About

The Roger Williams University Community Partnerships Center (CPC) is a centralized home to an array of RWU resources. These resources come from within RWU’s liberal arts and professional degree programs, as well as from strong relationships with external organizations. Through the CPC, these resources are organized and made available to a wide spectrum of non-profit, municipal and community groups to carry out projects throughout Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.

The CPC provides RWU students at the undergraduate and graduate levels with meaningful, project-based educational experiences which address real community needs through coursework, team projects, scholarships, internships and externships.  These projects provide “real world” experience that is integrated with their growth as scholars and future practitioners.

The CPC provides communities with valuable services through its work with client organizations, government agencies and community organizations as they seek to achieve their missions.

The Goals of the RWU Community Partnerships Center are to:

1. Provide trans-disciplinary assistance to communities, focused on issues of neighborhood design and preservation through project-based partnerships with non-profit organizations and government agencies.
2. Provide well-organized and educationally valid “real-world” experience for undergraduate and graduate students during appropriate phases of their academic careers at the University.
3. Provide a standardized system for soliciting appropriate projects with qualified community partners and efficiently synthesizing those projects with RWU's academic programs.
4. Provide opportunities for faculty/student collaboration on project-based activities, linking the classroom with the community as part of real projects that improve the economic, social and physical environments.
5. Create and maintain strong, functional long-term relationships with community and government partners (such as the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation) to effectively engage RWU in affordable collaborative activities for the benefit of the citizens of the state and region.
6. Provide an impetus for project-based (rather than research-based) fund-raising activities. Project-based donor relationships, contracts and foundation and corporation grants will allow the CPC to provide deliverables of great value externally to our community partners as well as internally within the University.
7. Consistently highlight the synergy between and among RWU’s academic programs and the CPC in providing valuable services to the community.