Best Practices for Community Engagement:Tips fromInterviews In preparing the Pathways Institute process, we have spoken with many experts in the university- community engagement field. Below are a few best practices for you to take back withyou as you work to implement your triadplans for collaboration to grow 4-H in ways that benefit both the university and community. Some or all may be of help. Choosing What to Do • Focus on framing your efforts around policy areas that shift institutional impact and provide a strong strategic andPR advantage to the University. • Research is a cornerstone of the university. Successful efforts have built strong research relationships across disciplines for community engagement efforts that have created self- interest within the university. • Develop a “signature” area for the triad’s initial focus that is relevant to your work that cuts across academic areas, topics like food security, climate change and zoonotic diseases. This can become the concretemodel for collaboration that can then be extended to other areas. • Choose a geographic place to begin. Your work is deep, anchor community engagement work that’s changing the tra jectory for communities in a specific place. Listen. Host focus groups of representatives fromyouth development programs across all parts of the university. Find the common thread where 4-H can be additive to the work as a whole. Approach community not as an expert but as a learning partner. • Consider forming a Presidential Steering Committee. A small group of “Chief Worriers” who are making sure the President’s voice is heard in your work. • Thinking About Representation • Work with the provost to convene groups of faculty, community members and Extension representatives one college at a time to tackle community problems, fostering an “open campus” model. Working with the Office of the President • Commitment from the highest levels of the university has often proven to be a key to success. • Identify what the President ’s list of priorities are outside of the strategic plan. Presidents have five to seven years to make their mark and may be more amenable to backing initiatives they can hang their hat on. • “ Innovation ” is the new buzz word for Presidents. Focus on places and spaces where 4-H can innovate and show its strengthas a pipeline builder and innovator in youth development. Engaging Internal and External Influencers • Brandcommunity partners, especially leaders, as university “alumni,” bringing the stature of the university directly into community leadership • Invite legislators tocome on campus and be “professors for the day.” • EngageOffices of Development and University Foundations, especially if the content is around a signature issue. Community engagement as a thematic has proven of great donor interest in universities, and development officers can both benefit from the triad approach and lead the triad to external leadership.
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