A longtime University of Iowa initiative has been recognized by a leading national organization for its excellence and exemplary best practices. Campus Compact, the largest national coalition of colleges and universities dedicated to community engagement, has bestowed its Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnership Award on the Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC).
Founded in 2009, IISC has worked with more than 60 communities across Iowa. The program crosses disciplinary boundaries to develop innovative approaches to complex challenges. Students, faculty, and staff collaborate with community partners to complete projects in areas such as planning, public affairs, policy, engineering, visual arts, journalism, marketing, and environmental sciences.
Responding to the UI's strategic plan
Campus Compact’s president Bobbie Laur said the award recognizes “outstanding programs and initiatives that exemplify the core principles of effective civic and community engagement—reciprocity, collaboration, transdisciplinarity, and sustainability—and address specific social issues affecting communities, such as public health, violence prevention, economic development, K-12 education, climate change, or houselessness.”
IISC’s work responds explicitly to the university’s strategic plan by providing high-impact learning experiences that prepare students for an increasingly diverse work environment and bringing learning and discovery into the service of the people of the state of Iowa, including improving lives through community and economic vitality.
“We are incredibly honored to receive the Campus Compact Excellence Award for Community Engagement,” says Travis Kraus, director of IISC and a faculty member in the School of Planning and Public Affairs. “The credit for our success belongs to the faculty, students, and community partners who bring innovation, enthusiasm, and dedication to IISC collaborations. This recognition fuels our commitment to creating meaningful connections and lasting positive change in the state of Iowa."
Amanda Thein, Dean of the Graduate College, said, “The Graduate College is thrilled that IISC has been chosen for this prestigious award. We could not be prouder of their ongoing success.”
Delivering substantial outcomes to Iowa
One of IISC’s recent partners was the City of Dubuque. During the 2023-24 academic year, more than 100 students, faculty, and staff completed 16 projects on behalf of the city, ranging from an affordable housing to a strategic communications plan for the city’s sustainability office. The director of that office, Gina Bell, said that in addition to receiving professional-level work that will help the city move forward more quickly in multiple areas, it also forged important relationships with the UI. “Department heads in Dubuque now have contacts in engineering, planning, and foreign languages—to name a few,” she said.
Kraus notes that IISC’s staff has years of experience in campus-community collaborations: “Central to our work is ensuring faculty find meaningful projects that meet their learning objectives, while listening to our partners’ needs so that we can deliver substantial outcomes.”
Campus Compact is the largest and oldest higher education association dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement. Its college and university members make up a force of thousands of presidents, faculty, researchers, students, and civic and community engagement experts at colleges and universities. The award ceremony will occur in April during Campus Compact’s annual national conference in Atlanta, GA.