Anyone involved in the OU Pontiac Initiative will tell you that the relationship between OU and the city of Pontiac is truly a two-way street. 经历了破产之后, 应急管理, 2010年代初，预算和人员大幅削减, it’s easy to see needs in Pontiac that an institution like OU might be able to assist with. 但开放大学及其学生也有各种各样的需求，庞蒂亚克可以帮助满足这些需求, including service learning projects and opportunities for students to apply classroom learning to real-world situations.

自2014年成立以来, the OU Pontiac Initiative has endeavored to address both entities’ needs through numerous programs. 这些项目涵盖六个重点领域:教育, 公民参与和政府, 劳动力与经济发展, 健康和福利, 艺术, 以及社区和非营利组织的能力建设. The starting point for the initiative was a series of town hall meetings that engaged over 150 representatives from both OU and the Pontiac community. 特蕾莎修女Rodges, 开放大学的社区服务合作协调员, 他说，密切关注庞蒂亚克社区是这项倡议的关键. “It’s one thing for OU to go out and provide a ton of projects that they think the city needs,她说。. “I think what is important is for OU to come together with the city and listen to what they need.奥克兰县专员大卫·鲍曼说, 俄勒冈大学庞蒂亚克倡议健康和保健支柱的负责人, 说他对公开大学接近庞蒂亚克的方式印象深刻. 鲍曼说:“人们对社区有一种真正的同情. “我们确实希望保持这种紧密的伙伴关系. 双方都愿意确保这种伙伴关系保持牢固.”

The initiative’s 公民参与和政府 focus area has gotten OU students engaged in the workings of Pontiac’s government itself. 也许最值得注意的是, 当时该市正与预算削减作斗争, OU political science and journalism students were placed as interns in Pontiac mayor Deirdre Waterman’s office. Students worked on projects ranging from creating a quarterly city newsletter to updating the city website, 并有机会在这个过程中跟随沃特曼. 学生们还在庞蒂亚克的司法部门实习, 在辛西娅·沃克法官手下的第50地区法院工作. “这是一个空白，”鲍曼说. “通过公开大学的教育部门, 我们有机会通过合作来填补其中的一些空白.” Students at the 十大菠菜台子 William Beaumont School of Medicine have also engaged in the Pontiac community through a variety of projects on the annual Make a Difference Day, 全国社区服务日. Students have volunteered in Pontiac community organizations including Hope Warming Center and Gleaners Community Food Bank.

“志愿服务的力量是深远的，”鲍曼说. 展望未来, 鲍曼说，他希望重新参与开放大学在庞蒂亚克市政厅的实习项目, establishing a group of interns to support and shadow Waterman and another group to work with Pontiac City Council. 鲍曼对“庞蒂亚克倡议”的“持久力”表示赞赏.”

“经常, 在庞蒂亚克城内, there’s an influx of resources through grants or studies or the goodness of others providing supportive services to communities in need,他说.

“Sometimes there is the knowledge that at the end of that timeframe those resources are going to dissipate. But I’ve been impressed with the fact that [the OU Pontiac Initiative has] remained.”

The initiative’s 健康和福利 focus area has had some very direct impacts on the city of Pontiac, 从字面上塑造了居民驾驶的道路和人行道, 每天继续前行. 2014年，美国疾病控制与预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)向俄亥俄州立大学拨款650美元,000 Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant to fund projects in Pontiac. Jennifer Lucarelli has led many of those projects as the OU Pontiac Initiative’s 健康和福利 lead and associate professor and chair of interdisciplinary health sciences at OU. One of the REACH grant’s biggest outcomes so far has been the creation of a non-motorized transportation plan for the city of Pontiac, 由大学和城市合作开发. Lucarelli says the plan re-envisions the city to be more walkable and bikeable – an issue that’s particularly relevant because one-third of Pontiac residents don’t have access to a car. 该计划于2017年正式通过, and had its first tangible results when the city’s first mile of bike lane was installed late the same year. Lucarelli recalls going out to take pictures of the new bike lane while the road it was on was still closed to vehicle traffic. “那里有各种各样的建筑锥, 但是有一个人在自行车道上骑着自行车,她说。. “这是其中一个时刻，就像，‘啊哈! 这是非常必要的. 已经有人在用了.’

REACH grant-funded 健康和福利 initiatives in Pontiac have also provided valuable real-world experience for OU students, 就像人行道年度审计项目一样. 开放大学的学生每年都会对庞蒂亚克的人行道进行调查, ranking their quality on 10 different metrics and then submitting a list that the city can use to prioritize which sidewalks most need repair. Lucarelli says such projects are “a lot more meaningful” to students than working out of a book in a classroom, 他们帮助庞蒂亚克的居民创造“可持续的变化”. “我们不是在帮庞蒂亚克社区的忙，”卢卡雷利说. “他们不是在帮我们. 我们在一起努力.”

The OU Pontiac Initiative’s education focus area has spawned projects that have benefited not only Pontiac School District (PSD) students and OU students, 还有他们的父母. 父母大学, 是公共服务署和大学的联合项目, offers a variety of programming to help parents become better advocates for their children’s education. 为家长提供的免费课程侧重于健康和保健, 教育系统导航, 有效的教育, 以及个人成长和发展. “当你为父母消除障碍时, 你们也为我们的学生消除了障碍,罗奇说.

通过俄勒冈大学庞蒂亚克倡议, major barriers have also been eliminated for Pontiac High School students who wish to get an early start on a medical career. Students may participate in a yearlong patient care technician (PCT) training program taught by OU instructors, 完成他们在圣. 并在毕业时获得PCT认证. 从那里，学生们可以在圣. 或者继续上护理学校.  目前已有三批学生完成了PCT项目, 哪个学校的平均毕业率是93%. 凯利·威廉姆斯, PSD负责人和OU Pontiac倡议的教育负责人, 她说，该项目还帮助学生们树立了一个切实可行的目标. Every PCT program participant has seen significant GPA increases after starting the program.

“Just to see those students walking around with their uniforms and knowing the direction they want to go in life was very beneficial,威廉姆斯说. “They were smiling, I’m smiling, and when they graduate from the program their parents are so happy.威廉姆斯说 she’s noticed “a huge increase” in PSD graduates attending OU since the OU Pontiac Initiative began. 她还描述了庞蒂亚克居民对开放大学整体看法的重大变化. She says that where residents once saw a university “right in our backyards” but didn’t know how to approach or access it, 他们现在看到了他们社区的大量机会. “他们现在觉得开放大学是一个合作伙伴, 不仅是这个地区，还有市政府,威廉姆斯说. “家长们现在觉得，如果他们需要一些额外的资源, 十大菠菜台子 can provide that for their graduating students that walk across the stage.