One of the most valuable aspects of being a Collaboratory institution is the opportunity to learn with and from each other. We are excited to announce a series of virtual workshops this Spring, available ONLY to Administrators, to support Collaboratory’s success on their campuses. Our Spring 2021 offerings include:
Infusing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Community Engagement
Tuesday, January 19, 2021 | 2:00-3:00pm EST
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 | 3:00-4:00pm EST
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 | 2:00-3:00pm EST
Now more than ever, public outcry over the systematic racism and disparate treatment of marginalized communities has increased. Leaders in all sectors have denounced racist policies and practices, and pledged support for anti-racist engagement. Although these statements of support are laudable, often it is challenging to infuse diversity, equity and inclusion within current policy. Even more elusive is how to develop a set of metrics to assess and measure anti-racist engagement and practices.
Through this dialogue, we seek to gain feedback and insights that will inform the creation of an Anti-Racist Community Engagement Scorecard. The tool is designed to gather a holistic snapshot of practices and policies as they relate to anti-racist community engagement. Evidence-based and grounded in the belief that no single organization, program, or strategy will remedy our community’s inequities, the tool will be designed to gather data and insights that will be helpful as you examine current or develop new community engagement programming.
Note: Participation in this Coffee Break is open anyone – from novices to experienced practitioners, scholars, students, and community members – who want to align their work more effectively with community change through an anti-racist lens.
Addressing Stakeholder Needs with Data
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 | 2:00-3:00pm EST
Collaboratory enables institutions to collect a robust amount of data about their community engagement. However, numbers alone do not help answer our most burning questions or foster meaningful internal dialogue about our engagement. This Coffee Break will provide guidance and tools for campuses to identify their stakeholders (who), what they need to know, and why (actions they should take based on the data you provide them). By identifying campus stakeholders and what information they need to know, institutions can begin to re-frame their data collection strategy and usage.
Geolocation: Expanding the Story with Place and Space
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 | 2:00-3:00pm EST
As Collaboratory looks to new ways to expand our understanding of community engagement, the urge to explore the relationship between an institution and its community with place and proximity grows. Join us for this Coffee Break where we will reveal the current work underway to improve search and activity descriptions with more robust location information and visualization. We will take a look at the upcoming map-based insight’s current state and its roadmap for enhancements and improvement. We’ll be interested in and collecting your thoughts and responses!
Defining & Measuring Partnership Strength
Tuesday, April 27, 2020 | 2:00-3:00pm EST
What does it mean to have a strong connection with a community partner? How can campuses identify different criteria for assessing the depth of a relationship between an institution and the community around it? Partnerships come in many different shapes and sizes, and that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for understanding every type of partnership. Judging a relationship with a partner merely by the number of times they appear in Collaboratory misses the nuance of the nature of partnerships.
Join Collaboratory Assessment Fellow Matt Seto for an introduction to how the University of Washington Tacoma has begun to use Collaboratory data to explore the different relationships between its internal units and external community partners. The results can begin to build understanding about strong campus/community partnerships and provide insight into how to encourage growth and maintenance of these relationships to further deepen our positions as anchor institutions and stewards of place.
Aligning Community Engagement with the UN SDGs
Tuesday, May 18, 2020 | 2:00-3:00pm EST
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. Higher education is uniquely positioned to respond to the 17 SDGs, particularly through the work faculty, staff, and students conduct alongside community partners to address pressing needs and respond to evolving challenges.
Join Collaboratory Research Fellow Jessica Givens (Arizona State University) for a workshop on how to align partnership efforts with SDG progress to reify the strategic value of higher education community engagement and strengthen capacity to educate students on issues of global concern.
