CUMU Conference 2017

Measuring community impact involves a process of understanding how our community efforts move beyond simple product outputs to creating observable change in a community setting. The purpose of this presentation will be engage participants in an interactive experience that models the process of designing a community impact strategy. The presenter will distinguish between community outputs and community impact and engage participants in a series of activities that will challenge them to move beyond the typical boundaries of university-community relations into building mutually beneficial partnerships that identify needs, assets, strategies, and solutions. While traditional evaluations of community partnerships focus on the benefits to the university, this process will encourage participants to design strategies that can measure the efforts of our community engagement strategies in addressing the “wicked problems” that exist in our communities. Particular focus will be devoted to developing strategies to leverage funding, expertise, and resources to address a specified community problem.