Secrets to Establishing Meaningful Relationships between Researchers and Community Members

1. 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

2. Secret #1 • Find faculty with a common interest.

3. #1 Find faculty with a common interest • UC Merced Faculty Experts Website http://facultyexperts.ucmerced.edu/ Faculty also have individual websites

4. #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)

5. #1 Find faculty with a common interest • Geneva Skram, Community Coordinator gskram@ucmerced.edu

6. Secret #2 • The faculty ladder: promotion and tenure

7. #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

8. #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

9. #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

10. #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?

11. #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”

12. #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.

13. Secret #3 • Community Engaged Scholarship

14. Forms of Community-University Engagement • CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Building academic-community relations Volunteering for community benefit Serving on non-profit boards of directors • COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING Academic-beneficial volunteering Links coursework to community • COMMUNITY ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP Meets rigorous academic standards Emphasis on mutually beneficial research (academic - community)

15. Principles of Community Engaged Scholarship

16. #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

17. Some highlights of CES-history at UCM 1990s - UCM established in the Central Valley with aim to serve as an engine for socio-economic improvement 2003 - Chancellor Tomlinson-Keasey signs regional pledge of commitment to educational, economic, and social outcomes 2004 - 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

18. 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

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. THANK YOU for your time and attention! • For more information contact: • Robin DeLugan rdelugan@ucmerced.edu • Steve Roussos sroussos@acrd.us