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Community Partnerships in CEL
Strong, reciprocal community partnerships are the foundation of Community Engaged Learning (CEL) at MSU Denver. We believe that effective partnerships create mutual benefit, respond to community-defined priorities, and deepen student learning through authentic engagement.
The Faculty Engagement & Experiential Learning (FE&EL) team, in collaboration with the CEL Program Manager, supports faculty throughout the entire lifecycle of partnership—from exploration and design to growth and sustainability. Whether you’re looking to identify a new collaborator or strengthen an existing relationship, we’re here to help.
Partnership Support & Reporting Resources
MSU Denver’s Approach to Partnership Support
MSU Denver offers a variety of partnership support resources including:
- Introductions to community organizations aligned with your course goals or discipline
- Tools and templates for initiating, documenting, and evaluating partnerships
- Guidance on shared goal setting, mutual accountability, and co-created learning outcomes
- Workshops and 1:1 support to strengthen partnership quality and sustainability
- Referrals to regional networks and collaborations beyond individual placements
Many partners post opportunities on MSU Denver’s Volunteer Hub, a central platform where students can discover service-based experiences that complement their coursework.
Report Your Engagement: Collaboratory
Collaboratory is MSU Denver’s platform for documenting community and civic engagement activities—from course-based projects and research to student programs and public events.
If you’re involved in community engaged teaching, research, or partnerships, we encourage you to submit your activities. Your contribution helps:
- Track MSU Denver’s collective impact
- Support the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement
- Identify opportunities for collaboration
- Amplify your work across campus and in the community
Submit Your Engagement via Collaboratory
Events, projects, research, or programs from any academic year are welcome!
Foundations We Follow: Best Practices in Community Partnership
Campus Compact Benchmarks for Strong Campus–Community Partnerships
We align our partnership philosophy with nationally recognized standards from Campus Compact and Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), which offer evidence-based benchmarks for equity-centered collaboration.
Campus Compact (2001) outlines three developmental stages for cultivating genuine, democratic partnerships:
Stage I: Designing Partnerships
- Built on a shared vision and clearly articulated values
- Designed to benefit all parties—students, faculty, and community members
Stage II: Building Collaborative Relationships
- Centered around mutual respect and trust
- Involve multiple sectors or stakeholders collaborating on complex social issues
- Led by individuals who bring structure, flexibility, and enthusiasm
Stage III: Sustaining Partnerships Over Time
- Embedded into institutional mission and infrastructure
- Supported by shared decision-making and communication systems
- Evaluated regularly to track both process and impact
CCPH’s Guiding Principles of Partnership
Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (2013) emphasizes the following 12 guiding principles for the importance of equity, accountability, and community leadership. By applying these principles, we strive to create partnerships that are not only impactful but sustainable and transformative—for students, faculty, and the Denver community.
- 1) Partnerships form to serve specific purposes, which may evolve
- 2) All partners co-develop mission, values, goals, and measurable outcomes
- 3) Relationships are built on mutual trust, genuineness, and commitment
- 4) Strengths and assets are identified and leveraged, while needs are addressed
- 5) Power and resources are shared equitably
- 6) Clear and open communication is an ongoing priority
- 7) Decision-making and conflict resolution are collaboratively developed
- 8) Stakeholders give and receive feedback to continuously improve
- 9) Benefits of the partnership are equitably distributed
- 10) Partnerships plan for the possibility of closure in a respectful, thoughtful way
- 11) The design of the partnership accounts for the broader environment and context
- 12) The partnership respects multiple forms of knowledge and lived experience
Recommended Resources
Meeting with Community Partners can set the stage for a more meaningful experience for students and the community. Meetings can clarify expectations, lead to shared goals, and establish a foundation for more in-depth projects. These questions can help guide early conversations.
This agreement describes a voluntary partnership between two parties, the Community Partner and Community Engaged Learning (CEL) at MSU Denver. Each agreement is set for a specified amount of time, agreed upon by both parties.
Abstract Excerpt:
The Phillips Neighborhood Healthy Housing Collaborative learned valuable lessons through its work on two community-based participatory research projects in which it established a principled model of shared power and identifiable, mutual community-university benefits.
This document delves into the evolving role of universities in fostering democratic values and community engagement. Through a series of articles and interviews, it highlights the importance of integrating local knowledge with academic expertise, the significance of community perspectives in university partnerships, and the role of journalism in public health. It also reviews the global rise of democracy and reflects on the civic responsibilities of higher education institutions. Overall, the document underscores the critical need for universities to actively participate in and support democratic and community-led initiatives.
Introduction Excerpt:
To inform the ongoing development of associated practitioner
scholarship, we examine the development of a tool for assessing the quality of community–campus relationships, the Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale (TRES), as a microcosm of some underlying dynamics in previous and current work. After an overview of its conceptual foundations, we present TRES, review examples of its uses across multiple contexts, and share lessons learned from critical reflection on those uses along with associated implications for the future development of such tools.
Contact Faculty Engagement
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Phone: (303) 615-1133
Email: CEL Program Manager: Nora Bashir
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