University of Rochester names new VP for community partnerships

Shaun Nelms has been named vice president for community partnerships at the University of Rochester, effective July 1.

Nelms currently is the superintendent of the East Educational Partnership Organization with the university.

The new role, established by U of R president Sarah Mangelsdorf, will provide new structure to the University’s wide-ranging work with local and national partners, the school said. Nelms will be responsible for developing an actionable plan for cultivating and stewarding productive collaborations in support of the University’s new strategic plan.

“Shaun is a visionary leader who for the past eight years has led a revolutionary partnership that could be a model for K-12 transformation,” Mangelsdorf said in a news release. “His extraordinary work at East High School and the Warner School of Education has inspired us to think more broadly about the role innovative partnerships can play at the University level.

“If we are to have the greatest impact we can — in Rochester and around the world — we must work together with other academic institutions, with community organizations, and the corporate sector in a more strategic and organized way.”

As East EPO superintendent, Nelms has led a distinctive educational partnership model between East High and the university. The partnership, which will continue, has demonstrated great success, serving as a model for academic and culture transformation in urban K-12 education.

Marlene Blocker, longtime teacher and administrator in the Rochester City School District, will succeed Nelms as East EPO superintendent.

Nelms also will continue in his role as William & Sheila Konar Director of the Center for Urban Education Success (CUES), as well as a clinical professor of educational leadership at the Warner School.

Based in the University’s Warner School of Education, CUES aims to support the success of K-12 urban schools in Rochester and beyond by sharing findings among researchers and practitioners in urban education and creating models that can be adapted in other school districts across the country, the university said.

“The University remains firmly committed to the East EPO and CUES and we’re thrilled with the continued success of both models,” Warner School Dean Sarah Peyre said. “Shaun is one of Rochester’s most respected and thoughtful community leaders because of this leadership, and it’s natural that in his new role as vice president for community partnerships he will be able to continue advocating for East while establishing and promoting greater community engagement between the University and Rochester.”

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