Secrets to Establishing Meaningful Relationships between

Researchers and Community Members

Robin DeLugan & Steve Roussos

UCM Chancellor’s Taskforce for Community Engaged Scholarship

May 26, 2011

Secret #1

Find faculty with a common interest.

#1 Find faculty with a common interest

UC Merced Faculty Experts Website

http://facultyexperts.ucmerced.edu/

Faculty also have individual websites

#1 Find faculty with a common interest

Locate articles or books written by faculty Attend campus events Attend events sponsored by the

Chancellor’s Task Force for Community Engaged Scholarship

Work with matchmakers (formal and informal)

#1 Find faculty with a common interest

Geneva Skram, Community Coordinator

gskram@ucmerced.edu

Secret #2

The faculty ladder: promotion and tenure

#2 The Faculty Ladder

Understand that faculty have concerns about their tenure and promotion

Tenure: evaluation after 6-8 years of initial employment to assess the excellence and impact in research, teaching and service = job security

#2 The Faculty Ladder

Tenured ranks: Professor (full); Associate Professor

On the faculty ladder but without tenure:Assistant Professor

Not on the faculty ladder: adjunct, lecturers

#2 The Faculty Ladder

University of California is a Tier 1 Research Intensive University Pros for establishing meaningful relationships:

Faculty will be interested in forming research partnerships when the interests match

Conducting research with you can help faculty advance their career

Ladder-rank faculty (in particular) have access to network of faculty at UCM and to experts located elsewhere

#2 The Faculty Ladder

The most valuable form of currency for faculty especially for faculty on the tenure ladder: Generating peer-reviewed publications

Peer-reviewed = network of scholars with expertise in the same field evaluate the strength and relevance of the research.

Expect faculty to ask: Will this research project result in a peer-reviewed

publication? How can I make this research relevant to my

peers/expert network?

#2 The Faculty Ladder

Cons: Faculty may have very focused research

specialization, i.e. tend not to be generalists May already have a research agenda and not

have time to take on new projects New faculty who want to get involved and

make a difference may feel constrained as they “climb the ladder”

#2 The Faculty Ladder

At UCM we are trying to build an academic culture that supports Community Engaged Scholarship (CES).

CES is designed to make this ladder easier through community engagement, not more difficult, and make research more meaningful.

Community partner has big role to help change the ladder and to demonstrate that faculty don’t have to go up the ladder alone.

Secret #3

Community Engaged Scholarship

Forms of Community-University Engagement CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Building academic-community relationsVolunteering for community benefitServing on non-profit boards of directors

COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNINGAcademic-beneficial volunteeringLinks coursework to community

COMMUNITY ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIPMeets rigorous academic standardsEmphasis on mutually beneficial research

(academic - community)

Principles of Community Engaged Scholarship

#3 Community Engaged Scholarship

CES makes higher education and higher education research more effective

National trend in higher education to promote and support CES

UC 10 campuses working to integrate CES in their mission and campus activities including trying to link it to the faculty ladder

Some highlights of CES-history at UCM1990s - UCM established in the Central Valley with aim to

serve as an engine for socio-economic improvement2003 - Chancellor Tomlinson-Keasey signs regional pledge of

commitment to educational, economic, and social outcomes2004 - UCM’s School of Engineering joins NSF Engineering

Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program ($1.2 million funded by Foster Farms in 2008)

2006 - UCM plays leadership role in development of CURAJ (Community University Research and Action for Justice), a regional community-academic social justice initiative

2008 - UCM & CPA (Community Partnership Alliance) selected to participate in Dept of Education-funded CES initiative

2008 - UCM & CPA invited to Loyola University conference for HUD-supported community-engaged university research centers

September 2009 NIH Funds UCM’s Center of Excellence for the Study of Health Disparities in Rural and Ethnic Underserved Populations

Addressing health disparities through teaching, research, and service

Contributing to the infrastructure for community engaged scholarship

April 2011

The California Endowment funds UCM Chancellor’s Taskforce for Community Engagement.

Building infrastructure, exchange information, strengthen relationships.

Emphasizing research to address health inequities.

Establishing Meaningful Relationships with Researchers

Remember it is a two-way street

Community members and research members must have an understanding of each other’s needs, timelines, goals, resources and capacity for developing and implementing community engagement activities.

THANK YOU for your time and attention!

For more information contact: Robin DeLugan rdelugan@ucmerced.edu Steve Roussos sroussos@acrd.us