Community-university Partnership Research Articles

Theories into Practice: Building Youth Resilience through School-Community-University Partnerships

This paper describes the theoretical grounding of the Pontiac Resilience Project, a subproject of an established community-university partnership. The goal of the Pontiac Resilience Project is to reduce the toxic impact of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs); support children’s healthy development; and create a healing resilient community of Pontiac. Our work critically examines the intersectionality of ACEs and childhood trauma as rooted in systemic inequities and historical racism. Grounded in critical ecological perspectives, we outline the praxis and pedagogy underlying our youth efforts of the Pontiac Resilience Project, conducted in partnership with a public school district, to inform and mobilize youths. Through a relationship-based participatory approach, youths, ages 15-18, are empowered as community change agents.

"Communities Don't Want Us to Roll In and Roll Out":  Beyond the Baseline to Sustainable and Mutually Beneficial University-Community Partnerships for Societal Impacts.

This article features a case study conducted by University of Oklahoma’s Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) of faculty National Science Foundation CAREER research grant proposals. Specifically, of interest to us is how the Broader Impacts sections of our faculty’s applications might be strengthened with the help of the Advancing Research in Society (ARIS) rubric. We are also concerned with key principles of community engagement and how the ARIS rubric can lead faculty to develop mutually beneficial collaborations that increase community capacity and science literacy. Our study is described in the larger context of our mission and work at CFE and the nationwide imperative to orient higher education and research toward a larger societal good.

Querying Public Scholarship: An Unfinished List of Questions toward More Meaningful University–Community Partnerships

Abstract How do we do public scholarship? It might seem like a simple question, but as anyone who has attempted to experiment with academic norms—let alone work collaboratively in and through institutional regulations, cultural expectations, and diverse personalities—is well aware, things get complicated quickly. As scholars, practitioners, and educators in the public humanities, the authors offer a set of sticky and thorny questions that are both theoretically minded and practice oriented, as possibilities to consider throughout the process of working on public projects or with community partners. Questions are grouped thematically—Framing, Planning, Partnerships, Institutions, Tools, Outputs and Forms, Documentation, Evaluation and Reflection—though are not meant to be exhaustive or prescriptive. In so doing, the essay insists that public scholarship not be codified into a clearly-defined discipline, but rather acknowledged as both an always already present practice for many scholars and in a constant state of emergence as a field. To that end, the authors also invite direct engagement with these questions, both inside and outside of the space of the text, encouraging readers to generate and share their own questions as well.

“I Have One More Hour of Power and Many Miles of Communication to Go”: Lessons Learned from Community Research Interrupted by Climate Crises

The Ang Pagtanom og Binhi Project is a University–Community partnership and community-based participatory research project exploring the health benefits of food sovereignty practices in the Philippines. In late 2021, in the midst of data collection, Super Typhoon Odette made landfall in the Philippines causing massive environmental and structural devastation. In the aftermath of the storm, community partners in the Philippines and members of the research team in the United States shared photos, texts, and updates. These messages included descriptions of structural and environmental damage caused by the storm and stories of mutual aid efforts and actions taken by individuals and small organizations, each highlighting connections between food sovereignty efforts in the Philippines and the impacts of climate change. Due to the richness of the stories, the interconnectedness between these conversations and the research topic, and the alignment within the theoretical foundations of the project, the researchers understood that these communications should be included as data. With feedback from the Community Advisory Board, the Research and Design Team amended project protocols, research questions, and consent forms to incorporate this emergent data. This manuscript describes the process that the team undertook and some of the lessons learned by taking this approach.

Impact of a Community-University Partnership on the Quality of Life in a Local Community: A Validated Survey

Impact of a Community-University Partnership on the Quality of Life in a Local Community: A Validated Survey

How do communities define “work precarity” and “labour exploitation”? Lessons for research from participatory research in high economic hardship communities in Chicago, Illinois/USA

Abstract Labour migration has both social and economic drivers that channel workers into jobs that are less desirable to citizens of the receiving countries. Immigrant workers find jobs through contacts from their home countries, including temporary staffing companies. These workers tend to co-locate in segregated communities and coalesce in jobs that entail hard work, low wages, and limited social benefits. As such, labour migration adds a dimension to the structural and social determinants of health (SDOH) that can broaden our understanding of health inequities, and that can point us toward policies and practices to enhance the health and wellbeing of migrant workforces. However, to generate evidence, align interventions with workers’ needs and priorities, and move evidence to action, it is crucial to engage communities. This presentation describes a community-university research partnership that co-investigates the relationship between work and health as experienced at the community level in two high-economic-hardship neighbourhoods in Chicago, Illinois/USA. The academic and practice partners co-developed and tested a conceptual model of the interrelations among migration, work and health, conducted an inventory of local employers, and executed a street-level survey of 497 workers in these two communities. The research findings helped enhance existing models of the structural/social determinants of health and of work precarity, thus informing methodological approaches to measure work precarity, labour exploitation, and their health effects. The community-based participatory research further led to several action-research projects that are ongoing. This presentation will describe the development of the community-university research partnership and its work, the subsequent enhancements made to the worker precarity and SDOH models, and preliminary findings of the partnership’s current action-research projects.

Tax credit for support of university-community partnerships in low-income urban school districts

Tax credit for support of university-community partnerships in low-income urban school districts

Discovery of New Cyclic Lipodepsipeptide Orfamide N via Partnership with Middle School Students from the Boys and Girls Club.

We established a university-community partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago (BGCC)-named Chicago Antibiotic Discovery Lab-to involve middle school students in antibiotic discovery research. In the course of working with a cohort of students from the BGCC, one student isolated a Pseudomonas idahonensis bacterium from a goose feces sample that produced a new cyclic lipodepsipeptide, which was characterized as orfamide N. Orfamide N is composed of ten mixed D/L-amino acids and a (Z)-3R-hydroxyhexadec-9-enoic acid residue. The planar structure of orfamide N was elucidated by one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR), electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and ozone-induced dissociation mass spectrometry (OzID-MS). The absolute configuration was determined by advanced Marfey's analysis, phylogenetic analysis of C-domains within the orfamide N biosynthetic gene cluster, and chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the hydrolyzed and reduced lipid tail. Orfamide N was cytotoxic against human melanoma and human ovarian cancer cells with IC50 values of 11.06 and 10.50 μM, respectively. Overall, we demonstrated it is possible to integrate educational outreach with high-end natural product discovery while strengthening the relationship between the university and the community it serves.

Equitable outreach: leveraging a university–community partnership for fall prevention training with older adults in rural Texas

ABSTRACT Older Texans living in rural areas may face challenges in accessing resources and services not felt by their urban counterparts, especially related to fall risk reduction. In a state the size of Texas, entities wishing to serve these individuals encounter barriers due to the vast geography that must be covered to reach rural communities. This paper explores a novel partnership between a university and a community organization to work toward rural equity in fall risk reduction education in Texas. We apply the Interactive and Contextual Model of Community–University Collaboration to describe efforts to gain entry into rural communities, develop and sustain the partnership, recognize outcomes, and resolve threats. Through shared decision-making and co-creation, we show how university–community partnerships can be a powerful tool for promoting rural equity and ensuring older, rural Texans have access to fall risk reduction education.

Experiences of Young People in Ireland with the Mental Health of Youth Story (MYSTORY) Photovoice Study

ABSTRACT The Mental Health of Youth Story (MYSTORY) study is a community-university partnership study which involved photovoice and consultation with young people. The MYSTORY study aimed to: (1) better understand adolescents’ perspectives on youth and school mental health and suicide prevention, and (2) communicate insights to schools and the wider community. In this article, we explored adolescents’ experiences of engaging with the MYSTORY study. Reflexive thematic analysis supports the MYSTORY study as a youth-centered study, which involved reflection, discussion and sharing of mental health perspectives and experiences within the study and community contexts. Study engagement was associated with feelings of pride, accomplishment, and connection. This study makes a novel contribution to understanding adolescents’ engagement in photovoice research exploring youth and school mental health, from the perspective of adolescents. Findings are relevant to researchers in wider mental health fields and practitioners interested in mental health promotion and suicide prevention in applied settings.

Staircase model for community involvement in community-oriented/based medical education: Steps to achieve CO/CBME

Problem: For institutions to successfully implement a community-oriented/based education strategy, it is necessary to have full support from the community. Without such support, there may not be sufficient foundation to train students within the community, or to orient curricula to address community health needs and priority problems. Building mutual trust between communities and academia takes time and effort. Some educators think it is easy to "enter" the community and send students for training. Approach: It is essential to approach this education strategy with compassion and empathy. Careful planning and adequate time allocation are crucial to engage communities at different levels. Communities are often apprehensive, but they can be highly responsive when treated with respect and their requests given consideration. To ensure a successful engagement with local communities, it is imperative to consider their perspective and tailor the engagement process to suit their unique needs and expectations. Failure to do so may result in negative consequences, which could jeopardize the success of the initiative. Outcomes: This article outlines a staircase model for medical schools to effectively engage their local community and progress towards achieving community partnership followed by weaning. The model is innovative and aligns with the social accountability principles set forth by the World Health Organization. Building a strong community–university partnership requires careful planning and implementation of various components. Next Steps: By considering all factors, we can build a sustainable, collaborative partnership that benefits both the community and the university with tremendous relief from the burden on the local government.

Using mixed methods and partnership to develop a program evaluation toolkit for organizations that provide physical activity programs for persons with disabilities

BackgroundThe purpose of this paper is to report on the process for developing an online RE-AIM evaluation toolkit in partnership with organizations that provide physical activity programming for persons with disabilities.MethodsA community-university partnership was established and guided by an integrated knowledge translation approach. The four-step development process included: (1) identify, review, and select knowledge (literature review and two rounds of Delphi consensus-building), (2) adapt knowledge to local context (rating feasibility of outcomes and integration into online platform), (3) assess barriers and facilitators (think-aloud interviews), and (4) select, tailor, implement (collaborative dissemination plan).ResultsStep 1: Fifteen RE-AIM papers relevant to community programming were identified during the literature review. Two rounds of Delphi refined indicators for the toolkit related to reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Step 2: At least one measure was linked with each indicator. Ten research and community partners participated in assessing the feasibility of measures, resulting in a total of 85 measures. Step 3: Interviews resulted in several recommendations for the online platform and toolkit. Step 4: Project partners developed a dissemination plan, including an information package, webinars, and publications.DiscussionThis project demonstrates that community and university partners can collaborate to develop a useful, evidence-informed evaluation resource for both audiences. We identified several strategies for partnership when creating a toolkit, including using a set of expectations, engaging research users from the outset, using consensus methods, recruiting users through networks, and mentorship of trainees. The toolkit can be found at et.cdpp.ca. Next steps include disseminating (e.g., through webinars, conferences) and evaluating the toolkit to improve its use for diverse contexts (e.g., universal PA programming).

University community partnerships for climate change adaptation in Malawi: Exploring contributions, potential opportunities and challenges

Partnerships with local communities have emerged as a prominent educational strategy within university functions, aligning with the ethos of an institution dedicated to community engagement. These partnerships serve not only to empower communities with essential skills to address societal challenges, notably climate change, but also reflect a broader shift in academia towards fostering collaborative relationships with local stakeholders. For students, partnerships offer invaluable hands-on experience by immersing them in direct engagement with community members, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application to enrich their educational learning outcomes. This article explores the multifaceted benefits and contributions of partnerships to sustainable community well-being while addressing the inherent complexities that arise when universities engage with communities in promoting human development. Drawing upon qualitative data obtained from interviews with lecturers, students, and community focus groups involved in climate adaptation initiatives, the study investigates the contributions and potential opportunities presented by partnerships and examines challenges encountered by stakeholders in advancing partnerships interventions. Despite the positive impact of partnerships on community skills and empowerment, I argue that while partnerships are contributing towards sustainable community well-being, coordination, funding, and mindset change remain key issues to be addressed. Further, educational practices and pedagogical approaches should prioritize addressing the multidimensionality of climate change and fostering agency and empowerment among community leaders to actively engage in partnership activities. This includes giving them a voice in the choice of adaptation interventions and inclusion of communities' voices in the monitoring and assessment of partnership interventions. By doing so, partnerships can be more effective in promoting sustainable community well-being and improving students' learning outcomes.

Author Correction: Selecting, Adapting and Implementing Classroom Kernels for Student Social and Emotional Development and Resilience in Local Elementary Schools: A Community–University Partnership Approach

Author Correction: Selecting, Adapting and Implementing Classroom Kernels for Student Social and Emotional Development and Resilience in Local Elementary Schools: A Community–University Partnership Approach

University-community Partnership Contribution Towards Rural Sustainability: Participatory Action Research in the Rice Farming Community of Paipayales, Ecuador

Abstract Rice cultivation is the main economic livelihood for many families around the world. This activity represents several challenges for farmers and community members for rural sustainability, a cross-cutting element of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). In response, the Polytechnic University (ESPOL), fulfilling its mission of linking with society, implemented a community program where students and professors interact and collaborate with rice farmers in the rural community of Paipayales, located in the Santa Lucia canton, Guayas province. This article explores the impact of university-community projects through the Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach in order to evaluate them as a tool for contributing towards rural sustainability in communities. As a result, it was determined that the main problems faced by most of the farmers of the “Dios con Nosotros” Association are the availability of water in the wells and the commercialization of paddy rice. Considering these problems, the wells were geolocated and a board was designed for proper water management; at the same time, water quality was studied and recommendations were presented according to the problems encountered. Two proposals were also presented to create a rice husker and a rice separator to increase their profit margin by selling rice directly to retailers and wholesalers. As relevant conclusions, the importance of implementing links and relationships between the university community and society was highlighted, guaranteeing the value of working in transdisciplinary teams and achieving a comprehensive intervention that would lead to significant improvements in the community.

"One Day It Will Happen For Us": The Power of Academia in Community-University Service-Learning Partnerships

This qualitative research explores the community-university partnership experience from the perspective of community organizations engaged in a service-learning (SL) relationship with a private university in a developing country with a collectivist culture. The research explores the relational exchange among partners and foregrounds the issues of power and power redistribution in SL partnerships. The conceptual framework used is informed by conceptions from Dewey (1986), Freire (1996), values of democratic engagement (Saltmarsh et al., 2009), and the critical SL framework (Mitchell, 2008). Findings indicated that faculty were engaged in a traditional SL model in which the focus was not on the process of engagement but on the outcome of the SL experience. The definition of a partnership from community partners was linked to gains and to current or future access to resources. The perception and definition of power impacted community respondents’ reactions to the power dynamic in the ongoing interactions. Being situated in a collectivist culture seemed to impact the community members’ acceptance of unequal relationships. Findings suggested that in a collectivist context, partnerships cannot be examined without considering the context and culture in which the relationship takes place, as both will impact how a community partner defines an authentic relationship and, accordingly, what they expect from the partnership. The power of academia can be intimidating to community partners, so faculty must proactively map out power differentials and initiate reflections and discussions on power dynamics as part of the partnership building process.

Community-University Partnerships: The Benefits of Collaboration in Measuring Public Support for a Community Recreation Center

Community recreation centers (CRCs) are gaining popularity across the country. While many support the argument that CRCs improve quality of life by building social capital and improving the physical health of residents, that support does not necessarily translate into community support for the funding and construction of CRCs. Some communities undertake surveys to try to gauge the support for CRCs but have had mixed results on the insights provided by those surveys. Furthermore, public perceptions about the accuracy and usefulness of survey data could lead to stakeholder disregard for the data produced by them. This case study focuses on the benefits of a robust partnership between a local community and a regional university in developing a survey research project to analyze support for building a CRC. In this paper, we emphasize the value of producing trusted data and provide lessons on how community-university partnerships can achieve similar objectives. The first lesson is that community-university partnerships, by emphasizing local connections, can help foster trust in survey research projects. Second, strategic community-university partnerships can derive additional benefits such as division of labor, expertise, and cost savings. Third, by embracing the above two benefits, collaboration is not only possible, but can produce tailored survey research projects that provide stakeholders insights into critical questions. Finally, community-university partnerships that are structured around shared values can help communities solve critical policy issues effectively and efficiently. This case study details these lessons through an examination of a robust community-university partnership that led to the passage of a ballot referendum to build a CRC. This community-university model of collaboration provides a framework for communities and universities to work together to serve the public good.

Environmental Service Learning as University-Community Partnership: Using Actor-Network Theory to Examine a New Model of Engagement

Service learning has many documented benefits for students. The benefits to the communities are less clear. This study examines the unfolding of an environmental service-learning partnership from the perspective of one participating community liaison. We examine a new model of university-community engagement, where undergraduate students are paired with a local community to address environmental issues in courses that focus on adaptation and mitigation. We use actor-network theory (ANT) to explore the experiences of one community liaison, focusing specifically on factors that helped build and maintain the partnership and produced benefits for the community. Findings highlight the community liaison’s agency in negotiating partnership goals and determining the definition and treatment of environmental concerns. We conclude by identifying the insights an ANT perspective holds for service-learning and community-engagement research and practice.

Group-based exercise for Parkinson’s: a qualitative study of participants and partners’ perceptions of an exercise class delivered through a community-university collaboration

BackgroundCommunity-based exercise programmes (CBEPs) offer a practical and viable approach to providing people with Parkinson’s disease (PwP) the opportunity to exercise as an ancillary therapeutic benefit to pharmacological management. This study explores the perceptions of exercising participants (PwP) and non-participating partners involved in an exercise class delivered through a community-university partnership.MethodsTwo separate focus group discussions were conducted: one with class participants (PwP: n = 7, H&Y scale I to III), and the other with non-participating partners of PwP (n = 4).ResultsThematic analysis of the data identified that a range of physical, psychological and social factors were perceived to influence engagement: (1) actively taking control, (2) exercise is medicine for the mind and body, and (3) a community working together to promote exercise for parkinson’s. Participants and partners felt that the support from the group, including the instructors and student volunteers, empowered and supported PwP to proactively self-manage their health, enjoy exercise in an inclusive group setting, and develop strong social connections with others in the local Parkinson’s community. Support to exercise from healthcare professionals was identified as both an enabler and barrier to participation.ConclusionsThis study underscores the significance of a community-university partnership as a complementary therapeutic approach for PwP. It also provides critical reflections on its sustainability, including implications for how exercise is considered as medicine for PwP. Additionally, it offers practical recommendations to galvanise community participation and provide inclusive and viable exercise opportunities for PwP.

Supporting Educators and Students: A University–Community Partnership to Implement Trauma-Informed Practices in Schools

With the growing recognition of the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences, building trauma-informed service systems is critical. Although there are many online resources to help school systems become more trauma informed, how much they meet the needs of educators is not well understood. To help schools implement trauma-informed practices (TIPS) to support both educators (all school-based certificated staff) and students, a partnership among a California research university, a local foundation, and three school districts was developed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The partnership envisioned a three-phase study to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes of an intervention supporting TIPS. First, two local districts were engaged in a mixed method needs assessment to explore educators’ wellbeing and use of trauma-informed resources. Input from district-level advisory committees guided a needs assessment that informed the development of trainings to (1) help administrators best support their staff, and (2) teach educators how to best support themselves and their students with traumatic stress and related symptoms. Second, researchers curated freely available resources to develop a 3-module administrator training and an 8-module teacher training. Finally, university-based psychologists and teacher educators delivered the curricula in two school districts and the university’s teacher education program. Researchers implemented a pretest–posttest evaluation design and gathered in-session feedback after each module. Results indicated that participants found the sessions helpful and relevant and they had greater knowledge of TIPS. Future directions include scaling up implementation, understanding outcomes from multiple perspectives, and integrating follow-up activities to help with skill retention.