Provost Sharon Warren Cook, Director Helen-Margaret Nasser and Professor Jason Leggett recently published an article about the ongoing mental health crisis in higher education. In that short paper, we discussed culturally sustaining methods and emphasized the importance of institutional ethnography and transformative learning theory to work toward equitable social change. We employed institutional ethnography to understand the diverse experiences of individuals within the crisis from three different viewpoints. We know there are many more viewpoints that were not represented and we encourage you to share with us as we bring programming and networking opportunities this spring. 

Another suggestion we made was to prioritize creating equitable spaces that include diverse voices in decision-making processes. We want to build on the great work that the Kingsborough community has engaged in, especially difficult conversations and coming together across differences, from crisis moments like Hurricane Sandy and the pandemic. We know that despite administrative turnover, you have been diligent in working together in spaces that are often unrecognized and undersupported. We encourage you to work with us as we work to mobilize resources and change some of the deficit-minded language and silences we have all experienced. 

We also want to share a letter that probably speaks to many of you. We know that we are all exhausted, undergoing many stresses, and yearning for more community-based opportunities. With the help of Education Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, Dr. Joanna Maulbeck, we have been working with community-based organizers to learn more about how to effectively use place-based community engagement and to address persistent challenges to our most vulnerable communities. We conducted two focus groups and have been engaged in reflective practice to both write an essay about what place-based practices Kingsborough has struggled with over the last ten years, what we have done well, and where the Center for Civic Engagement, the Student Union & Intercultural Center, and Academic and Student Affairs can lead as we navigate the future. We will be documenting this work at the following webpage: https://cekcc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/projects/

 a. Overview of Place-Based Approaches

In the study titled Leadership Practices for Place-Based Community Engagement Initiatives, Erika Yamamura and Ken Koth defined place-based community engagement (PBCE) in higher education as a long-term, university-wide commitment to partner with local residents, organizations, and other leaders to focus equally on campus and community impact within a clearly defined geographic area. This definition of PBCE includes a number of key components:

1. a geographically defined focus,

2. equal emphasis on campus and community (50/50

proposition),

3. long-term vision and commitment,

4. university-wide engagement that animates the mission and

develops the institution, and

5. drawing upon collective impact (Yamamura & Koth, 2018).

   b. Importance of Community Engagement and Service Learning

   c. Purpose and Scope of the Toolkit