Our Approach
Mission & Goals
The "Fully Engaged" University: Universities are at a critical time in their existence, and there is a widespread and sustained call for a re-thinking of university engagement in the issues and problems of society. PSRP since its beginning has addressed the question of how universities, especially Land Grant ones, contribute to society for the improvement of the public good.
Our focus on outreach or engagement, as it is now called, is an important element of the UC Davis academic mission. To do scholarly outreach is to engage with public entities on issues of concern to the university and society at large. In Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef's words the mission is to "create real partnerships with our communities, partnerships in which we define problems together, share goals and agendas, develop common definitions of success, and pool or leverage University, public and private funds."
The distinctive mission of PSRP is to foster partnerships in applied research, education, and outreach on significant issues of public concern, particularly to do with the environment. Our goals are to engage the research and scholarly outreach expertise and resources of UC Davis in addressing important issues of society and to provide a bridge between university research knowledge and public understanding, bringing research findings to bear on public policy and decision making.
Strategies & Models
Over the years, PSRP has developed a distinctive style of operation where we promote partnerships among campus researchers and between campus and public partners on collaborative, interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach on issues particularly addressing California's environment. We have served as a point of contact for research information originating both on and off campus. The Program has represented the University in the region and State through its work with public communities and agencies. PSRP facilitates the capacity of campus constituencies to engage in collaborative interdisciplinary research and scholarly outreach and the program creates and supports new initiatives and new infrastructures for this purpose. It helps establish communication and cooperative research between public agencies, community organizations, and UC faculty, staff and students and develops workshops, conferences and publications in support of public service research and outreach. PSRP develops initiatives that increase the capacity of campus members for engagement and scholarly outreach.
We apply standard models of outreach such as workshops and presentations, and we develop new strategies and models of engagement to broaden and deepen the University's role in society. Our Community Liaison Program is a new engagement strategy for working with communities on environmental problems. It functions like an environmental clinic, providing graduate students with training and practice, much like a university law or medical clinic. For communities, it provides access to university knowledge and expertise.