Our Mission
Founded in 1992, the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community
Partnerships is Penn’s primary vehicle for bringing to bear the broad
range of human knowledge needed to solve the complex, comprehensive,
and interconnected problems of the American city so that West
Philadelphia (Penn’s local geographic community), Philadelphia, the
University itself, and society benefit. The Netter Center is based on three
core propositions:
- Penn’s future and the future of West Philadelphia/Philadelphia are intertwined.
- Penn can make a significant contribution to improving the quality of life in West Philadelphia/Philadelphia.
- Penn can enhance its overall mission of advancing and transmitting
knowledge by helping to improve the quality of life in West
Philadelphia/Philadelphia.
The Netter Center works to achieve the following objectives:
- Improve the internal coordination and collaboration of all university-wide community service programs
- Create new and effective partnerships between the University and the community
- Create and strengthen local, national and international networks of
institutions of higher education committed to engagement with their
local communities
Through the Netter Center, the University currently
engages in three types of activities: academically based community
service, direct traditional service, and community development.
Academically based community service is at the core of the Center’s
work. It is service rooted in and intrinsically linked to teaching
and/or research, and encompasses problem-oriented research and
teaching, as well as service learning emphasizing student and faculty
reflection on the service experience. Approximately one hundred fifty
courses (from a wide range of disciplines and Penn schools) link Penn
students to work in the community. (A steady increase in the number of
academically based community service has occurred since 1992 when only
eleven such courses were offered.)
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"The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them."
Albert Einstein
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