about collective impact? University members who are dedicated to or interested in community engagement and want to know more about collective impact should attend. This interactive workshop will include small group discussions prompted by the presenters, including the editor of a forthcoming special issue in the Metropolitan Universities Journal concerning collective impact. University and faculty members have opportunities to become involved in collective impact efforts either as a partner or as a backbone organization, and we will discuss the benefits of both.