The University of Oregon’s Community Service Center (CSC) will receive the 2013 Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association’s (OAPA) Special Achievement in Planning Award at the OAPA conference in Portland on May 30.
For 40 years, the CSC has linked the skills, expertise, and innovation of higher education with local planning, economic development, and environmental issues to improve quality of life for Oregon communities and residents.
The CSC service-learning education model provides student-participants important service and professional experience by helping to solve community and regional issues.
The CSC started small in 1973, when then-UO faculty member David Povey envisioned a program that linked higher education with local communities to solve pressing community problems. The first project evaluated the impacts if Senate Bill 100 — Oregon’s innovative land use law that celebrates its 40th anniversary this month — was not passed. The result of that evaluation was a report, “Activities of Statewide Significance,” developed by six students and Povey. Since then, the CSC has grown to engage more than 120 students each year in more than 170 projects statewide.
The CSC includes four core programs: (1) Community Planning Workshop (CPW); (2) Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE); (3) Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (OPDR); and (4) Economic Development Administration University Center (EDAUC). These programs provide community service coordination, technical assistance, problem solving, connections with state and federal agencies, training, and applied research.
The CSC’s programs have expanded its reach, breadth, and depth over its 40 years. In 2011, the CSC’s projects engaged 4,924 community members, provided 1,018 training hours to community members, presented 241 times at community meetings, engaged 125 students, and completed 174 projects for 53 Oregon cities and 34 counties.
The CSC partners with the UO Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) and the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. CSC has a professional staff of six practitioners who provide key insights and direct experience in the planning field that complements PPPM’s academic programs.
Story by Joe McAndrew