Wingspread Conference on Community-Campus Partnerships

1. Wingspread Conference on Community-Campus Partnerships Strengthening the Capacity of Community-Based Organizations April 6-8, 2003

2. Conference Goals • Identify changes in the nature and focus of partnerships since the 1998 Wingspread Conference on community-campus partnerships. • Identify the mechanisms by which partnerships contribute to community development in addition to providing mutual benefits to partners.

3. Conference Goals, continued • Identify the transformative processes of partnerships, e.g., the degree to which institutional missions and cultures change as a direct result of partnerships between Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs.)

4. Conference Goals, continued • Identify the capacity-building resources needed by CBOs and IHEs in the initial stages of partnership development to help them achieve the potential identified as we address the other goals. In particular, we want to focus our capacity-building efforts around a Toolkit for community-based organizations.

5. Focus Questions for Working Session I-External Trends and Developments • What critical developments and trends do you see emerging over the next five years, either locally or nationally, that will have the greatest impact on your community? How will those trends affect your particular organization/institution? • How might community-campus partnerships assist your community in responding to these trends and developments?

6. Focus Questions for Working Session II-Internal Factors Affecting Partnerships • In the light of your discussion of factors affecting your communities/institutions, what are the most pressing needs your institution faces right now that might be addressed by a campus-community partnership? • What are the most valuable resources institutions of higher education (IHEs) have to meet the needs identified by community-based organizations (CBOs)?

7. Focus Questions for Working Session II-Internal Factors Affecting Partnerships, continued • What are the most valuable resources CBOs have to meet the needs identified by IHEs? • Which of the needs identified are not necessarily met by community-campus partnerships?

8. Summary of yesterday’s work • Positive trends • Increased interest in social capital, civic engagement issues • Civic engagement as the new “New Frontier” for IHEs • Greater attention to stewardship responsibilities of both IHEs and CBOs leading to attentiveness to accountability • People want to take back their communities

9. Summary of yesterday’s work • Challenging trends • Economic downturn and decreased funding from public and private sources • Need for innovation • Growing economic disparities • Declining school quality/teacher prep • Homeland security

10. Summary of yesterday’s work • Challenging trends, cont. • Intergroup communications/racial and ethnic tensions • Growing immigrant population • “Culture of fear” • Violence • Increased need for intermediary organizations

11. Summary of yesterday’s work • Challenging trends, continued • Lack of diversity in organizational leadership roles • Colleges face increased demand for services and enrollment while resources are shrinking • Privatization of public services • Decentralization of political influences • Government interest in faith-based initiatives

12. Summary of yesterday’s work • Health care crisis • Concern over congressional support for engagement programs • Suburbanization of urban problems • Impact of national security issues on domestic travel • Shortages in critical personnel • CCPs are becoming more mission specific

13. Summary of yesterday’s work • CBO needs • Need a non-profit “compact” • Need to take advantage of human resource potential of students beyond volunteering • Need to continue social service functions even in difficult economic and fiscal times • Need access to unencumbered funds • Need to know when to say no to IHEs • Organizational development • Leadership development

14. Summary of yesterday’s work • CBO Needs, cont. • Continuity in face of departures of leaders/staff • Training and technical assistance • Program assessment tools • Interns • Support from college CS/SL Office • Scholarships • Courses in the community

15. Summary of yesterday’s work • CBO Needs, cont. • Work study students • Physical space on campus • Need advocacy on their behalf from IHEs • Greater access to campus • Policy development with IHE partner • Understanding of the organizational politics and mission of IHE partner • Self-awareness based on SWOT analysis • Need to identify critical success factors

16. Summary of yesterday’s work • IHE Needs • Need to understand the opportunity costs to CBOs of working with students • Need to restructure the academic calendar • Need to develop a joint language with CBO partners • Need to create an institution-wide understanding of service learning and other engagement activities

17. Summary of yesterday’s work • IHE Needs, cont. • Need to have ongoing dialogs with CBO partners, especially when there is a transition in organizational leadership • Students who pay • Good PR • Improvements to Gen Ed programs • Good relations with neighbors

18. Summary of yesterday’s work • IHE Needs, cont. • Political accountability • Research applications • Motivate students to be involved • Educate students about advocacy and community organizing • Needs the community to be a sounding board • Understanding of the organizational politics and mission of CBO partners

19. Summary of yesterday’s work • CBO Assets • Trust and credibility in the community • Practical, timely knowledge • Knowledge of funding sources • Understanding of community dynamics • Jobs for students • Speakers to address community issues on campus and with students

20. Summary of yesterday’s work • CBO Assets, cont. • Networking opportunities • Space for higher ed activities • Can provide credibility for IHEs with community members • Their own fiscal resources • Enhanced learning opportunities for students

21. Summary of yesterday’s work • CBO Assets, cont. • “Grasp on reality” • Role models for students • Job exploration opportunities for students • Sources of data • Provide PR value to IHEs • Facilitation of community voices • Increases the power base IHEs can draw from

22. Summary of yesterday’s work • IHE Assets • Specialized knowledge • Students from and in the community • Money(?) limited by endowment restrictions, but there are models of joint development ventures for neighborhood development • Human and physical resources • Space for cultural activities • Political clout for CBOs

23. Summary of yesterday’s work • IHE Assets, cont. • Jobs for the community • Fiscal resources • Role models for pre-college age students about prospects of higher ed • Professional development opportunities for CBO staff • Research skills • Technology

24. Summary of yesterday’s work • IHE Assets, cont. • New knowledge • Expertise • Assessment skills • Staff • Space • Risk taking • Legitimacy and prestige for CBO partners • PR value to CBO partners

25. Summary of yesterday’s work • Role of partnerships in responding to trends, meeting needs, and capitalizing on assets • Can create alternative values based on collaboration and common interests • Challenges create opportunities for creative responses and asset sharing • Redefinition of orientations of learning and knowing from instrumentalism to knowledge for action • Can contribute to the flexibility and innovation needed to respond to challenging trends • Can help counter the “culture of fear”

26. Summary of yesterday’s work • Role of partnerships • Can create public spaces for communities to discuss critical issues • Opportunities to build trust across organizations and between IHEs and their communities • Potential for CBOs and IHEs to redefine themselves in terms of partnerships • CBOs and IHEs can consolidate space, resources, and programs • Justifies changing the rewards structures of higher ed to take engagement into account

27. Summary of yesterday’s work • Role of partnerships, cont. • Mobilize and capitalize on special expertise of each to the benefit of the other • Challenges force both IHEs and CBOs to focus on priorities • Better ability to mobilize and provide development for human resources

28. Summary of yesterday’s work • Role of partnerships • Reinvigoration of higher education around advocacy role, as a source of funding, and in identifying new competencies and disciplines • Can improve workforce skills • Can create new visions for community change • Integration of IHEs into the larger life of the community

29. Some unanswered questions • How do we redress power imbalances in community-campus partnerships? • How can partnerships address pressing social needs in addition to addressing mutual organizational needs of the partners? • How can the interest of policy makers and opinion leaders in social capital and community be translated into policies and resources needed to establish and sustain CCPs?

30. Focus Questions for Working Group III-What CBOs Need to Know • Considering the trends, developments, and needs discussed in the previous sessions, what are the most important learning objectives for increasing the capacity of community-based organizations to form and sustain partnerships with institutions of higher education? • What specific resources do community-based organizations need to meet those learning objectives?

31. Next Steps and Action Planning • How can we apply what we have learned at this conference to the development of a Toolkit for CBOs to help them to successfully engage and sustain IHEs as partners