University Assisted Community Schools

University-Assisted Community Schools National Network

Led by the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships, The University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS) Network, connects leaders within the field to further advance UACS policy and practice.

In 2015, with the increasing number of colleges and universities developing university-assisted community schools (UACS) and innovative university-school-community partnerships, the Netter Center, in collaboration with the Coalition for Community Schools, organized the University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS) National Network.  In UACS, colleges and universities serve as lead partners providing broadly based, sustained support to community schools, which educate, engage, empower, and serve public school students, families, and all community members in the school’s neighborhood. 

The UACS National Network has led to the development of UACS nationally.   As of 2025, over 1,200 members representing about 300 higher education institutions are part of this professional learning community that includes not only higher education leaders, faculty and staff, but also community school partners, including schools and districts, teachers unions, community organizations, government agencies, and foundations.

The network fosters the exchange of resources and practices that help advance UACS partnerships. Activities include

• Hosting and co-hosting virtual meetings and in-person conferences;
• Hosting site visits by request.  For example, the Netter Center regularly hosts site visits for colleagues from around the country and globe who are interested in learning from and adapting the Center’s work.  

Interested in learning more about the UACS National Network? Contact Cory Bowman, Director of the UACS National Network and UACS Regional Training Centers programs, and Associate Director of the Netter Center (bowman@upenn.edu) and Naorah Rimkunas, Associate Director of the UACS National Network and Assistant Professor of Community Schools Binghamton University–SUNY, (rimkunas@binghamton.edu)

Sign up for the UACS Network Newsletter.

Read issues of the Universities and Community Schools journal.

Learn more about UACS Regional Training Centers.

Access recordings and additional materials from recent national zoom calls. These can be found in this Google Drive folder: UACS National Network Calls – Partnership Examples and Resources

Access slide presentations from the November 2024 Community Schools and University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS): Partnerships that Change Schools, Communities, and Universities for the Better Conference co-sponsored by the University-Assisted Community Schools National Network and the Northeast Region of the Coalition for Community Schools.  Materials can be found in this Google Drive folder: Conference Presentation Materials.