History & Background
M Partner is a community engagement effort that seeks to improve quality of life. M Partner offers a framework for community and university representatives to advance priority projects in partner cities across the state. M Partner affiliates with credit-bearing courses, offers community service opportunities, conducts research, facilitates internships, and provides technical assistance to advance community priorities. M Partner is a signature initiative of the Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement and its work to empower campus and community partners to fight poverty through education, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The M Partner model facilities curricular and co-curricular engagement opportunities from all academic disciplines across north Mississippi. Since 2018, M Partner has completed nearly 120 projects and engaged over 50 faculty/staff and over 800 students in the partner communities of Charleston (Tallahatchie County), Ecru (Pontotoc County), Lexington (Holmes County), New Albany (Union County), and Pontotoc (Pontotoc County). These projects have improved quality of life by supporting small businesses, promoting tourism, advancing food security, offering educational enrichment, promoting community health, elevating local history, and building capacity for nonprofit organizations.
Commitment to place is central to the idea of M Partner. While the formal affiliation period with a partner community lasts for 2 years, the Grisham-McLean Institute is committed to fostering long-term collaborations in each partner community. The CREATE Foundation’s Community of Excellence initiative, of which the Grisham-McLean Institute is a part, holds community meetings to identify priority projects to be implemented under the leadership of local CREATE affiliates. Union and Pontotoc Counties, home to former M Partner communities, are actively engaged in this process, as are Chickasaw and Tippah Counties.
The City of Oxford is the current M Partner community. Initial priority areas include food security, outreach to the Spanish-speaking community, and public transit. Additional priority areas have emerged around local history, tourism, and the social determinants of health. Click here for an overview of current projects in Oxford and in counties participating in the Communities of Excellence initiative.
M Partner is a certified member of the EPIC-Network. The Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities – Network (EPIC-N) is a nonprofit association with members all over the world. Its members unite the human capital of universities with local governments, and communities, to improve the quality of life and social wealth for all involved. In 2020, M Partner was recognized as a finalist for the EPIC-N Outstanding Program Award.
Certified members follow all 5 tenets of the EPIC Model, which are outlined below. Learn more about the EPIC-Network here: https://www.epicn.org/
- Creates a sustaining partnership with local governments (or community organizations) and university entities
- Focuses on improving quality of life
- Respects and works within existing administrative structures and/or individual responsibilities of all partners
- Facilitates community-identified and community-driven activities, and encourages community evaluation of contributions
- Uses multi-disciplinary approaches to respond to community-identified opportunities, and catalyzes large numbers of contact hours (courses, students, time in community)
