UC|21 Team Forges Key Relationships and Partnerships

Since coming together last Fall, the UC|21 Goal 4 group has tackled a variety of action items from becoming an international leader in experiential education to creating a “front door” to UC resources for the community. In its work, the group has not unexpectedly discovered a wide array of current initiatives associated with each of the its assigned action items. Early in the group’s investigation it became clear that the University has abundant resources and on-going programs.

"What is needed is first a way to connect these resources through bold ideas and structures that could be easily accessible both internally and externally," said co-leader  Jan Hillard, associate dean, Clermont College. "In this spirit, the group has fashioned a number of recommendations that bring together resources and address needs in areas where the University has an opportunity to make a real difference for its internal and external stakeholders."

To forge meaningful and sustainable partnerships, the team proposes, UC must offer to the larger community not only ideas, but tangible and accessible ‘portals’ that bring together our collective strengths and most importantly, make ‘navigating’ and benefiting from the University’s collective expertise a positive experience with lasting results.

The Goal 4 group has developed two recommendations that address the group’s charge “to work to improve the health and wellness of the UC and Greater Cincinnati communities”. The first recommendation presents an idea for bringing together existing resources, programs, and expertise to address the ever-important issue of mental health. The second presents an idea for meeting the medical and health care needs of low-income and at-risk residents of the Over-the-Rhine community.

The first recommendation is built upon leveraging existing campus mental health services to establish an accessible, comprehensive, interdisciplinary mental-health and counseling center. This Center would address a service delivery gap currently at UC, providing students with comprehensive and accessible services, delivered in a timely and effective fashion. The Center would facilitate not only service delivery improvements but serve as an inter-disciplinary bridge for new partnerships across relevant academic disciplines, as well as foster an new understanding and awareness of mental health as a foundation for students’ academic success, retention, and quality of life. UC collaborators behind the idea would include: student affairs, Psychology, Counseling, Social Work, Students, and others. The Center would not require significant new resources and would be in part supported by fees for service. The Center’s success will be insured by the participation of campus-wide “champions”, educational, and communication efforts.

The second recommendation calls for establishing a comprehensive health-care services center in the Over-the-Rhine community. The goal of the center would be to help meet the needs of low-income and at-risk residents through a multi-disciplinary health center operated and staffed by UC faculty and students from across Colleges and the University Medical Center. The center’s mission would be consistent with the “Healthy People 2010" national initiative, to eliminate health services disparities among vulnerable populations. In addition to providing needed services, the center would provide a rich learning and applied practice environment that facilitates grant-seeking and community building. The Center would expand the presence of UC beyond the campus boundaries and demonstrate the University’s commitment to connect robust resources and expertise to Cincinnati’s most fundamental problems. The Center would seek financial support from the greater Cincinnati community, as well as a sliding fee for services.