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ABSTRACT
This paper discusses characteristics of a campus culture that are necessary to develop and sustain significant university-community partnerships, describes some benefits and barriers of collaboration, and presents a model for the process of collaboration. To be successful in establishing and sustaining university-community partnerships, all partners must understand the rewards and challenges of collaboration as well as strategies for developing and sustaining complex partnerships. To become engaged in the civic life of the community, institutional changes must include establishing a campus climate that values community involvement, provides recognition for faculty and students engaged in outreach and service, and provides resources and rewards that support collective, collaborative efforts. The authors conclude by proposing guiding principles that support effective collaboration.
Campus cultures are changing as community service and outreach, described by Boyer (1996) as the scholarship of engagement, assume increasing importance in the mission of many colleges and universities. Russell and Flynn (1997) suggested that cross-sector collaborative partnerships that involve universities are an important strategy for our nation to address "the seemingly insurmountable problems of poverty, dysfunctional families, inadequate health care, crime rates, and other complex issues" (p. 3). Because collaboration is an essential strategy to building campus and community partnerships, strategies to develop and sustain partnerships emphasizing grassroots approaches are receiving significant attention in the literature. It is important to place the development of collaborative partnerships in the context of both institutional change and community development.
This re-emerging emphasis on the application of knowledge to societal issues is often described as a commitment to civic responsibility. Explaining the significance of individual and institutional connections with the community, Boyer (1996) challenged higher education leaders to transform the academy to become a "more vigorous partner in the search for answers to our most pressing social, civic, economic, and moral problems" (p. 11). To be successful in establishing and sustaining university-community partnerships, all partners must understand the rewards and challenges of collaboration as well as strategies for developing and sustaining complex partnerships.
CHANGING THE INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE
Placing value on the application of knowledge to societal, economic, technological, and environmental issues requires that the mission of a college or university reflect the importance of applying knowledge to civic problems rather than placing emphasis only on the discovery of...