PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1610425
This article is part of the Research TopicTransforming Academia for EquityView all 5 articles
Transformative Capacity Building: The UNCF Institute for Capacity Building Approach to Institutional Development at Minority-Serving Institutions
Provisionally accepted
- United Negro College Fund Special Programs, Falls Church, United States
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This perspective article examines the transformative capacity-building work conducted by the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building's (ICB) Transformation Support vertical, which provides comprehensive technical assistance to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs). The article highlights the vertical's strategic approach to donor partnerships, particularly with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and how these collaborations enable innovative shared services in advising and strategic finance. Through critical examination of cross-collaboration and knowledge-sharing practices, this article demonstrates how the UNCF Institute cultivates trust and builds capacity across multiple institutional levels. The discussion includes reflections on capacitybuilding at micro (individual), mezzo (institutional), and macro (systemic) levels, offering insights for practitioners, funders, and policy makers engaged in supporting minority-serving institutions. Case examples illustrate the practical application of the Institute's frameworks and their impact on institutional transformation and student success.
Keywords: HBCUs, Capacity Building, Student success and retention, Strategic partnership, minority serving institution (MSI), cross collaboration
Received: 12 Apr 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Green II. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Keith Green II, United Negro College Fund Special Programs, Falls Church, United States
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