Community Partner Resources

None of the community-based learning efforts at PSU could exist without the assistance of dedicated community partners. PSU is currently engaged in more than 600 partnerships in the local, national, and international communities. Partnerships cover myriad topics and interest areas, providing on-site experiential learning opportunties to students, staff and faculty in a variety of fields. In order to help our community partners get the most out of each partnership, Community-University Partnerships provides the following resources:

• Community Partnership Map - The Center for Academic Excellence has created an interactive partnership map that utilizes GIS technology to allow faculty, staff, students and community partners to visually explore the diverse partnerships that PSU maintains at the regional, national and international levels. Although community-university partnerships are deeply institutionalized at PSU, there is currently no mechanism for connecting partnership efforts, reducing the potential for collaboration and collective learning. The community partnership map is designed to strengthen our collective networks.
  

• Community Engagement Opportunities - From volunteer placement and recruitment to service project creation, this is your "Doorway to Service" in the Portland community-at-large.
  

• Capstone Community Partner Handbook - Designed as a resource guide for PSU University Studies Capstone community partners, the handbook also contains general information on creating and maintaing a successful community-university partnership.
  

• Community-Campus Partnerships - Learning Beyond the Ivory Tower - Margaret Jozsa, executive director of Neighborhood Health Clinics, Inc., has been instrumental in building community-university partnerships with Portland State University. In this address, Ms. Jozsa looks at service-learning from the community perspective, discussing common assumptions and strategies for creating partnerships that benefit faculty, students and community partners from the outset.

• A Meeting of Minds: A Handbook for Community-Campus Engagement - authored by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Fellow Nola Freeman, this handbook focuses on community-campus partnerships involving service-learning. This guide is offered primarily for higher education partnerships, but can also be useful to community partners who work with K-12 schools. The definitions and principles of good service-learning apply to all service-learning projects and partnerships.

• Building Community Through Service-Learning: The Role of the Community Partner - Professional service-learning coordinator/consultant Susan Abravanel outlines the key elements and processes for the successful creation and implementation of a service-learning project. Special emphasis is placed on the role of the community partner in creating a successful project outcome.