UniversityCommunity Engagement to Support Youth, Family, and Community Development

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University-Community Engagement to Support
Youth, Family, and Community Development

• Terri L. Shelton
• James M. Frabutt
• Margaret B. Arbuckle
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• Excellence Through Engagement Outreach
  Scholarship Conference 2003
• October, 2003
• Madison, Wisconsin

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Background and Context

• 1996 Center for the Study of Social Issues
• 2003 Center for Youth, Family, and Community
  Partnerships
• Mission The Center for Youth, Family, and
  Community Partnerships is dedicated to building
  the capacity of families, service providers,
  educators, researchers and communities to promote
  the social, emotional and cognitive well-being of
  children.

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Objective

• Probe more deeply into the question of how a
  university might form authentic,
  mutually-beneficial partnerships with
  community-based organizations and coalitions
• Why? To create knowledge to address relevant
  issues of mutual concern to university and
  community

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Highlight Partnership and Resource Sharing
Opportunities to

• Infuse community perspectives in research
• Effect system-level change
• Foster grassroots community engagement
• Build project sustainability

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Adding Value Through Partnership

• Those three goals represent three ways that
  university-community partnerships can add value
  to the work that takes place on and off campus
• Concrete example from Center experience and key
  lessons learned

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Infuse Community Perspectives in Research

• Partnership with community members in the
  planning and implementation of a qualitative
  research project focused on youth violence
  prevention

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Infuse Community Perspectives in Research
Lessons Learned

• Challenge to shift from helper/activist to
  researcher (training)
• Better questions and better prepared for answers
• More involvement in reviewing and interpreting
  data more formal feedback loop

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Foster Grassroots Community Engagement

• Partnership with faculty, community leaders, and
  neighborhood residents to create Macedonia Oral
  History Project

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Foster Grassroots Community Engagement Lessons
Learned

• Need for responsiveness project was
  community-initiated
• Need for flexibility revised existing grant
• Getting consultants with compatible flexibility
• Community members included in data gathering
• Community members participate in data
  interpretation

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Effect System-Level Change

• Partnership with service providers, families, and
  agencies to bring about widespread adoption of a
  strength-based, wraparound, family-centered
  intervention approach

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Effect System-Level Change Lessons Learned

• Need multiple levels of involvement community
  collaborative, research, training, state level
• Realization that project could not be
  university-based rather, initiated at university
  to gain foothold in community
• Need to define goal clearly (e.g.,
  family-centered care) and strategically place
  resources to achieve goal

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Partnerships and Resource Sharing

• Cross-cutting themes
• Patience
• Responsiveness
• Flexibility

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Ultimate Goal is Sustainability of
Community-Based Projects

• With these themes as a guide, our examples
  demonstrate how joint efforts can inform and
  advance
• Theory
• Research
• Practice
• Policy
• Ultimately lays the groundwork for long-term
  SUSTAINABILITY

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For More Information

• Arbuckle, M. B., DeHoog, R. H. (under review).
  Connecting a university center to a distant
  neighborhood Three stages of learning and
  adaptation. Journal of Community Practice.
• Frabutt, J. M. (2003). Catholic higher education
  as a context for university-community
  partnerships. In T. C. Hunt, E. A. Joseph, R. J.
  Nuzzi, J. O. Geiger (Eds.), Handbook of
  Research on Catholic Higher Education (pp.
  325-344). Greenwich, CT Information Age
  Publishing.
• MacKinnon-Lewis, C., Frabutt, J. M. (2001). A
  bridge to healthier families and children The
  collaborative process of a university-community
  partnership. Journal of Higher Education
  Outreach and Engagement, 6(3), 65-76.

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Contact Information

• Center for Youth, Family, and
• Community Partnerships
• 41 McNutt Building
• The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• Greensboro, NC 27402
• [phone]
• Terri Shelton tlshelto_at_uncg.edu
• Jim Frabutt jmfrabut_at_uncg.edu
• Margaret Arbuckle mbarbuck_at_uncg.edu