University of South Florida

COMMUNITY INITIATIVE

Universities have become major actors in today’s knowledge based society. As such they can no longer remain secluded ivory towers, removed from the social problems that surround them. Recognizing this, in 1998 the College of Arts and Sciences launched the CAS Community Initiative, which identifies the community outside the University as an integral part of its educational mission to acquire, disseminate, and apply knowledge.

In its ten years of existence, the CAS Community Initiative has developed several concrete and integrated efforts to link the teaching, research, and service components of our College with the interests and needs of residents, community-based organizations, governments, and businesses in the local area. Several of these programs are curricular, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Other activities provide college faculty and students with the technical assistance and resources necessary to participate in engaged scholarship. In 2006 the CAS Community Initiative moved from the Dean’s office to the Department of Geography because of its growing focus on the urban and regional issues of the Tampa Bay area.