Catherine W. Howard, Ph.D.

Vice provost, Division of Community Engagement
Associate professor, Department of Psychology

Virginia Commonwealth University
Division of Community Engagement
P.O. Box 843062
Richmond, Virginia 23284-3062
Phone: (804) 828-8790
Fax: (804) 828-2756
E-mail: choward@vcu.edu

Current responsibilities

As the vice provost for the Division of Community Engagement, Dr. Howard administers the various programs associated with the Office of Community Solutions and the Office of Continuing Studies, Summer Studies and Special Programs. She established VCU’s service-learning program and has co-chaired the Carver-VCU Partnership since its inception in 1996. She has been the primary investigator for the HUD Community Outreach Partnership Center and New Directions grants and has received grants from other sources to support the activities of this university-community partnership. She chaired the VCU Social Science Task Force which launched VCU Community Solutions. She co-chairs the VCU Council for Community Engagement. Since the Division of Community Engagement serves as a primary point of contact between the university and the community, Dr. Howard is involved with local government, public schools and many nonprofit organizations throughout the city.

Biography

Dr. Howard received her B.A. in American Studies from Davidson College; her M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Maryland College Park; and her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University. As a developmental psychologist, Dr. Howard’s research area has focused on risk-taking and prosocial behaviors of adolescents. She came to Virginia Commonwealth University in 1988 to administer a substance abuse prevention program, a collaboration between the Department of Psychology and Richmond Public Schools funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. In 1990, she received a five-year demonstration grant from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to establish an after-school program for middle school youth in Richmond’s public housing communities. Recently her work has focused on the development of university-community partnerships to address community-identified needs. In 1995, she became the director of the newly established Office of Community Programs and an associate professor in the Department of Psychology. In 2006, as a result of VCU 2020: Vision of Excellence, the Division for Community Engagement was created and Dr. Howard was promoted to serve as its first vice provost.

In the community, Dr. Howard has been actively involved with initiatives that focus on positive youth development. In particular she has supported the establishment of mentoring programs for youth and is a founding board member of Virginia Mentoring Partnership. She is the former Chair of the Board of Directors for the Carver Promise and continues as a Board member. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for a Greater Richmond and the newly established Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence. She is a member of the Mayor’s Commission for Regional Cooperation. In addition, she is an active member of Second Presbyterian Church. 

Dr. Howard received the College of Humanities and Sciences Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and the Richmond YWCA Woman of the Year award for Human Relations in 2004.

Selected publications and presentations

Howard, C. W. & Allison, K. (2004). Bringing all partners to the table: The Virginia Commonwealth University and Carver Community Partnership. Journal of Metropolitan Universities, 15(3), 57-76.

Allison, K. W., J. Henry, H. Fabelo, M. Chapin, and C. Howard (2001). Integrating
Services and Training. Universities and Community Schools 7(1-2), 95-105.

Howard, C. W. (2003, April). Case studies of successful projects: How your institution can get involved in revitalization. Presenter and facilitator at the COPC National Conference, San Diego, CA.

Howard, C.W. (2002, October). Invited panelist – Three Perspectives on University/Community Research Partnerships. Building University/Community Research Partnerships, a Roundtable Discussion sponsored by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, Charlottesville, VA.

Howard, C. W. (2002, April). Neighborhoods getting to know each other: Operating COPC’s in the college neighborhood. Presentation at the COPC National Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.

Howard, C. W. & Edwards, C. (2002, April). Campus Partnerships to Reduce Crime. Workshop presented at Community-Oriented Justice: The Community Partnerships Conference, Richmond, VA.

Howard, C. W. & Abernathy, B. (2001, October). The Carver-VCU Partnership: Making a difference on the street and in the classroom. Invited presentation to the Virginia Municipal League Conference, Virginia Beach, VA.

Howard, C. W. (2000, April). Service Learning and the University Mission. Moderator of panel at LINKS 2000 conference, Serving the Public in the 21st Century, Richmond, VA.

Howard, C. W. (2000, March). Applied research in the study of adolescence. Convener, moderator, and presenter. Biennial conference of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Chicago, Ill.

Howard, C. W. (2000, January). Fundamentals of Partnership. Presenter and panel moderator for Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for U. S. Department of HUD, Howard University.

Howard, C.W. & Sathiparsad, R. (1998, August) Exploring the power of partnerships in preventing violence in schools? The Role of Partnerships in Institutional, Community and National Change. Conference sponsored by the Ford Foundation in Cape Town/ Durban South Africa.

Selected grants received

Howard, C.W., Reed-Victor, E., & Cohen, R. VCU Community Solutions. Jesse Ball duPont Fund. 2004 ($133,500).

Howard, C. W. & Wallace, F. VCU-Richmond PASS program. Virginia Business-Education Partnership and the Governor’s Partnership for Achieving Successful Schools, November 2002 ($100,656).

Howard, C. W. Virginia Commonwealth University Community Outreach Partnership Center Program New Directions Grant Office of University Partnerships, U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, October 2002 ($149,993).

Howard, C. W. & Wallace, F. GEAR UP/ACCESS Virginia Summer Program. State Council of Higher Education, Summer 2002 ($50,962).

Howard, C. W. VCU AmeriCorps Program. Grant funded by Corporation for National and Community Service, 2002 ($413,656) with renewable option for 2003.

Allison, K. & Howard, C.W.  Community social capital: Using networks and technology to build community capacity. The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives for Children and Families, November 2001 ($99,798).

Howard, C. W. American Humanics Planning Grant for VCU. Funded by American Humanics and the Kellogg Foundation, 2000 ($5,000).

Kelman, J. K. & Howard, C. W. VCU AmeriCorps Program. Grant funded by Corporation for National and Community Service, 2000 ($363,754) with renewable option for 2001 and 2002.

Howard, C. W. & Browder, L. Carver Living Newspaper Project. Funded by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy, 1999 ($1500, $8500).

Howard, C. W. &  Allison, K. Virginia Commonwealth University Community Outreach Partnership Center Program. Funded by the Office of University Partnerships, U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1997 ($399,358).

Danish, S. J., Farrell, A. D., & Howard, C. W. Going for the Goal: A Comprehensive School-based Prevention Program. Grant funded by the U. S. Department of Education, February 1992 ($949,859).

Howard C. W., & Templeton, V.  PROJECT GOLD (Garfield Options for Leadership Development). Five year grant funded by the Center of Substance Abuse Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, July, 1990 ($1,666,000).

Danish, S. J., Farrell, A. D., & Howard, C. W. TEACH: Teachers Enhancing Adolescents’ Competence and Hope.  Grant funded by U. S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Schools, May, 1989 ($289,000).