Five Action Items Developed From Community Event

In February 2016, senior community partners with expertise in community-university engagement participated in the afternoon session of the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute’s annual event, Community conversations: Moving our community-university partnerships forward. 

Prior to attending, invitees identified tensions, challenges, and untapped opportunities that they were interested in exploring with their peers. Two rounds of facilitated roundtable discussions around four topics were held at the event, with note takers at each table. Summaries of these discussions are available. Drawing from their own experiences, attendees identified key observations, ideas and action items that they felt would benefit community-university partnerships. 

After the event, all action items and recommendations were placed on an impact/feasibility matrix to determine which had the highest potential for impact while still being achievable. Five action items were identified as being particularly impactful and feasible:

• Increase awareness of and access to existing tools for community-engaged research
• Explore developing evaluations to measure the impact of research
• Explore developing an intake form and/or scoping guide
• Explore implementing evaluations at the close of projects
• Highlight courses with community-engaged component

Some of the above action items involve developing concrete products; others focus on exploring existing systems or processes that could be better utilized or mobilized to meet community needs. Many of the partners who provided their expertise at the event will have the option to continue their involvement as the projects move forward – either by contributing actively, being consulted, or simply being kept aware.