A Model for Student-Community Collaborative Partnerships

Universities often lack sufficient financial and human capital to provide every student with experience in leadership, research, and civic engagement. Students typically compete for attention from faculty, a limited number of positions as research assistants, and highly selective internships. Simultaneously, community organizations often lack the capacity for research activities that could increase their efficacy and eligibility for funding. Limited personnel and funding tend to restrict organizations’ abilities to conduct program evaluations, community surveys to identify gaps in services, and reviews of best practices and models.

To address the challenges outlined above, undergraduate students at a public research university developed an initiative to organize teams around community-centered, applied research projects. Students benefit through working as part of a team to develop professional and practical skills and having access to a broader network of peers and community members. Community organizations also benefit in obtaining coordinated support for time-intensive research activities such as data entry and analysis.

Within the first year, students organized multiple workshops and trainings and partnered with five organizations to complete quantitative and qualitative data entry and analyses. The initiative also connects with similar student movements to identify ways in which they might expand and improve their efforts. This model of student-community engagement may be extended to accomplish a variety of collaborative efforts not limited to research and professional development. Community and academic members engaged in CBPR can play a key role in guiding and supporting such student initiatives.