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Anurban university (which in some cases may be referred to as anurban-grant university ormetropolitan university) is a U.S. term for an institution ofhigher learning that is socially involved and serves as a resource for educating the citizens and improving the health of the city or region in which it is located.[1][2] That is, the urban university must be “of” the city as well as “in” the city. A metropolitan university includes a similar mission; however, its research has national and international implications and its student body includes a significant number ofinternational students.[3] Many institutions have further defined what urban and metropolitan universities encompass.
The Committee on Urban Programs defines an urban university as having "a campus located in a major urban area and a substantial number ofcommuter students. It provides a broad range ofundergraduate,professional, andgraduate programs, and makes all levels ofhigher education more accessible to students living in the urban community. Through urban-oriented education, research, and service strategies, an urban university manifests a deep sense of responsibility to its urban constituencies and attempts to assist them in coping with their problems."[4]
In 1995, P.E. Mulhollan authored the study, "Aligning Missions with Public Expectations: The Case of the Metropolitan Universities" for the book titledMetropolitan Universities: An Emerging Model in American Higher Education and defined a metropolitan university, in its simplest terms, "[as] an institution that accepts all of higher education's traditional values in teaching, research, and professional service, but takes upon itself the additional responsibility of providing leadership to its metropolitan region by using its human and financial resources to improve the region'squality of life."[4]
Furthermore, metropolitan universities likeArizona State University,Ohio State University,University of North Carolina at Charlotte andFlorida International University also focus on national as well as global initiatives and issues regarding globalsustainability.[5][6] Through institutes such as theOhio State University Health Sciences Center for Global Health and the ASU School of Sustainability'sGlobal Institute of Sustainability, research initiatives addressing regional issues are utilized to answer questions on a national and global scale. This is accomplished by sharing technology and innovation with international organizations, research institutes, and serving as models for otherresearch universities.[7][8]
At one time the term urban university might be used only to describe institutions located incentral cities. This is no longer the case asurban sprawl and the advent ofedge cities has not so much made urban obsolete as to change conventional notions of what constitutes urban. Today an urban or metropolitan university is one located in anurban agglomeration irrespective ofpolitical boundaries (state lines) oradministrative definitions.[9]
An urban or metropolitan university operates with a closely meshed and intertwined mission, milieu, and environment. An operational definition of the urban or metropolitan university would incorporate both its setting and the constituency it serves.[10] TheCoalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and theCoalition of Urban Serving Universities provide several criteria applying to such institutions in the United States:[11][12]
More than six dozen universities in theUnited States would qualify as urban or metropolitan universities under these criteria; however, mostland-grant universities are not traditionally considered urban or metropolitan.[2]Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis,George Washington University,New York University,Syracuse University,University of California at Los Angeles,Rutgers University,University of Minnesota,Portland State University,University of Louisville,Temple University,University of Washington andUniversity of Nebraska Omaha are examples of well-known urban and metropolitan universities.[13][14]
The termurban university is sometimes used to refer to public institutions with largepart-time and commuter student bodies. Such usage sometimes tacitly assumes relatively low academic standards as implicit in the student body's low income and part-time, commuter status. Clearly, such criteria are not necessary to the definition of an urban university and may reflect subtleracism andclassism that tacitly equates certain groups with lower academic abilities and achievement. Insofar as this is true, urban universities have been criticized for contributing toinstitutional racism[citation needed].
The history of university-community relations in 20th century America was characterized by periods of optimism and innovative action followed by disillusionment.[15] During the years when cities were rapidly growing as a result ofimmigration andmigration from thecountryside, academics contributed to the search for solutions to urban problems and played a major role in theProgressive movement. AfterWorld War I, research became increasingly esoteric, its focus shifting to national and international issues, until, with the 1960s, efforts to find accommodations with a restive local community spawned a wide variety of new programs. The advent of new technology appeared to satisfy needs for both research and jobs, but it also produced new frictions. In the present decade, new models for university-community partnerships and cooperation have evolved andcivic engagement has been linked more closely with the educational mission of the urban and metropolitan university.[16][1]
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