Baltic leaders visit Rutgers
Archived article from Dec 14, 2001
By Rochelle Runas
Recognizing the important role universities can play in the development of communities, 24 leaders from several Baltic countries are studying partnerships between American universities and communities. The study is part of a new project at Rutgers' Center for Russian, Central and East European Studies.
The University-Community Relations Program in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is a project in which government, community and university leaders from these countries study the dynamics between a university and its surrounding communities. The Center's Local Democracy Partnership Program received an award of $199,000 from the U. S. Department of State to conduct the project.
"Universities are key to developing communities," said Ann Graham, associate director of the Local Democracy Partnership Program. "The goal of the project is to acquaint the participants with a range of American experiences and successes in fostering effective, open and mutually beneficial collaborative programs among universities, government, community leaders and nongovernmental organizations."
During Dec. 3-8, 13 leaders from the three countries participated in internships and field visits at Rutgers' offices of university relations, alumni relations, community affairs, government relations, career services, the School of Social Work, the Citizenship and Service Education Program, Cook College Continuing Education, the Bloustein School of Planning and Urban Policy, the Eagleton Institute and the women's and gender studies department, among others. Participants also interned at Brown, Harvard, Portland State and the University of Vermont.
The leaders studied small business development; development of local government; economic, workforce and community development; research applications; public policy dissemination; fund raising; and media and public relations.
During the week of Dec. 10-14, all 24 leaders convened at Rutgers to work in university-community teams to develop plans to implement when they return home.
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