Our Mission

University Neighborhood Partners brings together University and west side people and resources in reciprocal learning, action, and benefit — a community coming together.

Our Vision

The University and west side neighborhoods share a vision of a community woven together through partnerships based on mutual empowerment, discovery, and learning rooted in diverse life experiences. By addressing systemic barriers to educational success, these collaborative partnerships foster increased access to higher education for west side residents, a University enriched by its involvement in the broader community, and an enhanced quality of life for all involved.

Our Values

• UNP is committed to mutual respect, empowerment, and learning rooted in diverse life experiences.
• Understanding and knowledge are furthered by the open, active, and mutual sharing of information and resources.
• Multiple kinds of knowledge and life experiences are central to address social, community, and University issues.
• Knowledge is power and must be available to everyone.
• It is the right of all people to have access to the greatest range of opportunities; it is the choice of each individual how to utilize these opportunities.

Strategic Dimensions

Dimension 1: Human & Environmental Health

Facilitate increased access to community-led and culturally/linguistically responsive healthcare and healthy lifestyles.

Key Strategies

• Support residents entering health professions and foster a locally-grown health workforce through educational pathways and partnerships with health systems.
• Create and cultivate community-centered spaces where residents and their partners can address the full spectrum of mental, physical, social, and environmental health priorities.
• Develop and strengthen partnerships that decrease barriers west side residents face when accessing care, including those related to finances/insurance, language, transportation, and culture.
• Convene a network of environmental organizations, community leaders, and partnerships addressing critical priorities such as air quality and food.

Dimension 2: Community Capacity & Leadership

Amplify resident leadership and voice across priority areas through individual and organizational capacity building, leadership structures, and engagement from local institutions.

Key Strategies

• Strengthen capacity-building supports for community-based organizations in human and environmental health, education,
  and other priorities with an emphasis on fundraising and financial sustainability.
• Increase learning and mentorship opportunities that support residents in engaging civically around issues that they care about.
• Ensure that residents and their organizations are in leadership and decision-making roles within all partnerships across priority areas.
• Expand education and support for organizational partners to build their partnership capacity and implement community partnership plans.

Dimension 3: Education Pathways & Careers

Cultivate education and career pathways through which residents can improve their quality of life and advance personal and community goals.

Key Strategies

• Advance community-centered youth educational opportunities in school and community spaces in partnership with students and families.
• Increase access to scholarships for postsecondary education and training by partnering to develop new funds and communicating more effectively about existing ones.
• Reinvigorate relationships with Salt Lake City School District and Granite School District and identify promising areas of collaboration and reciprocal learning — for example, dual credit/enrollment programs.
• Leverage old and new partnerships with local businesses and nonprofits to support career-connected learning experiences such as internships and apprenticeships.

Dimension 4: Research & Data

Convene and support community-engaged research and evaluation partnerships tailored to bolster partnership work in all priority areas.

Key Strategies

• Honor and amplify strong community-engaged research partnerships through awards, grants, and other recognitions.
• Establish systems for tracking resident-defined metrics of community change and societal impact over time.
• Develop community-engaged research partnerships that bring together community and university partners in reciprocal learning and to address identified priorities in each partnership area.
• Use multiple forms of data to document and tell the story of the UNP network and its impact to external stakeholders.
• Create opportunities for academic and community partners to build their capacity to collaborate on research and ensure research is community-driven.

Dimension 5: Relationship & Visibility

Connect with a broader cross-section of west side residents, local organizations/institutions, and national audiences to increase awareness of, and engagement with, the UNP network.

Key Strategies

• Develop a “speakers bureau” made up of residents and other partners who are supported in sharing stories about the UNP network and forging new connections.
• Invite west side communities that are less involved with UNP to engage with existing initiatives and explore possibilities for partnership.
• Weave together west side SLC and WVC communities through partnerships that bridge across zip codes and help to develop a shared story of the “west side.”
• Extend UNP’s connections with groups doing related work across the country through virtual education, social media, conference presentations, and publications.