The Eight Essential Features of Campus/Community Partnerships

In 1998, Fort Lewis College students participated in the Wingspread Conference, a meeting of presidents, service-learning practitioners, faculty, students, and community members convened by the National Campus Compact. One of the products of this historic conference was the identification of eight essential features of campus/community partnerships:

• Genuine democratic partnerships are:
  • Founded on a shared vision and clearly articulated values.
  • Beneficial to partnering institutions.
• Genuine democratic partnerships that build strong collaborative relationships are:
  • Composed of interpersonal relationships based on trust and mutual respect.
  • Multi-dimensional: they involve the participation of multiple sectors that act in service of a complex problem.
  • Clearly organized and led with dynamism.
• Genuine democratic partnerships that will be sustained over time are:
  • Integrated into the mission and support systems of the partnering institutions.
  • Sustained by a “partnership process” for communication, decision-making, and the initiation of change.
  • Evaluated regularly with a focus on both methods and outcomes.

From: Jan Torres, ed. (2000). Benchmarks for Campus/Community Partnerships. Providence, RI: Campus Compact.