Statewide Community Impact

Institutional Metrics

The University of Alabama takes pride in leading many community education and service initiatives throughout the state of Alabama.

Vision Days, hosted by the UA Division of Community Affairs, is a campus-wide effort focusing on early recruitment of high school students from rural and underrepresented areas in Alabama. During the 2020-2021 academic year, 1,003 high school students from 24 in-state high schools and 11 Alabama counties attended a Vision Days event.
In Fall 2021, UA students recorded 40,502 service hours with 235 different organizations on the community engagement platform, BamaPulse, creating an economic impact of $1,101,679.

Community OUTREACH

UA’s United Way drive raised $406,720.84 from UA employees to support charities in West Alabama.
UA’s Winning Grants and Sustaining Communities Grant Training Program trained 68 participants on successful grant-writing strategies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
During the 2020-2021 academic year, HomeFirst, a financial wellness program funded
through a contract with Fannie Mae and implemented by UA’s Center for Community-Based Partnerships, assisted individuals on their path toward financial well-being and potential first-time homeownership. Eleven HomeFirst coaches and three HomeFirst staff provided 141 coaching meetings and completed 148 financial coaching modules while introducing effective resources and strategies to promote financial stability.
Vision Days, hosted by the UA Division of Community Affairs, is a campus-wide effort focusing on early recruitment of high school students from rural and underrepresented areas in Alabama. During the 2020-2021 academic year, 1,003 high school students from 24 in-state high schools and 11 Alabama counties attended a Vision Days event.
Saving Lives, a UA Community Based Partnership initiative, is a faith-based wellness program collaborating with churches, community members, and researchers to combine knowledge and take action for community health. The program is designed to increase the health literacy of underserved populations, improve community health, reduce health disparities, and approach the process of building communication, trust and capacity with the overall goal of sustaining healthy lifestyles. During the 2020-2021 year, Saving Lives hosted four virtual webinars and two large-scale events.
UA’s Center for Public Television (CPT) produces award-winning programming for Alabama Public Television and educational media for community organizations throughout the state. weekly series and documentary specials highlight the history, culture and arts that are part of the Alabama narrative. In 2021, CPT completed five short video documentaries for Alabama Public Radio’s statewide digital audience, one of which was nominated for a regional Emmy.
Beat Auburn Beat Hunger raised 319,437 pounds of food for the West Alabama Food Bank during the Fall 2021 semester.
UA’s student-led Dance Marathon raised $303,126 for Children’s of Alabama. UA students have raised a total of $2 million since 2010.
UA’s Student Health Center and Pharmacy and University Medical Center, both under the College of Community Health Sciences provided COVID-19 testing and vaccines to students, faculty, staff, and members of communities throughout West Alabama.
UA SafeState supported COVID-19 relief efforts by providing 307 OSHA consultations and 12 workplace safety seminars for businesses under limited operations.
As a part of a pilot project with a team of researchers across UA colleges, faculty members worked with partners through University Medical Center to collect preliminary data on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.
CommuniVax Coalition was formed for the purpose of strengthening COVID-19 vaccination efforts across the United States. The coalition’s focus is on communities of color.
UA’s Center for Economic Development will spearhead a greater than $4 million initiative
from the Centers for Disease Control to improve health care equity by helping underserved communities in the state be more resilient to health disparities.
Since 2017, Rural Programs under UA’s College of Community Health Sciences has admitted
182 student scholars to address the shortage of primary care physicians in Alabama’s rural communities. The program recruits Alabama students who want to become physicians and provides opportunities for high school students, undergraduate and graduate students..

Statewide Community Impact

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