Highlighted Partnerships
Towson University faculty, staff, and students collaborate with partners across Maryland to create positive impacts in the Greater Baltimore region. Below are examples and highlights of some of our partnerships.
Take the first step: Schedule a discovery meeting with the BTU Team
If you're interested in growing your community engagement and partnership work or exploring how BTU can support your efforts, contact the BTU team.
Advanced Forensics Field Investigations
TU lead: Dana Kollman, Ph.D., Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice
Partner: Bay Area Recovery Canines
Impact Area: Community
This interdisciplinary project is centered in the work performed by students in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, who have had success searching for and recovering human remains at the request of law enforcement and forensic archaeologists.
- Hands-on experience in helping a family
- Towson University forensic science students search Kentucky park for missing person from 1980
- Search renewed for Kenton County boy who vanished in 1980
- Towson forensics students join cold case investigations
College of Education and Urban Education
TU lead: Jessica Shiller, Ph.D., Dept. of Instructional Leadership & Professional Development
Partners: Baltimore City Public Schools, Afya Public Charter School, Calvin M. Rodwell Elementary
School, Forest Park High School
Impact Areas: Community, Education
Using Baltimore City as a case study, students study how racial inequity in urban schools came to be and how to combat it. Students learn about community schools and spend time in them, working with community school coordinators in the school programming.
Community Ecology Institute Program Development
TU Lead: Allysin Bridges-German
Partner: Community Ecology Institute
Impact Areas: Community, Education, Health
TU Occupational Therapy graduate students partner with the Community Ecology Institute to develop nature-based programs to facilitate participation of youth with disabilities in meaningful activities on a one-acre organic community farm in Howard County during their Community Health Initiatives course.
Empowering Secure Elections
TU leads: Natalie Scala, Ph.D., Dept. Business Analytics & Technology Management; Josh Dehlinger,
Ph.D., Dept. of Computer & Information Sciences
Partners: Harford County Board of Elections & Anne Arundel County Board of Elections
Impact Areas: Community, Economy, Education
The College of Business and Economics and Fisher College of Science and Mathematics are collaborating to examine potential physical, cyber, and human vulnerabilities to the voting process and create educational materials for Board of Elections personnel.
- Securing the election
- Protecting Maryland's polling places
- Anne Arundel County, a TU partner, recognized by federal government for election work
Fair Chance Higher Education Initiative
TU lead: Elyshia Aseltine, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice
Partners: Baltimore County Detention Center, Goucher Prison Education Partnership, Harford
County Detention Center, Jessup Correctional Institution, University of Baltimore
Second Chance Program, Volunteers of America
Impact Areas: Community, Economy, Education
Based off the successful creation of an increased Inside-Out cohort of TU faculty from emerging support in 2018–19, this project seeks to increase the capacity for formerly incarcerated individuals to access higher education and employment opportunities.
- Inside-Out Prison Exchange: Taking Education Inside
- Associate professor awarded fellowship to develop center for returning citizens at TU
- Aseltine named OSI Baltimore Community Fellow
-
Mitten professor Aseltine examines intersection of criminal justice, higher education
GIVE: Grantwriting in Valued Environments
TU lead: Zosha Stuckey, Ph.D., Dept. of English
Partners: The Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park, Ltd., Safe Alternative foundation for
Education, Inc., The Be. Org, Family Survivor Network, Black Girls Cook, Womb Work
Production, & St. Lukes Youth Center
Impact Areas: Economy, Education
This partnership advances students' professional writing goals by connecting their coursework to the writing needs of small non-profit organizations in the Baltimore/Washington region.
- Grantwriting in Valued Environments project
- Investing in partnerships. Investing in our communities.
Inside-Out Prison Exchange
TU lead: Elyshia Aseltine, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice
Partners: Baltimore County Detention Center, Harford County Detention Center, Jessup Correctional
Institution
Impact Areas: Community, Education
Inside-Out courses provide unique opportunities to bring TU students and incarcerated students together inside a correctional institution to learn together as peers. This successful emerging investment has transformed into a larger priority investment to further develop and support returning citizens.
- Inside-Out Prison Exchange: Taking Education Inside
- Investing in partnerships. Investing in our communities.
Sweaty Eyeballs Animation at the SNF Parkway Theatre
TU lead: Phillip Davis, MFA, Dept. of Art + Design, Art History, Art Education
Partners: Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theatre, Maryland Institute College of Art, Maryland
Film Festival–Stavros Niarchos Parkway Theatre, Central Baltimore Partnership
Impact Areas: Arts, Education
This community engagement curricular project offers students programming, networking and educational opportunities in the animation field and access to cutting-edge animators. The festival provides an opportunity for local audiences to experience animated films that might not otherwise have a clear path to distribution through the Station North Arts District in Baltimore. As part of a partnership with the Maryland Film Festival, Sweaty Eyeballs is part of a larger institutional focus on arts entrepreneurship.
TEAB: Teaching Environmental Awareness in Baltimore
TU lead: Sarah Haines, Ph.D., Dept. of Biological Sciences
Partner: National Aquarium
Impact Areas: Arts, Education
This partnership enables Baltimore City school students to explore the environment of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the Inner Harbor through hands-on experience at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
- TU partnership benefits Baltimore City students, Inner Harbor
- Teaching students about environmental awareness in Maryland
TU-BCPS Model United Nations
TU lead: Alison Rios Millett McCartney, Ph.D., Dept. of Political Science
Partner: Baltimore County Public Schools
Impact Areas: Economy, Education
The TU-BCPS Model UN program provides equal access to civic engagement learning experiences for students in Baltimore County Public Schools while providing TU students with hands-on opportunities mentoring high school students.
- TU-BCPS Model United Nations wins partnership award
- TU honored as “Engaged Campus"
- Celebrating university and community partnerships
- Model UN conference expands high school students’ worldviews
- Transportation funding increases partnership engagement
- Model UN celebrates 15 years at Towson University
TU Empowering Communities Project
TU leads: Aminata Silah, Ph.D., Dept. of Political Science; Donn Worgs, Ph.D., Department of
Political Science
Partners: A variety of black and/or minority-led Baltimore City nonprofit organizations
Impact Areas: Community, Economy
This partnership between the Department of Political Science and several nonprofit organizations is focused on economic empowerment and capacity building with goals around connecting nonprofits to opportunities, providing technical assistance, and facilitating collaborative ventures.
TU & Helping Up Mission
TU Lead: Mary Lashley, Ph.D.
Partner: Helping Up Mission
Impact Areas: Community, Health
Since 2003, Towson University and Helping Up Mission have been partnering to address the complex health needs of homeless men in recovery from chemical addictions while providing transformational, hands-on opportunities to Towson University students.