Research of engineering community engagement has primarily focused on the experiences and outcomes of students, yet it is often the faculty, administrators, and community partners who have a long-term commitment to the program’s success. In this study, we are developing and validating an assessment instrument that combines two previously identified aspects of community engagement programs: participant motivation and the nature of engagement relationships. Participant motivation refers to the reasons people stay engaged in the community engagement experience and can be categorized into: student learning and growth, personal and professional development, and benefits to the community organization. The nature of an engagement relationship is defined as the quality of interactions and interpersonal dynamics within partnerships. It is associated with transactional, cooperative, and communal interactions. A validation survey was developed by creating 45 statements associated with the interacting effects of motivational categories and the nature of engagement relationships. Statements were validated by service-learning practitioners with a minimum of two years research and/or practical experience. Validation participants were provided with a codebook for motivational categories and relationship natures. They were asked to code each of the 45 initial statements with the provided categories and natures. We received feedback from eight researchers, with the initial goal of attaining 10 responses. We identified ten statements that maintain at least 75% coding convergence across responses. Our results highlight key underlying assumptions associated with the TCC Framework and opportunities to improve the instrument to increase clarity and reduce potential bias
