Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 8:00 AM

This presentation is part of: Social Work Education and Practice

Nurturing University-Community Partnerships: Findings From A Qualitative Study Of Collaboratory Partners

Purpose University-community partnerships have become critical in garnering external funding, knowledge development, and improving university-community relationships. This paper addresses a multi-year, multi-site initiative that has established 10 interactive university-community partnerships which link social work scholars, students, practitioners, policymakers, and community members to address issues related to the well-being of children and youth. This paper presents findings on the following areas: 1) Strategies for establishing and sustaining successful university-community partnerships; 2) Experienced benefits and challenges; and 3) Identification of and access to university and community resources.

Method Multiple qualitative data collection methods were employed in order to include the perspectives of diverse participants. A review of 50 formative evaluations and a series of 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. Qualitative data compiled and summarized from these interviews and formative evaluation reports were analyzed to establish common themes. Core themes from each formative evaluation report were identified employing standard manual content analysis techniques. Interview transcripts were analyzed using NVivo software to identify categories and themes.

Results University-community partners found themselves bridging the gap between languages, agendas, and priorities to the greater good of creating progress that was far-reaching and multiplicative because it could be shared across the important links in services for children and youth. Project partners found that they needed to navigate ethical concerns and political pressures during the course of their work. The partners identified a need to ensure full participation of all members to create authentic, genuine partnerships. Researchers needed to adjust their theoretical assumptions, research questions, methodologies, measures, designs and dissemination methods to meet community needs. A successful balance resulted in work that was valid from a scientific as well as a community perspective.

Implications This study has resulted in important implications for better understanding university-community partnerships. As these relationships become increasingly central, this paper can provide recommendations about the role of technology in supporting the effort, the politics of establishing and sustaining such relationships, the benefits to social work research, and the value-added for both university and community partners.

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