Other University Centers with Urban Focus to Share New Space

DePaul Psychology Professor Leonard A. Jason will soon move his research headquarters into the newly formed Center for Community Research, 990 W. Fullerton Ave., third floor, where he will manage more than $9 million in grants and double his staff to a team of 50 psychologists and support personnel.

Jason, who has been a member of DePaul’s faculty for the past 26 years, will remain on staff in the psychology department but will devote the majority of his time to managing the various research projects for which he has received funding.

The formation of the center will provide the expanded facilities needed to support the research Jason and his team are conducting in the areas of chronic fatigue syndrome, the Oxford House alcohol recovery program and youth access to tobacco. The center is expected to open its doors sometime in the spring.

“The Center for Community Research provides DePaul University with the opportunity to better support significant external research grants that direct scholarship of the highest quality toward the solving of pressing social problems,” said Michael Mezey, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The Center for Community Research is one of three centers that will make up what Mezey calls “the Center for Centers.” DePaul’s Center for Urban Education and the technology division of the Egan Urban Center will also move into space on the third floor of the Dietzgen Building. The Egan Urban Center is currently located at 243 S. Wabash Ave. in the university’s Computer Science and Telecommunications Building, while the Center for Urban Education is located in the Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore Ave., Room 302.

“By locating these centers in close proximity, we have the opportunity to create synergies among several grant-funded efforts, each of which reflects the university’s commitment to the City of Chicago and its people,” explained Mezey.

The DePaul University Center for Urban Education provides support for the development of teachers and teaching resources for urban elementary and high schools.

Calling the move one that will allow the Center for Urban Education to “expand the scope of our work and to be more strategic,” Barbara Radner, director of the center, said she is looking forward to being in direct contact on a daily basis with individuals who are working in related areas of community development.

The Egan Urban Center’s mission, in collaboration with the Chicago community, is designed to address critical urban problems, alleviate poverty and promote social justice through teaching, service and scholarship.

The Egan Urban Center currently oversees a $1.4 million Department of Education grant to provide computer technology to the Humboldt Park community. The center plans to establish a small technology center in its Lincoln Park space to further provide community access to computer technology.

“We are delighted to have a Lincoln Park home; this is something we’ve been seeking for a long time,” said Michael Bennett, director of the center. “The center’s work is very interdisciplinary. Now we can easily integrate Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty and students into our work.”

DePaul’s Office of Community Partnerships, which serves as a resource for the university’s centers and institutes, will also move to the Center for Centers space sometime in the spring. The Office of Community Partnership’s director is Jon Van Kuiken, who will serve as administrator of the operational side of the Center for Centers.