UAlbany Honors Community Partners Making a Difference Locally and Globally

Participants in the community-based Women's Health Project in Hudson, N.Y., pose at the President's Awards for Exemplary Community Engagement event. (Photo by Mark Schmidt)

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 13, 2013) — The University at Albany honored a diverse array of exemplary partnerships between UAlbany and community groups which address important public needs and make an impact in the Capital Region and beyond at the 2013 President's Awards for Exemplary Community Engagement. A total of nine partnerships were honored.

The awards are part of President Robert Jones’ efforts to advance UAlbany’s progress as a community-engaged research university.

The 2013 award winners are:

• Umaru Barrie - UAlbany junior, founder and president of Sankofa Africa Organization, dedicated to both local and international humanitarian efforts.

• Albany SNUG (guns spelled backwards) - a local public health project run by the Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region based on the CeaseFire Chicago model. SNUG is committed to preventing violence among youth and young adults.

• The Center for Excellence in Aging and Community Wellness in UAlbany’s School of Social Welfare - builds local and statewide infrastructure to prevent, reduce and better manage chronic disease among older adults and adults with disabilities.

• The Center for Humanities, Arts and Technosciences within UAlbany’s College of Arts and Sciences - conducts innovative programming, largely in public humanities, to enhance the intellectual and cultural life of the region. 

• UAlbany’s Committee on University & Community Relations - addresses quality-of-life issues in areas where many students living off campus reside.

• G3: Going Green Globally - a program within UAlbany’s full-time MBA program where student teams, guided by faculty and other experts, work with local organizations to develop their clients’ strategies for environmental sustainability.

• Service Outcomes Action Research - a community-based participatory research project involving UAlbany faculty and the staff at the LaSalle School and St. Anne Institute to improve treatment services and outcomes for high-need youth.

• Small Enterprise Economic Development - a public-private partnership enabling low-income and jobless individuals in the region to start or expand a small business through character-based micro-loans.

• The Women's Health Project – community-based participatory research addressing the needs of low-income underserved women in Hudson, N.Y for reproductive health care. A project of the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities

A message from President Jones and full descriptions of the winners are available on UAlbany’s Community Engagement page.

Since becoming the 19th president of the University at Albany on January 2, Jones has hosted a series of campus forums on community engagement featuring Dr. Andrew Furco, a global scholar in this field, and has charged the Campus Committee on University-Community Engagement with developing recommendations based on the discussions. Dr. Jones is also leading a nine-county tour of the Capital Region, listening and learning about the region’s educational, cultural, business, civic, and recreational assets from area leaders.

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