Partnerships Definition and Criteria:

• Two or More Entities
  • Organizations, institutions, individuals
• In an Agreed Upon Relationship/Alliance
• Established through Intentional Process
  • Including but not limited to Informal
    • discussions, meetings, written communications and agreements
  • AND/OR Formal
    • planning sessions, focus groups, contract processes, memorandums of agreement, or other formalized documents.
• Formed to achieve Common Objectives
  • leveraging any of the following but not limited to strengths, resources, shared responsibility.

USI Community Member

Students, faculty, staff, administration, retiree, and alumni mentors (as recorded through USI alumni relations – alumni mentors have an established relationship with the University beyond the typical graduate and have interactions with students)

Community-based or Service Learning activities:

• Community Engagement: Collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. This can include but is not limited to community development, service delivery, or governance (serving on a board, council, committee or in a leadership capacity).
• The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching, and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good. (Definition and Purpose according to the Carnegie Elective Classifications)

• Service Learning: A teaching and learning strategy integrating meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. (National Service Learning Clearinghouse/ National Youth Leadership Council).

High Impact Engagement Activities Criteria:

Activities between USI members and community partners that include two or more of the points below:

• Two or more semesters of collaboration with the same community partner
• Provide experiential learning in and about the broader community
• Present collaborative opportunities throughout the entire process, from inception to implementation
• Meet student learning outcomes, community partner expectations, and/or recipient needs
• Foster reciprocal respect among USI members, community partners, and recipients

Projects and Research Opportunities with External Organizations:

Any project or opportunity that meets all three criteria below:

• Requires, draws upon, and applies USI’s unique academic knowledge base and areas of expertise
• Involves an external, non-USI organization
• Employs systematic investigation, inquiry, analysis, or application, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.

What is NOT a project or research opportunity:

• Service learning
• Volunteer hours
• Research done only among USI community members
• Hosting events on campus