Formally recognize the work you are doing with community partners
Highlight the partnership relationships that you have in order to bring more awareness to the work you are doing
Providing a centralized location for faculty to document your partnerships
Help to identify others on campus who may be working with the same partner or who may be working with a partner that you are interested in working with in the future
Link theory and practice
Keep curriculum current and responsive
Integrate skills into the workplace
Prepare students for participatory citizenship
Promote communication and understanding between the worlds of work and service
Integrate the workplace with the world of higher education
Enrich and update the curriculum
Apply knowledge
Create interdisciplinary linkages
Gain access to MTSU students and faculty
Promote regional growth and development
Bring awareness to partner organizations
Expand resources available to solve local challenges
Offer the potential of “neutral ground” for discussion and resolution of controversial issues
Provide the opportunity for meaningful access to the community
Provide students with additional resources for learning, such as internships, experiential learning, and service learning
Provide the opportunity to help improve the community
If you are a faculty member, we recommend using the Community Partners form in Faculty Success to document your community partnerships. This is a great place to record and keep track of all the partnerships you hold within the community.
If you are an administrator for your department looking to document a departmental partnership, we recommend using Compliance Assist, the software platform MTSU uses to document Institutional Effectiveness.
It is important that you report your partnerships so that the Community and Partnerships Initiative will have accurate data for the Carnegie Reclassification application. The application requires evidence-based documentation of important aspects related to the University’s mission, community engagement, outreach, and partnership activities. By documenting your partnership, we will be able to accurately report on the current state of partnerships at MTSU.
Reporting your partnerships will allow you to have one centralized location with information on all your past and current community partners.
Have a question? Not sure who to contact? Start by emailing Dr. Hoffschwelle at mary.hoffschwelle@mtsu.edu
