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About the College

STRATEGIC PLAN: GOAL 3

STRATEGIC GOAL 3

Deepen community engagement

Exchanges between CADA and its external partners are built on mutual trust, communication, and collaboration and are reciprocal and generative.

CADA’s location in the heart of Chicago is a great asset 
that has been used in many ways in our teaching, research, 
and service activities. Building on that strong foundation, we will support opportunities for CADA’s faculty, students, 
and staff to engage and create partnerships with communities in Chicago and beyond. CADA is in a strong position to both reflect Chicago and contribute to the 
city’s vibrancy in a way that aligns with the college’s mission 
of public education. Beyond Chicago, our faculty 
and students engage with national and international communities through collaborations, fieldwork, and study abroad programs.

To deepen our community engagement, we will:

1. Build an infrastructure that enhances socially engaged research, collaboration, and service through strategic investments in:

An accessible archive of existing projects, teaching, and learning experiences that create community;



training and practical resources for community-engaged work, including grant-writing support; 



enhanced resources for community projects, such as staffing and transportation; and



providing visibility for existing and future community projects.


2. Enhance community partnerships — ongoing and new — and support community-based work in curricula. Potential activities may include:

Exploring curricular integration and different models 
of engaged work that involve students and collaborators more deeply in community research and service activities;



investing in new local partnerships, including through existing campus resources such as the UIC Neighborhood Centers; and



strategically investing in relationships with funders, and local and global programs and organizations.


3. Use CADA’s physical spaces, including Gallery 400, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, other existing spaces, and the planned Center for the Arts, as portals to strengthen our relationships with external communities and each other, prioritizing ways for students and faculty in different disciplines to connect with each other’s work and for the promotion of Chicago-based community-engaged work.


CONTENTS
Mission Dean’s Message History Board of Advisors