Who We Are
The University of Georgia embarked on a new adventure in 2005.
As an institution dedicated to teaching, research, and public service excellence, the University of Georgia aspired to enhance connectivity between the university and the communities to address the state's critical community economic development needs. Building on a nearly century-long pursuit of its outreach mission, the university sought to expand and simplify access to higher education resources to cities and counties throughout Georgia. In 2005, the Archway Partnership was born – an exciting initiative of "portal" counties through which communities gain the wealth of faculty and student expertise, who, in turn, gain practical experience outside of the classroom. Collaborative projects are tailored to address priority issues uniquely identified by each community.
The first portal was established in Moultrie/Colquitt County in March 2005, and, from all accounts, the pilot has been successful. Not surprisingly, this single seed has quickly taken root and spread to five additional communities. In this first expansion, Archway leadership made a concerted effort to select counties that were geographically diverse and representative of the variety of communities in Georgia:
- Sandersville/Washington County in central Georgia;
- Brunswick/Glynn County on the southeast coast;
- Clayton County, one of seven counties comprising the Atlanta metropolitan area;
- Hartwell/Hart County and Dalton/Whitfield County in the northeast; and
- Sumter and Pulaski Counties in the southwest quadrant.
A model similar to that tested in Moultrie/Colquitt County is being applied: a single county as the “hub” for activity throughout the surrounding contiguous counties. Thus, the growth in Archway communities has driven a parallel expansion in the demand for university resources to address priority issues. Since the start of the Partnership, most of UGA’s schools and colleges have participated in community projects in one way or another. Over 150 students and 50 faculty members have engaged in collaborative projects ranging from needs assessments to marketing campaigns, architectural design to summer arts camps, business plans to resource directories. The possibilities are limited only by the community’s priorities, creativity, and resourcefulness.
A key function of the Archway Partnership is the linkage and process established to bring community stakeholders together in a routine and systematic basis to work for the betterment of their community. Local stakeholders include city and county governments, boards’ of education, chambers of commerce, development authorities, technical colleges, local colleges and universities, hospital authorities, and similar entities. The partnership provides a mechanism for grassroots needs assessment, strategic planning, and the connecting of higher education resources that can be beneficial in helping the community achieve its goals and objectives. Archway communities have established a strong reputation for collaborative effort that is unprecedented.
The Archway Partnership has been the vehicle to bring all of the community stakeholders together in one room to identify and solve community problems; the mechanism that brings higher education resources to bear on those problems; and the platform embraced by the entire campus to bring to bear the full weight of UGA on local issues.
