The bottom line in university-community engagement is bettering the community in which we live—whether that community is near in proximity or based on relationships that span the globe. At Georgia College, that means addressing issues that the community sees as opportunities for change, helping to develop sustainable, collaborative initiatives that will endure beyond the involvement of today’s students in order to make a lasting contribution to our society.

MORE THAN 200 BALDWIN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN ARE LEARNING THE VIOLIN, thanks to Georgia College music students like Megan Hill, who just finished her fourth semester with the afterschool Youth Enrichment Services (YES) program. Students learn the basics, including a few simple songs, and a greater appreciation for music.

Georgia College graduate students Tiffany Cannon and Dupe Adebayo help approximately 30 Milledgeville families receive educational resources and support to succeed in school.

“As site coordinators for the ASPIRE Program, we serve as liaisons between families and the community,” said Cannon. “We’re constantly reaching out to the community for resources—whether it’s transportation to get parents and their children to school or work or helping families pay bills while they attend class.”

The ASPIRE Program, a family literacy initiative operated by Communities in Schools, takes a holistic approach to help families break the cycle of illiteracy, unemployment and poverty by providing educational services to the whole family.

UNIVERSITIES ALSO ADD AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE AND FLAVOR TO OUR COMMUNITIES, enlarging and enhancing our definition of community to embrace a global perspective.

At Georgia College, our Connections initiative in the Center for International Education links newly arrived international students with community members who offer to provide friendship and support. Richard and Arlene Mueller, who have played host to several Georgia College students throughout the years, most recently hosted Chinese student Jingran Zhao, who just graduated and entered a Ph.D. program at Emory University. Families often maintain contacts for years with their international students, or even visit them in their native nation.