Criterion Five: Engagement and Service Core Component 5c: The organization demonstrates its responsiveness to those constituencies that depend on it for services.

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	UMKC’s health sciences schools are fulfilling the UMKC urban mission through five key initiatives: workforce development; meeting the area’s need for health professionals and researchers; economic development and entrepreneurship; combating disparities in health care and economic security; and improving public health and quality of life. As it relates to workforce development, the schools currently enroll 500 dental students, 630 medical students, 485 medical residents, 857 nursing students and 500 pharmacy students.
A recent analysis at the SOM reveals that many of these students remain within Missouri. For example, of the 1,453 medical students graduating between 1985 and 2007, more than 40 percent currently reside and practice medicine within Missouri, in Kansas counties adjacent to Missouri, and in Illinois counties adjacent to St. Louis. More specifically, 80 percent of those 40 percent of graduates cited above are practicing medicine within Missouri and 18 percent within Kansas counties. A similar analysis of medical residents and fellows in the postgraduate training programs reveals that 45 percent remain within the state. Most SON graduates remain within Missouri (63 percent), as do graduates of the SOP (75 percent). In an effort to expand the pool of our students who graduate to become local practitioners, SON secured a Health Care Foundation grant, which involves faculty at the SON and Penn Valley Community College [PVCC] to develop and improve the skills necessary for working with diverse student groups. The project has two components: (1) teaching and modeling culturally appropriate behavior to students and to patients and then evaluating students’ ability to model appropriate behavior, and (2) teaching strategies for working with students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and culturally diverse populations. In addition, minority males and financially and educationally disadvantaged students receive monthly stipends to allow them to decrease work hours and focus attention on their studies. Special retention activities are also offered to students to improve their chances of success. Presently, 24 students are enrolled in the project, 12 from the SON and 12 from PVCC. SON has also developed a partnership with the Veterans Administration [VA] to support mutually beneficial goals and to help the VA meet criteria for magnet with research activities. Reciprocally, the VA is helping UMKC by providing clinical placements for BSN students, and offering two scholarships annually to incoming sophomores with a focus on increasing the minority workforce. Each student receives this support for three academic years. A total of six students will eventually attend UMKC through VA scholarships. (*The Magnet Recognition Program for Excellence in Nursing Service was developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center [ANCC] in 1994 to recognize facilities that provide the best in nursing care.) In January 2008, the School of Dentistry [SOD] began an innovative school-based teledentistry program, Miles of Smiles Teledentistry Project, which targets the needs of underserved children in four Olathe, Kansas elementary schools. Using dental hygienists with Extended Care Permits and dental hygiene students, portable dental equipment and distance-technology, the program provides preventive oral health education, screenings, preventive care and, where needed, referrals for treatment to a network of collaborating dentists. During the first year of the program, all children attending the participating schools were screened for dental disease, given a report card, and had age appropriate classroom oral health education. Additionally, 350 children who qualified for free or reduced lunches had their teeth cleaned and received one-on-one oral health instructions. The children also received bitewings if indicated, fluoride varnish, and nutritional counseling. Sealants were placed on 110 children. Our urban engagement has a major economic component. We have developed a network of programs that advance economic development efforts for various organizations in our city, as well as programs that also help tap into and strengthen our community’s entrepreneurial and business innovations. Since 2000, UMKC’s Center for Economic Information [CEI] has worked with Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., and in partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance to conduct an ongoing survey of structures, grounds and infrastructure conditions of residential properties at the individual parcel level. Through the Neighborhoods Now and the Neighborhood Improvement Programs, CEI provides important data and analysis, such as crime statistics, property values, decennial and annual census information for data-driven strategic planning, and program evaluations by city and nonprofit community development programs. CEI’s collaborators and clients include Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City, Kan., Mid-America Regional Council, Economic Development Corporation, Downtown Council, National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Innovation Center, a program of the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration, is designed to help commercialize technology and seeks to identify technologies within the university and local corporations that can form the basis for viable new businesses. The ultimate goal is to influence both jobs and sales growth in the Kansas City region. In 2008, the Center served 2,803 clients in business development support and helped launch 18 new businesses, creating 215 new jobs. The Innovation Center also assisted UMKC faculty and community members in finding $3.3 million in proposed commercialization grants and helped clients to realize $113.2 million in new revenue and $6.7 million in loans and equity. One of the valuable tools within the Innovation Center is KC SourceLink, a network of more than 140 organizations in the Kansas City region that supports small business development. The KC SourceLink model has been adopted in other areas of Missouri and in Kansas. It also is being duplicated in Milwaukee, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Cleveland through the Urban Entrepreneur Partnership; and in Toledo, Ohio, and Charlotte, N.C. These arrangements generate licensing fees that continue to support our UMKC program. In 2007, KC SourceLink earned the U.S. Department of Commerce Excellence in Economic Development Award for Enhancing Regional Competitiveness.