Creating a Culture of Collaboration: Collecting Community Engagement Data

August 21, 2012Amanda Wittman, PhD

Director of Academic and Strategic InitiativesCampus Compact

Campus Realities and Strategies: Creating the Plan1. Defining assessment on your campus2. Creating and implementing an assessment plan3. Powerful practices4. Resources

Questions to Consider

• What is the project you want to assess trying to accomplish? What are the key goals? Begin with the end in mind

• What do you want to measure or assess? What’s the definition on your campus?

• What does success look like? What are the benchmarks/victory markers? Analysis

• Who needs to be involved in the process? Students? Community partners? Institutional researchers? Staff? Faculty? Community members? Relationship synergy matters

Terms and definitions

• There’s no right one!

• Civic engagement• Community based research/learning/teaching• Service-learning• Community engagement• Curricular/co-curricular service

• Whose definition counts on your campus?• Where is data collected on your campus?

Tracking vs. Measuring

• Tracking = What is going on? • Snapshot• Learn what is happening

(who/what/where/when/how?)• Data informs measurement

• Measuring = What happened?• Activity stories• outputs, impacts• cost/benefit analysis

Mind Map – Community Impact Assessment on Your Campus

Campus Compact Benchmarks for Partnerships

• Shared vision and values• Benefits and incentives for all partners• Investment in trust/mutual respect• Multi dimensional (reflects nature of issues)‐• Clear organization/dynamic leadership• Linked to mission of partner organizations• Clear process for communication, decision making, change‐• Evaluation of both methods and outcomes

Community Impact

• Focused – Trim and Fit to Purpose• Reinforcing

– Institutional goals and strategies– Community goals and strategies

• Educational and Developmental– Reinforce best practice– Encourage reflective practice

• Useful – Internal and external reporting, based on community needs• Linked to rewards, recognition, visibility, planning, funding for all

partners(Barbara Holland, 2012)

From Reactive to Proactive

1. What is the purpose?2. Who is the target audience? What is the intended impact on that audience?3. What types of data will be most convincing?

Who will need to be involved?4. What data is already available? How can we use existing tools? Do we need

new tools? What role can technology plan?5. Who will manage/lead?6. Who can help design, support, analyze, report?7. In what form and timeframe is data presented?8. What’s the ongoing plan?

(Barbara Holland, 2012)

Tips for Measuring/Tracking Impact

• Measure impacts of specific project outcomes and partnership relationships• Pay attention to causality• Keep it simple• Measurement must consider institutional and community perspectives and

expectations– Perspectives may differ

• Partners must be involved in tool design• Use mixed methods; involve partners in data collection process• Share and discuss results; agree on presentation• Link internal and external assessment processes

(Barbara Holland, 2012)

(http://www.youthworkers.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/blog.view/BlogID/194)

Convene

Communicate

Collaborate

Consolidate

Powerful Practices

• Slippery Rock UniversityCampus Compact Annual Survey and IPED comparison• California State University – Monterey Bayhttp://magazine.csumb.edu/news/2012/may/2/engaging-community

• University of Iowa – Sustainable Dubuque Partnershiphttp://www.cityofdubuque.org/index.aspx?nid=1042

• The Federal Reservehttp://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4673

Powerful Practices

• Incentives to Measure:– Carnegie classification – Accreditation – Presidents Honor Roll – Campus Compact Annual Survey

• Resources from Campus Compact:Engaged Campus Initiative

Carnegie classification supportAssessment webinar with Barbara

HollandThe Crucible Moment praxis briefCampus Compact Theory of Change

Resources

Engaged Campus Initiative (Sept. 2012)www.compact.org

NC Campus Compact Measuring Community Impact http://www.elon.edu/e-web/org/nccc/Init-MeasureComm.xhtml

Carnegie Classificationhttp

://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org/descriptions/community_engagement.php

http://www.nerche.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=341&Itemid=92

Contact Information

Amanda Wittmanawittman@compact.org

617-357-1881 x205