THE EVOLUTION OF INSTITUTIONAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES AT URBAN UNIVERSITIES FROM URBAN SERVING TO INSTITUTIONAL-FOCUSED IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD: A STUDY IN ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY

Abstract

Universities have immense impact on their communities as well as their local and regional economies. The role of public urban universities has changed significantly in recent decades as they seek to extend their influence beyond their adjacent communities with the intention of achieving recognition from regional, national, and international audiences through strong public relations marketing and rankings. Understanding the widening scope and mission of modern institutions is essential to explain their approach to urban planning and partnership-building in their local communities. One example of this is the attempted partnership between the City of Atlantic City and a public New Jersey University to establish a branch campus in an urban center experiencing extreme financial distress. Fraught with conflict, the high-stakes negotiating process to create a new campus involved multiple stakeholders, each with a strong need to secure benefits from one of the few opportunities on the horizon to rebuild the city's shrinking economy. The project occurred amidst a state government takeover that limited the city's ability to represent the interest of its population. This dissertation provides an in-depth study of that negotiating process based on first-hand participation and interviews with different stakeholder groups to gain an understanding of the motives, reasoning and challenging outcomes of this project as a window into the role of modern anchor institutions. It identifies the goals, interests, and strategies of the negotiating parties, exploring how the university conceives its role as an anchor institution within a globalizing world.