The Legacy Project: Lessons Learned About Conducting Community-Based Research

Collaborative partnerships between community based organizations (CBOs) and university-based researchers can successfully conduct useful HIV prevention research. Collaboratively conducted research contributes to good programs and good science.The Legacy Project is an evaluation of 18 such partnerships. The evaluation found 6 essential elements for successful collaborative community-based research:Thoughtful selection of interventions for evaluationSecondary or alternative research questions incorporated into the research project from the beginningFlexibility to modify or change primary research question mid-studyAppropriate, stable CBO staffingHigh level of university-researcher involvement with both intervention and evaluationAdequate funding for intervention, evaluation and participant tim

Rural School Leadership for Collaborative Community Development

In this article we address the role of rural schools in community development. We first discuss the largely historical linkages between rural schools and the communities they serve, and what this means for both school and community well-being. We then consider the newly revised standards for preparing school administrators, developed by the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium, and how these standards may align with community-building efforts. In sum, we argue that enlightened educational leadership that seriously takes into account the 21st Century needs of students – as well as the communities in which they reside – cannot help but interpret academic and community improvement goals as mutually reinforcing priorities

Collaborative Community Approaches to Addressing Serious Violence

The World Health Organization (2002) classified violence as a leading international public health problem that requires immediate intervention. Violence is a pervasive social problem whose causes and consequences are inextricably linked to individuals, families, institutions, communities, and societies. The negative consequences of violence, and serious violence in particular, reverberate beyond the immediate moment and location of it. By bringing together partners with varied skills, whole-system multiagency approaches are advocated as the leading means of targeting serious violence. With this context in mind, this Special Issue examines a variety of collaborative, community-based approaches to preventing and reducing serious violence across the global landscape. The contributions from practitioners and researchers focus on the prevention and reduction of serious interpersonal violence in communities. The typologies of serious violence discussed by the collaborators include gang membership, domestic violence, and sexual violence. The contributions address the collaborative nature of serious violence prevention work, recognizing that violence is multicausal and that solutions are needed across various socioecological domains. The contributions describe community-level collaborative approaches to preventing and reducing serious violence. The successes and lessons learned from the approaches are identified, and the applicability of the approaches to other areas are explored

Examining the Applicability of the Concepts of Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation to Multi-Stakeholder, Collaborative Problem-Solving Processes

In 2004, Meridian Institute, an organization with expertise in designing, facilitating, and mediating collaborative problem-solving processes, was asked to assess the feasibility of forming collaborative, community-based-watershed groups in northern New Mexico to develop plans to address water-quality problems and--if determined to be feasible--to facilitate the formation of those groups and plans. Early in the assessment process it became clear that the historical context was critically important and was one of the factors that had to be addressed. Here, Miles explores the applicability of apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation to a collaborative group process that can be examined through the example of community-based watershed groups working to identify mutually acceptable water-quality-improvement strategies

Future Directions: An Alternate Organizational Lens on Middle-of-the-Road Education Reforms. A Response to Navigating Middle-of-the-Road Reforms through Collaborative Community

This essay response critically examines and expands on the arguments put forth by the authors of “Navigating Middle-of-the-Road Reforms through Collaborative Community.” Using organizational theory, the paper clarifies questions about the theoretical construct of collaborative community and middle-of-the-road reforms. It concludes by offering two paths for further study that focus on exploring the various levels of democratizing influence enacted by the policy tensions the authors described and by suggesting a closer examination of the resulting organizational responses

CARDS: A Collaborative Community Model for Faculty Development or an Institutional Case Study of Writing Program Administration

The structure of writing programs evolves to account for the transformation of composition studies. Online and dual credit programs necessitate a need to adjust prior practices initially geared towards face-to-face pedagogy; however, several challenges surface in online and dual credit writing programs. The most prevalent is that these online courses are primarily staffed by non-tenured faculty, including adjuncts who do not have a physical presence on campus. The faculty dynamic presents many challenges when attempting to garner participation in collaborations. In recent years, the Writing Program Administrator (WPA) at a regional public university noticed a need to improve faculty morale, satisfaction, and participation, especially with the emergence of online programs. Through a national survey and selective interviews of current faculty at the university, we determined that the answer lies in the structure of the program. The Writing Program Administrator has several models to choose from, but we will argue that the collaborative community model is most conducive to addressing and enhancing faculty morale, satisfaction, and participation in first-year writing programs

Does case management improve outcomes for people with schizophrenia?

The Australian and New Zealand clinical practice guidelines recommend intensive case management for people with first-episode psychosis or an acute relapse of schizophrenia. Often initiated following discharge from hospital or transfer from community-based acute care, case management is a collaborative, community-based program designed to ensure people receive quality health care and integrated support services. Case management may provide substantial benefits for people suffering severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia, however, before case management services are made universally available, more work needs to be done to determine when, and for whom, these services are most effective