"Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept."
— Joachim Prinz
The focus of the Center for Community solutions is to address community need through providing project-based, community-engaged learning experiences for students, enabling their applying knowledge and skills learned, and community partners value through achieving organizational goals and objectives with needed assistance at no cost to the community partners. Thus, the CCS is central to informing, growing, and sustaining the University’s community engagement and leadership as an institutional priority and demonstrating the genuine commitment toward actualizing its public mission through serving as an anchor within community and meeting community need.
Our Mission
- To facilitate university and community connections as a single point of contact
- To connect campus resources with community needs
- To provide opportunities for students to develop and apply their problem solving skills while enhancing their educational experience
- To promote the professional expertise of our faculty and staff to external clients as requested across a range of business areas and topics
Areas for Potential Community Partnership
- The Arts
- Education
- GIS and Planning
- Government
- Health and Wellness
- History
- Marketing and/or Brand Development
- Organizational Planning and Leadership
- Research
- Social Justice
- Social Media and/or Video Production
- Sustainability
- Tutoring and/or Mentoring
- Website and/or App Development
- Writing
Dr. Julie L. Dietrich – CCS Director and Executive Director of the Office of External Relations
Dr. Julie L. Dietrich serves as the institution’s primary government relations officer, cultivating and sustaining relationships with local, state, and federal elected officials and their offices, and a leading liaison within community. Through her position, Dr. Dietrich focuses upon executing strategic community and economic development as well as facilitating communication and negotiating partnerships among key leaders to help leverage and optimize the use of institutional assets and addressing community need.
Courtney M. McDowell – Graduate Assistant in the Office of External Relations
Courtney M. McDowell is a graduate student in West Chester University's online MBA program. Her primary role is to provide support to the Office of External Relations through the Center for Community Solutions. She is passionate about serving her community by working collaboratively to build systems and programs that benefit the general public and improve the welfare of everyone involved.