Press Release
Contact: Debra Humphreys
Vice President for Communications
and Public Affairs
202.387-3760 ext. 422
humphreys@aacu.org
Program for Health and Higher Education Selects 7 Colleges and Universities to Develop High School-College Partnerships That Address Student and Community Health Concerns
Washington, DC—February 1, 2004—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) recently announced the names of seven colleges and universities selected to participate in a new student health initiative as part of its Program for Health and Higher Education (PHHE). With eight competitively chosen colleges and universities participating in its initial phase, Project PITCH (Partners in Teaching Community Health) is a consortium of institutions developing and expanding high school/college partnerships addressing community-based health issues.
The following institutions are the first set of schools participating in Project PITCH:
- Eugene Lang College of New School University (NY)
- Hampton University (VA)
- North Carolina A&T State University (NC)
- Plattsburgh State University (NY)
- Stony Brook University (NY)
- University of Arizona (AZ)
- University of Pennsylvania (PA)
The projects participating schools are developing increase educational opportunities for students in at-risk high schools and link campuses and their surrounding communities.
Project PITCH assists these institutions in planning or adapting high school/college collaborations in which high school and college students work together on research projects on complex health questions of immediate relevance to their community.
These collaborations are targeted toward three main goals: 1) to raise awareness of—and engagement with—critical health and health-policy issues in high school and college students and in their communities; 2) to incorporate several important learning strategies including collaborative learning, undergraduate research, and interdisciplinarity; and 3) to improve the transition of high school students to college by engaging them in college-level work while still in high school.
“These high-school/college partnerships, by their very existence, emphasize the civic mission of colleges and universities,” said AAC&U Senior Fellow, Richard Keeling. “In their organization and structure, they support the development and strengthening of relationships between universities and multiple constituencies within surrounding communities—schools, parents, non-governmental organizations, and elected officials.”
Project PITCH is part of AAC&U’s Program on Health and Higher Education (PHHE). PHHE provides leadership, through a coordinated set of activities, to enable American colleges and universities to improve both the education and the health of undergraduate students by integrating issues of HIV and other complex health issues into the curriculum.
PHHE is funded by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health in Atlanta, Georgia.
For information about Project PITCH or other PHHE activities, meetings or publications, see www.aacu.org/phhe.
AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening liberal learning for all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Since its founding in 1915, AAC&U’s membership has grown to more than 1000 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.
AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.
Information about AAC&U membership, programs, and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.
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