UMass Boston’s campus is scheduled to be the host for this year’s Carter Partnership Award, which will be presented by Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former President Jimmy Carter, on September 27 in the new Campus Center’s ballroom, to celebrate the achievements of statewide campus-community collaborations.
UMass’ John W. McCormack Graduate School for Policy Studies and the Massachusetts Campus Compact will be giving the presentation of the Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration.
Three finalists, chosen from the 21 entrants, will attend the reception, dinner, and award ceremony. Along with the prestigious recognition for their exceptional progress, the winners will receive $10,000 towards their respective collaborative mission.
The award is dedicated to the Carters for their lifetime service toward stronger, healthier, and safer communities. The purpose of the partnership award is to increase awareness in order to build strong collaborations between communities and campuses across the state, and also to encourage the integration of education, business, community, and government on important social and economic issues.
The ceremony will be enlightening, in that it will show what people have been working on for the numerous campus-community collaborations, according to Sandra Blanchette, the assistant director of the McCormack Institute for Public Affairs.
Of the numerous applicants for the award, the three finalists will be: Wentworth Institute of Technology’s and the Mission Main Resident Services Corporation’s Mission Hill/Fenway Technology Collaborative, The Possible Selves Partnership between Mount Holyoke College and Girls Incorporated of Holyoke, and the University Park Partnership between Clark University and the Main South Community Development Corporation.
Those attending will learn who the winner is during the ceremonies on September 27.
Meeting the criteria for receivership of the award is difficult. Among other qualities, the collaboration must have been around for two or more years, had a history of shared decision-making, made efforts to enlist a wide range of collaborators, been able to blend learning, research, and services for higher-education, and all which must have met with measurable and positive outcomes.
The commitment was made by Massachusetts in 2002, making it the second state, after Jimmy Carter’s home state of Georgia, to grant the distinction of the Carter Partnership Award. The past two years of planning and organizing for the event have generously supported by the Anne E. Casey Foundation.
In what is sure to be a high profile affair, with tickets being sold for $100 each, the event will provide an opportunity to showcase the new Campus Center and may also serve as a model for other states looking to become involved in honoring and celebrating campus-community collaborations via the Carter Award. For more information regarding the event, people should please contact the John W. McCormack Graduate School For Policy Studies at (617) 287-5550.