Community Partners

• Locate Faculty and Staff to Work on Community-based Issues
• Learn about Outcome Evaluation
• Incorporate Evidence-based Practice

Locate Faculty and Staff to Work on Community-based Issues

If you are interested in a partnership with the University (faculty, researchers, and students) to work on a specific community-based issue, the Office of University-Community Partnerships (UCP) can help you broker a relationship. We have established networks of faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines who are interested in doing outreach work.

Contact us for more information.

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Learn about Outcome Evaluation

Outcome evaluation provides feedback regarding a program's effectiveness, what works, what needs to be improved, and most importantly, the status of the lives of those affected by the program. It helps to identify a program's successes and communicate its value to stakeholders.

The purpose of outcome evaluation is to answer the question: "What changed in the life of the clients as a result of the work?" To answer this question requires a focus on measuring outcomes--the effect of a program or an intervention on the people it serves, rather than on the services themselves. This requires the identification of specific outcomes (for example, youth learn and understand nonviolent conflict resolution techniques and strategies) and specific ways to measure whether the outcomes have been achieved (for example, youth complete a survey that examines several indicators that demonstrate mastery of the techniques and strategies).

University-Community Partnerships (UCP) staff both conduct outcome evaluations on a contractual basis or help organizations increase their own capacity to perform outcome evaluations through short-term training or long-term partnerships.

There are many outcome evaluation models. UCP staff members, Brown and Reed developed the Outcome-Asset Impact Model, which is described in the Capable Communities  Web site.

For more information on outcome evaluation, outcome evaluation training, or the Outcome-Asset Impact Model, contact Robert Brown, Associate Director of University-Community Partnerships, Community Engagement.

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Incorporate Evidence-based Practice

University-Community Partnerships (UCP) assists community organizations and agencies to incorporate evidence-based practice as a model that leads to continuous improvement and better outcomes for organizations and their clients. Evidence-based practice means using research to inform policy and practice. A commitment to this type of practice means continuously collecting data to evaluate program outcomes and using that data to improve future practice strategies and interventions. Evidence-based practice is developmental in orientation--it implies learning by doing, growing with experience, and improving with practice.

For more information, contact Laurie Van Egeren, Assistant Director of University-Community Partnerships, Research and Evaluation.

Please visit the Research page for more details.

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