Variety of Community Partnerships in Related Programs

Abstract

The National Society of Black Engineers' Technical OutReach Community Help (TORCH) program aims to promote the value of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education at all levels by increasing exposure, enthusiasm, skills, and participation within the Black community. This initiative is accomplished through unique formal and informal experiences led by Black college student-leaders within the student-run national organization at local, regional and national scales. The program components include formal classroom-style training, informal activities, grassroots outreach, direct technical service and, for organizational reasons, traditional community service activities as well. The program was developed and is managed centrally, but the majority of program implementation is facilitated by host organization's chapters, operating independently. The success of the program is driven by the student chapters and the community partnerships they create in the implementation of its activities. Through their creativity and leadership the partnerships created have ranged from technology to education. Furthermore, frequent leadership changes annually at all levels pose an additional threat to sustaining these essential relationships. We present preliminary analysis of the formation and maintenance of community partnerships for each of the program components and their impact on the efforts. We take as examples several programs that have been active over varying lengths of time and examine the interactions between the types of partnerships, attendance at various program components and student volunteer participation.