March 29, 2011 - 8:13pm
'U' College of Pharmacy one of three finalists in award for community partnership
BY LILLIAN XIAO
The University's College of Pharmacy was one of three finalists for the 2010 Carter Partnership Award. The College of Pharmacy's partnership with Hope Medical Clinic was nominated in addition to Grand Valley State University and the Godfrey-Lee Public Schools Summer Literacy Center, and Michigan State University's Adolescent Diversion Project.
The award — called the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership for Campus-Community Collaboration — is given to university and community group partnerships that address public needs in health and safety. The award includes a $10,000 prize to be divided equally among the chosen university and its community partner, and was presented to MSU and the Adolescent Diversion Project at a ceremony held in Acme, Michigan last night.
The University was chosen as a finalist for its partnership between the College of Pharmacy and Hope Medical Clinic, a free medical clinic in Ypsilanti run by volunteer health professionals. The University has partnered with Hope Clinic for just over five years, and the partnership involves the volunteering of students and faculty in pharmaceutical and clinical services, according to a document provided to The Michigan Daily by Dennis Gilbert, senior communications officer for the College of Pharmacy.
The partnership brings awareness to students about health disparities and social justice while relieving Hope clinicians of time spent preparing, documenting and providing medications, allotting them more time for interaction and care, according to the document.
The clinic provides over 7,000 patient visits annually, according to thehopeclinic.org.
Organized by the Michigan Campus Compact, a coalition of 42 college and university presidents upholding the civic engagement side of higher education, the award highlights the importance of lasting relationships that develop between universities and community centers in creating opportunities, said Renee Zientek, the executive director of Michigan Campus Compact.
“The award not only recognizes community service but the complex decision-making that is involved in such joint ventures,” Zientek said.
According to Jackie Taylor, a Michigan Campus Compact board member, colleges and partners nominated their organizations through an extensive application process, which included their evidence of outcomes and accomplishments as demonstrated through newspaper articles, for example.
Taylor said that the partnerships not only benefit the community but the student volunteers as well.
“(The partnership) is critical because it recognizes the value of having students out in the community, of having students create long-term relationships,” Taylor said.
She added that since these are not just one-time volunteer efforts, university and community partnerships give students practical learning experiences, which in turn generates momentum in the universities’ communities to sustain the partnership.
There were 16 nominations this year, which were evaluated by a panel to determine the three finalists. The three remaining partnerships were determined based on the combined merits of campus and community programs, according to a Dec. 21, 2009 press release by the Michigan Nonprofit Association — an organization that promotes the work of nonprofit groups in the state and with which Michigan Campus Compact is affiliated.
The panel, which decided the final winner, was comprised of six representatives who work throughout Michigan in the sectors of higher education, business and government organization.
