Academic and Community Collaborations: An Exploration of Benefits, Barriers and Successes

Abstract

There is increasing recognition that academic and community collaborations enhance the provision of human services and resources. This article provides two case studies of collaboration between academics at Long Island University (LIU) and two distinct organizations in the community, specifically the Lupus Alliance of America, Inc (LAA) and the Nassau County Executive's Task Force on Family Violence (the Family Violence Task Force [FVTF]). It also illustrates the application of the framework described in the literature and offers additional insights into benefits of and barriers to successful collaborations. Based on their experiences, the authors suggest that opportunities for these partnerships are enhanced when faculty members are already engaged in community-based activities.

Management Education for Sustainable Development: Integrating Ecology and Community Values in Social Impact Practicums

“…The course design was f urther g uided by the definition of collaboration by Perrault et al (2011), which emphasizes the goal for the academic-community-organization partnerships to be "a durable relationship that brings previously separate organizations into a new structure with commitment to a commonly defined mission, structure, or planning effort" (Perrault, McClelland, Austin, & Sieppert, 2011: 283), where organizations pool their resources and achieve a product greater than either could accomplish alone. In their research on academic and community collaboration, Giffords and Calderon (2015) are careful to point out that different perspectives in collaborations, such as those developed in this practicum course, can mire the process. "For example, an academic values the collaboration as an opportunity to further a research agenda, whereas the community partner focuses on the application of practice" (Giffords & Calderon, 2015: 399).…”

“…"For example, an academic values the collaboration as an opportunity to further a research agenda, whereas the community partner focuses on the application of practice" (Giffords & Calderon, 2015: 399). Collaboration literature puts forth several common approaches to ensure productive university-community partnerships, including: open formal and informal communication among all levels and stakeholders; mutual respect, understanding, and trust; and shared vision, leadership, and learning purpose (Armistead, Pettigrew, & Aves, 2007;Giffords & Calderon, 2015;Perrault et al, 2011). Marullo and Edwards (2000) state that failed university-community partnerships have the potential to further alienate and disenfranchise the community; therefore, the goals of those involved in such a partnership should be to empower the community organization to no longer depend on the collaboration.…”

“…Negotiate and Agree on Expectations. All of the stakeholders who are required to be involved in the partnership to make it a success need to understand and agree upon expectations and commitment before the students become involved (Giffords & Calderon, 2015). Being of service to the organization is very important, but in a universitycommunity partnership, educational goals must take precedence for the university.…”

Academics and Nonprofits: Collaborative Partnering for Evidence-Informed Practice

“…Successful university/community-agency research partnerships require attention to the privilege and inequity inherent in these relationships (White, 2010;Williams, 2004) and a longterm commitment by both parties (Chorpita & Mueller, 2008;Davidson & Bowen, 2011). Communication can become a challenge when collaborators are not colocated (Dolovich, 2015;Giffords & Calderon, 2015), and it is more difficult to create a positive team culture (Dolovich, 2015) or build relationships without weekly contact among all team members (Davidson & Bowen, 2011;Giffords & Calderon, 2015). However, overcoming these challenges leads to a successful collaboration.…”

Task-Oriented and Relationship-Building Communications between Air Traffic Controllers and Pilots

“…In ACT-pilot teamwork, most studies have focused on how the content of the communication is clearly transferred between ACTs and pilots, i.e., task-oriented communicaion, or how environmental and human factors affect their communication [10,19,20]. While their communication is mostly task-oriented, it is also possible that there are elements of relationship-building communication in their dialogues.…”