The once-hyped UniverCity Partnership is over

By Scott Zoback

Almost exactly three years to the day since The UniverCity Partnership's first executive director was announced (and three and a half since the partnership was proposed), the city manager informed the City Council on Tuesday night that the effort is being dissolved.

"The Board of Directors and the funding partners have made a collective decision to dissolve the UniverCity Partnership with the clear recognition and understanding that the collaborative partnerships forged and successful initiatives achieved will continue between the institutions of higher education, local businesses and municipal government," O'Brien wrote in a report to the Council.

Despite being touted as a way to build town-gown relations and promote economic initiatives between colleges and local businesses and neighborhoods, the group never really took off, with many political observers questioning what the group really did over the years, especially with the presence of the more established (but academically focused) Colleges of Worcester Consortium.

Armand Carriere

In April 2007, Worcester Magazine ran a cover story questioning the roles of each university group; at the time, Partnership head Armand Carriere told us that the role of his group was primarily economic, while the Consortium was academically oriented.

"I think when Tim Murray and Jim Leary worked on a task force to put the UniverCity Partnership concept together they were looking at something that would look more externally, more to the community with a specific eye toward economic development," said Carriere. The truth is that in a PILOT-charged political atmosphere, it was seen as necessary to have a group dedicated to building economic influence for institutions of higher education.

And, from the beginning, officials were clear that the group, funded by the city, local colleges and the Chamber of Commerce, was only guaranteed funding for three years.

On Tuesday, O'Brien spun the closure, writing that the group has "fulfilled many of the goals set forth in the Task Force report and laid the groundwork for successful collaborations to continue."

And Councilor Kate Toomey said that the closure "is a good example of how things can be solved," adding that the group essentially "put themselves out of business." o

Scott Zoback may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it