What Does It Mean for Colleges to Be Good Neighbors? Insights from NERLab’s Inaugural Research Report

By Carmine Perrotti and the NERLab Team

At the Neighborly Engagement Research Lab (NERLab) at Providence College, our work is grounded in a simple but powerful idea: colleges and universities should engage with the neighborhoods and communities where they are located as good neighbors.

We’re excited to share our inaugural research report, which explores what it means for institutions of higher education to act as good neighbors from the perspectives of Providence residents themselves.

This study was developed collaboratively by NERLab students and faculty in partnership with community members. Together, we conducted nearly two dozen in-depth interviews, participated in more than 100 hours of community meetings and events, and worked collectively to analyze and interpret what we were hearing.

Our guiding research question was: What are neighborly principles and practices for higher education community engagement, as defined by residents themselves?

Read & Download the Full Report (PDF)

Our Findings

"Neighbor but not neighborly. There’s a difference… There’s a difference between co-existing in the same geographical place, but being neighborly is different. It’s a relationship." - Smith Hill resident

A central finding from this work is the distinction between being a neighbor and acting neighborly:

• Being a  neighbor reflects geographic proximity.

• Acting  neighborly reflects intentional presence, relationships, and sustained engagement.

From this distinction, a set of Principles and Practices for Neighborly Engagement emerged, offering a community-identified framework for how institutions can build more equitable community-campus relationships and reimagine the role of higher education within neighborhood life.

Principles for Neighborly Engagement

The guiding principles include:

• Prioritizing Institutional Commitment and Strategic Community Engagement

• Establishing Shared Leadership and Collaborative Decision-making

• Building Contextual Knowledge of People, History, and Place

• Leveraging Community and Campus Assets to Promote Access and Inclusion

• Reflecting On and Assessing the Impact of Community-campus Relationships

Practices for Neighborly Engagement

These principles are complemented by a set of practices that illustrate how engagement can deepen over time.

Rather than presenting a single model, the framework highlights a continuum _— from formal acknowledgment and institutional commitments to communication, presence, and local investment, and ultimately toward shared governance and deeper collaboration.

So What?

Rooted in the perspectives of Providence residents, this framework is designed to be both adaptable and practical.

Its value lies not only in naming what neighborly engagement entails, but in helping make those ideas actionable. The framework can serve as a tool for reflection, supporting institutions as they:

• Assess their current practices

• Consider how engagement is experienced by neighbors

• Imagine more equitable ways of working together

The Principles and Practices for Neighborly Engagement offer a foundation for colleges and universities seeking to engage with the neighborhoods that surround their campuses—as neighbors, with neighbors.

Read & Download the Full Report (PDF)

Carmine Perrotti is an Assistant Professor of Public and Community Service Studies and Faculty Director of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service and the Neighborly Engagement Research Lab (NERLab) at Providence College. His teaching and research focus on community-engaged teaching, learning, and research in U.S. higher education, with an emphasis on collaborative scholarship and strengthening more equitable community-campus relationships.