By Vicki L. Baker, PhD
Albion College
E. Maynard Aris Endowed Professor in Economics and Management
Faculty Director, Albion College Community Collaborative (AC3)
Initiated as part of a pilot effort, the Albion College Community Collaborative (AC3) was launched in spring 2021 with one simple goal – to create an experiential learning opportunity that deploys the attributes of a liberal arts college education while also aiming to support students’ development of skills and abilities that exemplify a liberal arts education (e.g., critical thinking, solving complex problems across disciplines, interdisciplinarity) -- all in service to the public. Conceived as an experiential learning lab, students serve as management consultants working in service to and in collaboration with community organizations seeking to solve organizational, community, and social issues.
Modeled after the consulting industry career pathway, students enter AC3 as junior consultants, working as part of a team, in partnership with a community organization. As students advance in seniority, knowledge, and skills, they serve as senior consultants where they assume leadership responsibilities for targeted aspects of the client engagement while also mentoring the junior consultants on their teams. Finally, should a student continue in AC3, they are promoted to team lead where they run point with their client, mentor the junior and senior consultants on their team, and work with AC3 leadership on client procurement and other strategy level issues. The result – students, community partners, faculty, and staff working together as co-creators and disseminators of knowledge and practice.
To date, over 130 students have participated in AC3 (with 25 more registered for fall 2022). These students represent all four divisional areas (natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine and applied arts), and a diversity of career and academic interests as well as demographic characteristics. What all these students have in common is a passion for contributing to the communities with which they have and seek membership (e.g., doing good), while also enhancing their professional skills, knowledge, and abilities as they develop as engaged citizens (e.g., doing well).
In AC3 we have been fortunate to have partnered with 10 community organizations which include Albion Economic Development Center, The Cutler Center for Student Success, Black & Rossi, The Mann House, Walk the Beat, White House Nature Center, and Institutional Advancement and Athletics. This fall, we will onboard two new clients: Albion Public Safety and the Albion Lion’s Club. Projects span strategic planning, business plan development, sales and marketing strategy, web and social media design and development, supply chain optimization, and recommendations to enhance DEI hiring and training practices. Through this work, students along with our community partners, see and experience the immediate impact of the collaboration.
At its core, AC3 is the quintessential liberal arts college education initiative that requires interdisciplinary teams of students, faculty, staff, and community partners bringing together diverse experiences, viewpoints, and disciplinary expertise to solve unscripted problems – one community partnership at a time.