A democratic university–community administrative body dedicated to expanding community-engaged research

Abstract

The benefits and challenges of community-engaged research (CEnR) partnerships are well documented. The barriers to building sustainable university-community partnerships are many, ranging from a lack of institutional support, historical conflicts, differing time scales, and divergent philosophies to lack of infrastructure on both sides. In order to promote CEnR partnerships and provide a forum to address the challenges of community research partnerships, the Tufts Community Research Center (TCRC) was established. The work of the TCRC is guided by an interdisciplinary democratic steering committee composed of University faculty and administrators, students, and community stakeholders. This article describes the TCRC, and its efforts to promote CEnR across the University by (1) demonstrating the value of CEnR to the institution; (2) establishing opportunities for communication between the university and communities; (3) developing shared and democratic leadership; and (4) creating purposeful mechanisms to stimulate and promote collaboration, such as providing early seed funding to foster partnerships.