Last month, 50 University of Minnesota faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and Extension educators from across the system participated in the inaugural Engaged Scholar Summer Institute. The program was fully booked less than 90 minutes after registration opened.
The 2.5-day event is designed to equip researchers to efficiently and effectively engage in University-community partnerships. It included presentations, panel discussions, and hands-on training through practice sessions and interactive exercises.
Event curriculum concentrated on the basics of building partnerships, making sense of diverse systems of knowledge and experience, and exploring how these knowledge systems are put into practice.
“I really like the emphasis on trust in reciprocity as a foundation and how to differentiate community-engaged research from more traditional forms,” one participant said in response to a survey question about a principle or best practice they learned and plan to implement. Another planned to build several resources into programming starting the next week.
Partnering for impact
CTSI’s community engagement team, the Office for Public Engagement (OPE), and Extension collaborated to plan and co-sponsor the summer event. The event was hosted at the College of Liberal Arts’ Liberal Arts Engagement Hub, a venue dedicated to fostering community engagement.
"This was a wonderful opportunity to leverage expertise across the University and with community partners to learn together and deepen our skills in community engagement," says Michele Allen, MD, Director of CTSI’s community engagement core, CEARCH. CEARCH provides infrastructure and support so University researchers and community representatives can work together to advance solutions to the health issues most important to Minnesota communities.
"The Engaged Scholar Summer Institute highlights the incredible value of collaboration among the University units that partnered to make this event possible," says Associate Vice Provost for Public Engagement David Weerts, who led the event’s coordination.
Lynne Borden, Extension associate dean for research and engagement, agreed, adding, “By uniting our expertise and resources, we are empowering U of M faculty, staff, and students to engage more effectively with communities, fostering partnerships that drive significant and lasting impact."
This event is one of many ways the University is actively working on building, fostering, and modeling collaborative relationships centered on community engagement.