Matching City Needs and University Resources: The Experience of the City University Consortium

摘要

The consortium is a joint project of the City of Detroit and Wayne State University working to (1) develop structures to facilitate interaction between city and university personnel to improve problem solving capacity of cities; and (2) apply the learning and methodological expertise of academic institutions. The report describes the development and implementation of a consultation process, a commonly used resource method implemented in the study. The process is presented from the points of view of the city, the consortium committee, and the university. A history of 15 consultations are reported and include problems concerning proposal development; bus driver training; assessment of exhibits; public housing vacancies; energy demonstration and conservation; management analysis; clerical, mechanics, and manager's training; reading skills; youth and housing rehabilitation; options for a new health code; and water pipelines. The consultations are assessed with respect to their impact on the city and satisfaction of the participants. Documents of one case study are included in the appendices.