Regional Stewardship Center Created At WKU; Five Forums Set For Regional Leaders

August 06, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University has created a regional stewardship center to help match university and community resources to regional needs.
           
The center is funded through a $200,000 award from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and the Kentucky General Assembly. All of Kentucky’s regional universities have been invited to participate in the program which is the first in the nation where state funding has been set aside to begin such an extensive regional planning initiative. WKU’s designated geographic area is the same 27-county region that CPE has designated as WKU service area.
           
“The role is to serve as a matchmaker, bringing together the university and community resources needed to turn good ideas into sustainable initiatives that vitalize communities across our region,” Katrina Phelps, ALIVE Center director, said.
           
WKU faculty and students will be provided incentives to apply their research to the identified regional problems with the goal being to increase the university’s capacity to be responsive to its constituents and enhance the quality of life for the region.
           
The new program will be housed at the ALIVE Center (A Local Information and Volunteer Exchange), which is now called the WKU ALIVE Center for Community Partnerships.
           
Five informational sessions have been set for regional leaders throughout the service region. Lunch will be served at each and those wishing to attend should R.S.V.P. to Aurelia Spaulding at (270) 782-0082 or Aurelia@alivebg.org. The session will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time at:

            Sept. 6, Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, 2840 W. Parrish Ave., Owensboro
            Sept. 10, WKU-Glasgow Regional Center Room 131 Glasgow
            Sept. 13, WKU Downing University Center Room 340, Bowling Green
            Sept. 17, Campbellsville University, Winters Dining Hall, Campbellsville
            Sept. 20, WKU-Elizabethtown Regional Center Room 303 AB, Elizabethtown
           
The ALIVE Center will continue to serve as a clearinghouse for information about nonprofits in Bowling Green and Warren County and provide meeting space and support services to nonprofits that need them. The new program will eventually expand to include a building next door to the ALIVE Center on 31-W Bypass in Bowling Green, and both locations will form the WKU ALIVE Center for Community Partnerships.
           
“One of the WKU goals is to eliminate traditional boundaries between government agencies, schools, and local businesses in identifying and addressing community needs,” WKU President Gary Ransdell said. “WKU, through its expansion of the ALIVE Center and the creation of the WKU ALIVE Center for Community Partnerships, is committed to expanding its research and services to addressing larger regional challenges.”
           
Dr. Phelps added: “Regional stewardship builds on the premise that ‘place matters’ and that we all have a role in making our communities good places to live and work. Through partnerships, we can imagine and enact creative solutions to challenging social, economic and environmental issues facing our region.”

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For more information, contact Dr. Katrina Phelps, (270) 745-4311, or Leah Ashwill, (270) 782-0812.