University-community partnerships: A framework and an exemplar.

Abstract

University-community partnerships are at the heart of community research and action. In these partnerships, university researchers work in collaboration with a variety of settings and programs, involving community leaders, agency staff, or members of grassroots and self-help groups. This chapter reviews the literature on university-community partnerships and provides a framework of 10 characteristics that are typical of successful partnership endeavors. We illustrate these principles with an example of a collaborative research project undertaken by a DePaul University research team that has engaged in a 10-year partnership with a community-based, self-run, residential substance abuse recovery program called Oxford House. Through a review of this collaborative effort, the authors examine the distinct opportunities and constraints in adopting unconventional methods of inquiry and action, highlighting a number of practical and theoretical issues that have been raised as the research team has striven to maintain a mutually beneficial alliance throughout the endeavor. The experience of the research team demonstrates the benefits to be gained from cultivating and maintaining collaborative university-community partnerships.The past 10 years have been marked by a new vision of how universities and communities work together. Institutions of higher education have become more concerned with providing learning experiences that link theoretical

Functional Impairment in Latino Children with ADHD: Implications for Culturally Appropriate Conceptualization and Measurement

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Choice, power and perspective: The neglected question of who initiates engaged campus-community partnerships

“…recommendations (Pokorny et al 2006;Ravid & Handler 2001;Roker 2007;Suarez-Balcazar et al 2006). 'How' type questions focus on the mechanics of partnerships but do not require us to think about the ways that partnerships advance the core mission of creating and applying new knowledge.…”

The Making of an Interdisciplinary Partnership: The Case of the Chicago Food System Collaborative

“…Based on current frameworks of core skills and knowledge relevant to community coalitions (Foster-Fisherman, Berkowitz, Lounsbury, Jacobson, & Allen, 2001) and guiding principles of partnerships (Mattessich & Monsey, 1992;Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2004) we discuss the principles that were central to the CFSC interdisciplinary partnership. These included (a) commitment to studying and addressing issues of food access, (b) commitment to sharing research methods and strategies, (c) commitment to collaborating and working together, (d) commitment to sharing partnership resources, (e) commitment to cultural competency and working with the community, and (f) commitment to sharing power.…”