For Faculty

Developing Community Partnerships

We have cultivated many relationships with community organizations in the Greater Williamsburg area and beyond, and we're here to help you initiate or deepen your own partnerships. In addition to opportunities to connect with community organizations, we are glad to consult with you on how to evolve your partnerships through work plans, shared assessment, and other strategies.

• Join us at our partnerships events including our partnerships breakfast and volunteer fair the second week of fall semester, our January partnerships forum, and our June partnerships workshop, all of which provide opportunities to connect with local civic and nonprofit representatives. Specific dates and registration are advertised on The Digest. Please send questions to [[efmiller, Elizabeth Miller]].
• Review the many area community organizations with which we have relationships. You are welcome to contact any directly or be connected through our staff. If there is a partner you hope to connect with who isn't on the list, please let us know, and we'll find a connection point for you. 
•  Reflect on guiding principles and a commitment to justice and equity developed by the Presidential Council for Community Partnerships as you initiate and develop partnerships.

We know many faculty already have existing relationship with community partners. Please encourage your partners to review the resources we have specifically for them.

Facilitating Critical Reflection

Critical reflection - examining our experiences, relationships, knowledge, and beliefs to better understand and guide future action - is paramount to quality community-engaged learning. Depending on the partnership and community engagement activities, reflection can take many forms, and together we can consider what options are best for your students. 

• Invite our staff to facilitate a reflection session in your course based on your learning goals.
• Utilize existing critical reflection guides which offer multiple models, frameworks, and activities
  • REAL Reflection: A Handbook for Facilitating Critical Reflection in The Classroom and Beyond (Hall, Amanda)
  • An Introduction to Critical Reflection in Community-Engaged & Experiential Learning (Clayton, Patti) (PDF)

Transportation, Funding, and Partnership Management

Community engagement takes time, energy, and other assets. Here are a few tangible resources we provide.

• Use an Civic & Community Engagement van for transportation to and from community sites.
• Apply for the Community-Engaged Faculty Accelerator which provides a $1,000 stipend for faculty strengthening their community-engaged teaching, learning, or scholarship.
• Utilize GivePulse, our campus platform for community engagement, to manage your community-engaged courses or opportunities. GivePulse simplifies registering for community-engaged opportunities and tracking hours and impacts of attendees. Check out our GivePulse overview for more information or contact [[efmiller, Elizabeth Miller]]
• Encourage students to apply for Community Engagement Grants for non-credit-bearing experiences.

Recruitment, Department Chairs, and Early Career Faculty

Resources developed by the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond:

Valuing Community Engagement Throughout the Faculty Recruitment Process

• Creating and Posting a Faculty Job Advertisement
• Preparing for Review and Interview Applicants
• Holding First-Round Interviews
• Hosting Campus Visits for Finalists
• Recruiting the Best Candidate from the Finalist Pool

Community-Engaged Faculty Activity: Resource for Department Chairs

• Why is Community Engagement in Higher Education Important?
• How is Community Engagement in Higher Education Defined?
• How do Faculty Members Implement Community Engagement?
• How Can I Equitably Assess the Work of Community-Engaged Faculty?
• What Roles Can I Play in Supporting Community-Engaged Faculty?

Suggestions for Early Career Community-Engaged Scholars

• Naming and Claiming: Creating Your Identity Statement
• Finding Your Mentors
• Documenting Your Community-engaged Scholarship