NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In 2014, a community scan conducted by Harper College revealed that people in Harper’s service area didn’t feel connected to the college. Community members expressed that they only heard from Harper when the college needed something.
That feedback spurred Harper to create a community relations program and a community relations manager position.
“Harper is the community’s college,” Harper College President Avis Proctor said in a session at the American Association of Community Colleges annual convention.
Proctor was joined on the panel by Amie Granger, the college’s community relations manager, and Jeffrey Julian, Harper’s chief of staff and vice president of external relations.
There are three guiding strategies to Harper’s community relations model: awareness, knowledge and engagement. The goal is to move community members through each level.
Building awareness and knowledge
With “awareness,” the Illinois college is working to increase exposure to Harper programs, events and resources. That’s done through broad outreach. The college’s most recent strategic plan built in resources for increased outreach and events.
For example, the college created a mailer that is sent to new residents, so they know Harper is there for them. In one year, three mailings reached 24,000 households.
The “knowledge” strategy builds on awareness by improving on community members’ understanding of these programs, events and resources.
Granger said that she wants Harper College to come up naturally in conversations around the community. When someone is chatting in line at the grocery store and says, “I really want to do this,” Granger wants people to respond with, “I bet Harper can help.”
Engaging with the community
Third is engagement, and Harper has targeted populations for different engagement activities: youth, community partners and the community at large.
Youth engagement is a big focus for Granger – particularly 5th through 8th graders.
Prior to Harper’s community relations program, maybe 200 to 300 students from area schools would visit the campus each year.
By building better relationships with the schools in their service area, building out field trip experiences and covering the cost of school buses and lunch for the visiting students, the college has brought more than 28,000 students to campus and has partnerships with more than 40 schools. Harper staff also participate in schools, attending school-sponsored events.
“Schools really want to engage with us,” Granger said.
Stronger ties with businesses, organizations, too
Harper also engages with community and business organizations, like the Rotary Club and business associations, and with organizations that provide resources to the community, such as libraries and food banks.
The college works with an organization that takes a mobile food pantry into lower-income neighborhoods each week. Harper College staff goes along to help out and to meet community members, and to let them know about resources that the college can provide.
Harper started doing that in June 2023 and has connected with more than 6,000 families.
Partner organizations also are invited to host events on Harper’s campus, often for no charge. It strengthens relationships and brings new people to the campus – a win-win.
Another way the college creates awareness is by hosting its own events on campus, such as an eclipse party in 2024 that included science experiments and other activities. That event brought about 4,000 people to the campus. The college also has hosted a “haunted hospital” in the college’s simulation hospital at Halloween, along with an annual Truck-or-Treat celebration. There are STEAM fairs for families to attend, where everyone can visit labs at the college and participate in hands-on activities.
Many staff and faculty across campus volunteer their time to help with events, and student clubs get involved, too.
No one leaves these events empty-handed, Granger said. Attendees are given materials about Harper, as well as some goodies.
The outcomes
So, what does the community say now? In a 2023 community scan, 88% of residents said they’re aware Harper serves their area, versus 77% in 2019. And 74% of residents have visited Harper for an event, class or to use a facility, versus only 29% in 2019.
In addition, 70% are likely or very likely to recommend Harper.
More people are taking classes at the college, too: 49% of residents have taken a course, according to the 2023 scan, up from 36% in 2016 and 2019.
“Community relations, when done well, illuminates the path to the institution for folks who never really thought college was for them,” Julian said.
And it’s not just about boosting enrollment. Proctor said Harper has a responsibility to help “lift citizens out of poverty.”
All this work in the community helped Harper in 2018, when the college needed the community to pass a referendum. It passed with 61% of voter support.
“When you’re out there when you don’t need something, the community will be there when you do need something,” Julian said.
