Community-university Partnership Research Articles

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

AbstractWith 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.

Farmworker Acceptability of Backpack Hydration Systems

ABSTRACT Objective To improve water access while working and contribute to fewer heat-related illnesses (HRI), backpack hydration systems were provided to over 200 farmworkers to use during the 2022 growing season. Acceptability of the water intake intervention was assessed among farmworkers in eastern North Carolina, USA. Methods With a pre-established community–university partnership, the acceptability of the intervention was assessed using a cross-sectional survey. The backpack brand selected included a 3-liter water bladder and attached drinking hose. Data analysis included descriptive and correlation statistics. Results Among 47 male, migrant farmworkers, most (90%) reported the hydration backpack to be acceptable or completely acceptable to workplace fluid intake. Most (53%) reported using the backpack some of the time, compared to 28% who used it often. The participants reported an average of 4.8 (SD 2.2) liters of water intake from the backpack on a typical workday. Most reported the backpack improved the quantity and frequency of their water consumption. Conclusion This study was an important first step in implementation of hydration backpack systems as an HRI-preventative intervention among farmworkers. Future interventional studies could assess the efficacy of the backpacks on health outcomes, including incidence of dehydration and symptoms of HRI.

Transformative learning at the community-university-land interface: A political ecology of knowledge, education and health

As awareness grows of the catastrophic implications of global environmental change, multiple scholarly fields addressing health-environment relationships have advocated 'transformative' educational strategies. Holistic Indigenous health-environment models inspire and inform many such efforts, but related land-based learning initiatives involving universities are often impeded by the competitive processes of academia. In this article we report on a community-university partnership – Pedagogy for the Anthropocene (P4A) – aimed at developing transformative educational responses to pressing global crises, inspired by land-based approaches. We integrate political ecologies of health, education, and knowledge to understand the troubled production of pedagogical knowledge in P4A, participant experiences in the resulting educational programs and the role of health and bodies in both. We first trace the production of knowledge as shaped by macroscopic and localized institutional forces; organizational and occupational dynamics; interacting knowledges and individuals; and material factors. Next, we explore participant experiences in the resulting educational programming. In both steps, affect-laden bodies of academics, trainees and community members reveal entanglements with human communities and more-than-human elements, shaped in variable ways by institutional forces such as settler colonialism and university neoliberalization. One key finding involves the role of universities in relation to land dispossession at home and abroad; another includes the challenges of pursuing transformational community-university research within contemporary universities. Tracing such entanglements yields implications for future land-based learning efforts in university settings, and broader praxis for environmental justice in the shadow of higher education's complicity with settler colonialism and globally extractive neoliberal capitalism.

Lessons Learned at Community-University Institute for Social Research’s (CUISR)

The University of Saskatchewan’s Community-University Institute for Social Research (CUISR) is celebrating its 25th anniversary very soon. Engaged Scholar Journal’s Penelope Sanz sat down with Isobel Findlay, University co-director of CUISR since 2011, to revisit the vision its founders set out 25 years ago and reflect on its achievements. The institute was established to facilitate community-university partnerships to engage in relevant and collaborative social research to gain a deeper understanding of Saskatchewan’s communities and to reveal opportunities to improve community quality of life.

A University-Community Partnership to Develop a Culturally Responsive School Intervention for Black Adolescents with Social Anxiety

A University-Community Partnership to Develop a Culturally Responsive School Intervention for Black Adolescents with Social Anxiety

Toward trustworthy COVID-19 interventions: Building vaccine trust through community-university partnerships.

Prior research identifies trust as critical to increase vaccine acceptance and uptake. However, few intervention studies have sought to develop or test strategies for bolstering vaccine-related trust. To address this gap, this exploratory study identifies features of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy interventions that can promote or undermine trust across three interconnected domains: institutional, interpersonal, and product (the vaccine itself). We draw on focus groups (N = 27 participants) with community and university partners involved with hosting COVID-19 testing and vaccine events in underserved Oklahoma communities. Focus groups explored participants' experiences serving community health needs and elicited feedback on proposed vaccine hesitancy interventions. Proposed interventions included two technology-based strategies (text message reminders and tablet-based testimonials and education) and one dialogue-based strategy (anti-body test interpretation). We find that community partners perceived local universities as trustworthy institutions because of their association with popular sports programs, academic credentials, and proximity, creating opportunities to address vaccine-related distrust through community-university partnerships. The most promising intervention strategies for building interpersonal trust included engaging in one-on-one dialogue and using autonomy enhancing approaches. Finally, interventions that successfully encouraged vaccine trust did so by incorporating personalized health information about individuals' potential level of protection and susceptibility to the COVID-19 virus. These findings can inform future public health efforts to create trustworthy vaccine hesitancy interventions.

Toward decolonized fiscal relationships between universities and community organizations: lessons learned from the California community engagement alliance against COVID-19

ABSTRACT In September 2020, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) allocated $12 million to support engagement with historically marginalized communities hardest hit by COVID-19. The award was designed to mobilize community-engagement in pandemic response, and to support partnerships as part of the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities. All aspects of the award were fast-tracked, and NIH utilized a ‘more flexible’ funding mechanism (OTA) to facilitate swift distribution of funds. In this paper, we draw upon an analysis of findings from a 2021 survey conducted with 11 California CEAL sites representing urban and rural settings, private and public universities, and established and new community partners and qualitative analysis of 2020–2022 site-wide meeting minutes. We describe the challenges posed at the federal (e.g. NIH funding), university, and community–university partnership levels as well as opportunities and creative workarounds. Challenges include delays in subcontracts and payments to community partners that undermined trust and reproduced unequal and hierarchical power relationships. We build upon our findings and collective experience to propose a framework for decolonized fiscal relationships between universities and community partners which contains key recommendations for funders, universities, and community partners.

Bright Futures: A University–Community Partnership Nurturing Possible Selves among Young Underrepresented Students

Bright Futures: A University–Community Partnership Nurturing Possible Selves among Young Underrepresented Students

A Framework for Deepening Racial Equity in Prenatal-Grade Three Systems: Lessons From a 10-Year Reflective Case Study

This paper uses a reflective, retrospective case study methodology to analyze data from a 10-year University-Community partnership focused on supporting implementation and improvement of a Prenatal-Grade 3 (P3) system in an elementary school. Using a framework for centering equity in Collective Impact approaches, we analyze the steps we took as research partners/program evaluators to address racial and other inequities while highlighting missed opportunities to better center racial equity in the evaluation and P3 Initiative work. Through our analysis, we seek to identify where and how racial inequities surfaced, to describe how systemic racism influenced the evaluation and P3 Initiative process, and how this served to perpetuate the status quo and prevent transformative systems change. Results speak to opportunities for researchers, funders, and policymakers to identify and disrupt conventionally-accepted approaches to educational research and to work more effectively to advance educational equity for children and their families.

Evaluation Capacity Building Through Community-University Partnership

Evaluation is essential to achieving program outcomes, especially when stakeholders engage with evaluation and make use of the findings. Both of these activities require evaluation capacity that might not be present in community-based organizations. In this paper, we describe how community-university partnership models can support evaluation capacity building (ECB). The basic framework for our ECB initiative was a semester-long, master's-level university course in which 5–6 community partners worked with small groups of 3–4 students to design an evaluation plan. We used mixed-methods to assess (1) if organizations implemented the evaluation plans developed in the course; (2) how organizations used the findings; and (3) what evaluation skills participants continued to use after the course ended. We found that organizations that implemented their evaluation plans gained intended outcomes of ECB, such as improving practice and communicating with stakeholders. These results suggest that community-university partnerships for developing ECB can be effective.

League of VetaHumanz SuperPower Pack Program: Introducing Young People from Diverse Backgrounds to STEM Learning Activities and Veterinary Science Careers.

League of VetaHumanz uses a nationwide network of university-community partnerships to provide veterinary STEM learning experiences for children who are more likely to lack access to enriching, supplemental educational opportunities due to systemic barriers based on their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. To include participation beyond in-person programming, SuperPower Packs, self-guided, learning experiences, were developed. Leveraging social cognitive career theory and the "Batman Effect," SuperPower Packs are designed to build self-efficacy, and seed STEM and veterinary science career aspirations by engaging children in STEM learning through connections with a veterinary role model. Four SuperPower Packs were developed. Beginning in the fall of 2021, for 17 months, 16,655 SuperPower Packs were distributed to children in 23 states. A small portion of children who received the game (3.8%, N = 614, 6-12 years old) returned evaluation surveys that measured activity engagement, likelihood of role model identification and demographics. Participants indicated variation in their experiences, but mean scale scores show desirable perceptions of engagement (MRange = 2.38 - 2.90/3) and role model identification (MRange = 2.15 - 2.94/3). These positive learning and role model experiences help set the stage to encourage youth to pursue similar learning and career opportunities in the future.

관학 협력을 통한 지역사회 초·중등 중국어 프로그램의 성과와 한계

Recently, as awareness of the need for and importance of university-community linkages has increased, the number of cooperative projects to promote mutual development between the two sides in various directions has increased rapidly. Nevertheless, university-community partnerships in Korea are still far behind their foreign counterparts in terms of diversity and effectiveness due to a lack of awareness, dedicated personnel, and facilities. Traditionally, universities have been responsible for educating human resources. Recently, along with this traditional role, a new role of universities has been emphasized, which is to actively contribute to regional development through cooperation with local communities. This paper is not a hypothesis or program proposal for public-private partnerships, but is based on the author's actual experience of participating in and running a local public-private partnership foreign language program. It provides a process of how local governments and city and provincial school boards can build community-based educational communities through partnerships in which the local government provides administrative and financial support and the university provides educational expertise and infrastructure. By diagnosing the operation status of elementary and secondary Chinese language programs between local universities and local governments, analyzing their advantages and disadvantages, and identifying ways to improve them, we hope to provide meaningful implications for other universities and localities to build university-local foreign language cooperation model programs.

Assessing the Socioeconomic Impact of Abia State University in Uturu Communities, Nigeria

Universities play a role in stimulating regional innovation and development. However, comprehending higher education's multidimensional community impacts necessitates rigorous mixed methods, especially in developing contexts. This study assessed Abia State University's influence on Uturu, Nigeria over 30 years via concurrent triangulation of quantitative surveys (N=200) and qualitative interviews (N=33) with academics, staff, graduates and leaders. Surveys examined perceptions of employment, businesses, infrastructure and livelihoods while interviews generated contextual narratives. Statistical and thematic analyses revealed direct and indirect human capital, income, amenities and social capital bolstering. Surveys showed educational attainment-living standard correlations; interviews corroborated widespread economic opportunities and upgraded infrastructure. Nonetheless, disproportionate costs, skills mismatches and participation barriers indicated policy attention is needed to maximize equitable, sustainable impacts aligned with UN priorities. This examination offers critical insights into higher education's complex contributions to regional transformation in developing contexts through evidence-based, culturally sensitive strategies and partnerships. Keywords: University impacts, Socio-economic development, Higher University-community partnerships, Stakeholder engagement, Infrastructure development, Mixed methods research.

Integrating asset-based community development and community-based research for social change: A beginning


 
 
 This themed volume is grounded in a set of diverse case studies that bring community and university partners together using two aligned methodologies: community-based research (CBR), which evolved from higher education, and asset-based community development (ABCD), which evolved from community practice. The volume places these methodologies in dialogue with each other, to examine and begin to answer the question that guided the volume’s call for articles: can CBR and ABCD be compatible agents in equitable and sustainable change? From the case studies emerge five themes that we explore in this guest editorial: (1) the benefits of community-university partnerships; (2) the risks of community-university partnerships; (3) notions of community expertise and ‘community partner’; (4) the centrality of relationship-based methodologies in partner-building; and (5) explorations of power, equity and justice. The editorial opens and closes with discussion on the important systemic question of power imbalances between universities and communities, which has to be addressed for these methodologies to be effective, whether used on their own or in combination within community-university partnerships. It concludes with a discussion of the ‘deep, wide and connected’ community engagement that the articles as a whole suggest is necessary to have equitable and sustainable impact.
 
 

Front porch conversations: Methodological innovations to participatory action research and asset-based community development


 
 
 Complex public problems are resistant to top-down, technical solutions creating the need for new and innovative ways of approaching community. In response, many practitioners working in community development organisations have embraced community strengths- or asset-based approaches to community development, including Asset Based Community Development (ABCD). Similarly, those scholars committed to social change have started to include action research/learning and participatory approaches to their research design, including Participatory Action Research (PAR). This article describes a qualitative method that was developed by a non-profit practitioner working for a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and a researcher from a land-grant university in Manhattan, Kansas to operationalise a neighbourhood revitalisation framework with a community conversation series called Front Porch Conversations. The qualitative method developed by the university-nonprofit partnership –called the Front Porch Development Procedure – serves as both a PAR-informed mode of inquiry and an ABCD-informed mode of development. This method provides an example of how university-community partnerships can approach changemaking in novel ways by considering ABCD and PAR approaches.
 
 

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN LARGE QUALITATIVE DATASETS IN GERONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Abstract Qualitative research focuses on in-depth data to understand people, processes, and phenomena. It often involves smaller datasets that do not intend to produce generalizable results but instead illuminate nuances, counterexamples, or underrepresented voices. Qualitative data can produce theory and allow for in-depth analyses. Recent methodological developments have created opportunities for large mixed methods projects to produce voluminous amounts of qualitative data that can and sometimes are shared as secondary datasets. The growing use of big data has also produced new possibilities for large qualitative datasets. Additionally, longitudinal and comparative qualitative research can produce significant data. This symposium presents four studies that examine opportunities and challenges in large qualitative datasets in gerontology. The first article uses multiple qualitative datasets to examine how long-term care staff balance resident rights of safety and autonomy. The second article uses multiple qualitative methods in a larger mixed methods Friendship Study to examine meaningful connections among people living with dementia in long-term care. Through a multi-site community university partnership, the third study extracts qualitative data from over 500 patient records to examine experiences of terminally ill hospice patients from residential homes for the dying. The fourth study examines nearly ten years of qualitative data from over 20 communities to examine successful aging from an Alaska Native perspective. Altogether, these four studies illuminate diverse strategies for identifying qualitative data, using data software, managing data, addressing ethical dilemmas, and employing research teams for coding and analyzing large qualitative datasets in gerontological research. This is a Qualitative Research Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH WITH A MIXED-METHOD DATASET USING DECEDENT DATA

Abstract This presentation will present opportunities and challenges in building and sharing a mixed method dataset of terminally ill hospice patients from residential homes for the dying (social model hospice). As nonprofit, community-based settings, residential homes for the dying document care decisions using paper files and handwritten notes, and files range in size based on length of stay (with some files being hundreds of pages in length). Through a multi-site community-university partnership, we have scanned over 500 patient records, extracted quantitative data, and de-identified data for qualitative analysis. We will share the challenges of data management and organization, extraction, and de-identification. We will also discuss ethical issues related to working with decedent data, community-engaged research, and multi-site collaboration. Based on our experiences with qualitative data analysis of resident files, we will share strategies for extracting qualitative data from decedent records, using qualitative data analysis software, and sharing data for collaborative research.

Shared Endeavours: Universities and Communities Join Efforts for Ukraine’s Post-War Recovery

Abstract This article explores the pivotal role that university-community partnerships can play in fostering sustainable development and resilience within Ukraine in wartime and in its path to recovery and rebuilding the country. By leveraging the intellectual resources, research capabilities, and community engagement initiatives of universities, this collaborative approach seeks to address multifaceted challenges ranging from infrastructure rehabilitation to social cohesion. The article examines the potential impact of such collaborations on educational advancement and the well-being of communities affected by conflict and displacement drawing valuable insights and lessons applicable to Ukraine’s unique context. It also highlights the significance of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among academic institutions, governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations, and local communities to create holistic and sustainable solutions. Key themes include the importance of knowledge transfer, capacity building, and inclusive community participation in Ukraine’s rebuilding process. Moreover, the article explores potential hurdles and challenges that may arise in implementing such partnerships, offering strategic recommendations for overcoming these obstacles. Ultimately, the article advocates for a comprehensive and integrated university-community partnership model as a catalyst for Ukraine’s recovery, emphasizing the transformative potential of education, research, and community engagement in shaping a resilient and prosperous future for the nation.

(Re)centering the Knowledge of Disabled Activists, Poverty Scholars, and Community Scholars of Color to Transform Education

This duoethnography weaves the experiences and perspectives of disabled activists, poverty scholars, community scholars of color, and university-based scholars partnering on a teacher preparation professional development project that (re)centers disability and its intersections by (a) reconsidering who creates knowledge, (b) positioning disabled activists, poverty scholars, and community scholars of color as experts with pedagogical authority, and (c) providing opportunities for teacher candidates (current and future teachers) to learn from activists and scholars in accessible, online spaces. The experiences and perspectives of multiply marginalized disabled youth and adults are often ignored and/or discounted in teacher preparation programs. However, one way to re-zone and re-people disability studies in teacher education is by teaching and learning at the intersections of critical race studies and disability studies through cross-coalitional community-university partnerships.

PACKAGING RE-DESIGN TO STRENGTHEN MSME "AIRA" BRAND IMAGE AS QUALIFIED CHIP SNACK HOME INDUSTRY PRODUCT IN MALANG RAYA

"Aira" home industry was started in 2010 and is still surviving until today even after the hardship of the Covid-19 pandemic. Their main business is producing various kind of chip snack using Malang Raya's local fresh produce which fine quality is already widely known. One of their best sellers are the crispy and tasty potato chips, made from one of the best types of potatoes grown in the fertile Malang Raya's land. "Aira" chip snack are fried and seasoned only with natural ingredients. Chip snack production at "Aira" have run quite stable again after the pandemic, they even already have regular customers who usually purchase products in large quantity. The main challenge in running this business is maintaining the stability of production. Therefore, they have to maintain the loyal customers while in the same time arresting attention of new customers. Unfortunately, public still has less awareness to "Aira" as qualified chip snack home industry in Malang Raya. One of Binus University Community Partnership Program aims is to improve partners' products qualities in various aspects. "Aira" has become one of Binus University's community partners recently and have been needing that kind of improvements, especially improvements in production aspects related to branding and marketing. The community service program for "Aira" was implemented progressively. The pilot project of this program was implementing assistance in product packaging redesign in order to help boost their brand image as qualified home industry in Malang Raya. Creative process in packaging redesign was made through the three stages of "The Design Process", which were defining the problem, getting ideas, and then finally creating form. The result was a redesigned packaging which could represents "Aira" as a qualified home industry in Malang Raya. This community service program hopefully could help "Aira" become much more productive and ecomically independent.