Community Engagement: Share Your Best Practices and Creative Ideas

Purpose

GVSU colleges, departments, faculty members, staff, and students are actively engaged in hundreds of community partnerships in our region. These partnerships—often initiated, designed, and implemented individually—are creative, dynamic, and, in most cases, effective. But what if we were aware of the engagement activities of our GVSU colleagues and of opportunities for synergies? How might improving accessto our university supports for engagement increase the quality of our partnerships? What if we shared the value of broader, more collaborative efforts and worked in a focused way both across disciplines and in reciprocal, sustained community relationships to achieve impact that is remarkable and groundbreaking?

The Office for Community Engagement cultivates partnerships through which direction, alignment, and commitment can emerge. As a first step toward a more focused approach to GVSU’s community engagement, we are seeking the perceptions of faculty and staff about what’s already working in their community partnerships. In addition, we want to gain perspectives on GVSU’s unique role in addressing the challenges, opportunities, and needs in ourcommunities.

Participants

GVSU faculty and staffwith community engagement experience and/or interests

Our process(In general, the approach is based on principles and tools from Appreciative Inquiry)

  • Through the academic year, interview engaged faculty and staff from across the university.
  • Identify themes and concepts from interview transcripts related to best practices, GVSU’s engagement expertise, focus areas, approaches to achieving greater collaboration, and valued university resources for community engagement.
  • In spring 2013, invite multiple stakeholders, including interview participants, to participate in an event using Open Space, World Café, or other large group methodology. In a facilitated process, participants review themes and concepts gleaned from interviews to develop propositions for strategic, focused, and collaborative engagementopportunities that will employ GVSU’s unique identity and address needs, challenges, and opportunities in our communities.

Potential benefits to you

Share your community partnershipwork as a best practice, identify resources that could support your engagement work, learn of opportunities to connect with faculty/staff with similar interests, and expand your impact in the community.

Potential benefits to the community

GVSU has the opportunity to share our unique assets in ways that are responsive to our communities’ most pressing concerns.

To participate, please contact

Ruth Stegeman, Assistant Dean, Director for Community Engagement, , 331-9120

Questions:

Strengths—the best of what is.

  • Tell about a high point in your experience with a community partner*, when you felt most energized. Without modesty, what was your contribution? What did you receive from others?
  • When you are at your best with a community partner, what are the core contributing factors?
  • What GVSU resources and supports for community engagement do you value most?

Opportunities—what could be.

  • Imagine that, five years from now, GVSU is known for partnerships that address the most pressing needs, challenges, and opportunities facing our region. On what issues would we be focused? What might our impact look like? Who would be leading and contributing to the effort?
  • Looking back, what steps did we take with our community partners to achieve this result? What part did you play? What structures and resources were in place to support your best contribution?

*Community partners may include businesses, education providers, nonprofit organizations, government, and/or community groups.