The goals of the Infrastructure and Policy work group include:

• Identify and address infrastructure and policy barriers to community engagement efforts
• Steward Carnegie Community Engaged University Recertification Process and consider how the process can help meet other workgroup goals
• Review existing and develop new policies and procedures as needed that support community engagement efforts
• Coordinate with other committees to ensure policies and infrastructure align with strategic goals
• Advocate for resources and support for community engagement efforts

Workgroup Members

• Stephen Barr, Director of Business Services
• Adrien DeLoach, Executive Director, Division for Student Engagement & Impact, Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences (Co-Chair)
• Shari Garmise, Community Engagement, Co-Chair
• Chris Marcoux, Director of Analytics, Office of the provost, IRDS 
• Ezrah Medina, Assistant Director of Grants & Contracts Accounting, Controller’s Office - Grants & Contracts Accounting
• Elvin Price, Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy, DPOS, iCubed Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan core
• Sarah Raskin, Wilder School
• Rich Sliwoski, AVP Facilities Management, Administration

Meeting Summary of Notes | 9/10/24

The Committee reviewed the first section of the Carnegie Community Engaged University Application that focused on building the narrative around Campus, Community and Community Engagement Context. The committee emphasized the following issues as critical to the narrative:

• Geography.  VCU’s focus on priority communities and Richmond City does not fully represent the range of community engagement undertaken across our academic and administrative units. 
• When we discuss diversity, we want to ensure the wide range of diversity - demographics, but also household income, first gen students, returning adult students, LGBTQ+ students and employees, incarcerated students, etc.. Our students reflect the local community and this wider definition of diversity.
• Similarly, when talking about the community, we should not only focus on community members and non-profits but also include our relationships with other community institutions - community foundations/grantmakers; major employers; state government. Our partnerships with them exemplify our role in the community and strengthen our service to students, staff, faculty, and community members.
• While we want to be transparent, we also want to remember that certain things are to be expected - transition, turnover-but having a strong infrastructure allows us to weather that. That these issues are less problems, more part of the rhythm of work in large higher education enterprises.

Other issues that must be addressed somewhere in the overall application include:

• SWAM Vendors and how we inject money into the local economy through this
• Talent Pathway (new effort with RPS)
• Campus physician expansion although that has its controversies
• Alumni, particularly but not limited to how they may stay in the region beyond graduation 
• OVPRI start-ups and patents
• Priority partner communities as part of the repairing harm or restoration narrative
• Ensuring we are well balanced so that all department units are well represented. 

Finally, the committee left us with a question to answer - how do we want to frame who we are - as a leader in community engagement or as unique in our history?

The goals of the Partnerships work group are to:

• Identify opportunities for synergistic initiatives that align with community needs and Quest 2028
• Ensure that partnerships align with and contribute to Quest 2028
• Establish robust metrics and assessment tools to measure the impact of partnership initiatives

Workgroup Members

• Verenda Cobbs, Senior Manager for Civic Innovation and Transformation
• Brent Fagg, M.S.. Assistant Director for Innovation
• Danielle Pearles, Senior Associate Director, Employer & Experiential Development, VCU Career Services (ALT)
• Katie Ferguson, Director of Corporate Relations, DAR - Corporate Relations
• Michael Gesme, Senior Program Manager, Massey Cancer Center, Community Outreach and Engagement
• Kevin Harris, Ph.D. Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Luke Shrader, Officer, Community Policing/Crime Prevention
• Teresa Mealha Salgado, Director/Assistant Professor, Center for Pharmacy Practice Innovation
• Tyler Agee, Director of Community Health, Division of Community Health, VCU Health System

Partnership Workgroup Summary

The VCU Council on Community Engagement Partnerships Workgroup is dedicated to fostering meaningful relationships across the VCU One Community and its Priority Partner communities, engaging internal VCU units, departments, and external stakeholders. The workgroup focuses on developing strategic partnerships that support community initiatives, promote civic engagement, and contribute to the university’s and health system’s mission of service.

Key priorities include supporting VCU-wide initiatives, collaborating with external stakeholders within Priority Partner communities, and organizing events that highlight community engagement efforts. The group serves as connectors, facilitating relationships between VCU departments, VCU Health System, and community partners to enhance collaboration and create impactful outcomes.

In addition to building connections, the workgroup is focused on establishing and sharing best practices for community engagement, promoting information-sharing, and supporting colleagues across VCU. Through these efforts, the group ensures that engagement strategies are aligned and effective, enabling stronger community partnerships and successful initiatives.

A central project that the group will support will include the implementation of Collaboratory, a virtual platform designed to enhance collaboration by providing an accessible Partnership Database for VCU’s partners, faculty, and departments. The workgroup is actively involved in the rollout of this platform, collecting feedback and ensuring it meets the needs of its users. This initiative is part of a broader effort to support VCU’s pursuit of the prestigious Carnegie Classification for community engagement.

Members are encouraged to reflect on their roles and how their departments contribute to these partnerships. The workgroup emphasizes transparency, sharing meeting notes, and fostering open communication to ensure alignment with VCU’s Quest 2028 strategic goals of building thriving communities. Regular monthly meetings provide a forum for discussion, collaboration with colleagues, and updates on ongoing initiatives.

The goals of this work group include: 

• Identify and establish training opportunities for students, staff, and faculty in community-engaged research best practices
• Operationalize and identify opportunities to develop, coordinate and implement training aligned with the Quest 2028 Thriving Communities metric “to increase training opportunities”
• Identify and define best practices for training approaches in community engagement and outreach
• Identify training opportunities and collaborations that provide community benefit and relevance

Education Workgroup Members:

• Vaughn W. Garland, VCU Mary and Frances Youth Center (Co-Chair)
• Shanza Isom, VCU Engaged Transformative Learning (Co-Chair)
• Kaylynn Hill, Assistant Director of Regional Alumni Engagement
• Jo S. Murphy, VCU Forensic Science
• Michelle McGregor, VCU School of Dentistry
• Jacqueline Smith-Mason, VCU Honors College
• Maggie Tolan, VCU Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success
• Lorielle Bouldin, VCU Division of Community Engagement

Community Engagement Strategic Priorities and Metrics

1. Establishing Infrastructure for Growth and Adaptation. “Training, Budget, Carnegie Community Engaged re-classification, Partner and project audits.”  
2. Prioritize Economic Development. “Training and workforce development distribution pipeline, Procurement and contracting.” 
3. Skill building. “Training in standards of excellence, Stackable badging.”
4. Addressing Societal Grand Challenges. “Increasing coordinated programs and interventions in priority communities.“
5. Place-Based Assets. (Mary and Frances Youth Center and VCU Health Hub at 25th).

VCU Community Engagement Values

• Reciprocity  We believe in a two-way exchange between the university and the community, with engagement that is driven by mutual benefit and informed by local needs, priorities, and a shared agenda… 
• Equity  We recognize the historical and contemporary contexts of power imbalances and social justice issues. We are committed to using an equity framework to inform community-engaged policies, practices, partnerships, and services…  
• Asset-based approach  We prioritize an approach that builds upon and leverages both the existing community strengths, resources, and assets as well as the unique assets of VCU. We believe in utilizing the collective wisdom of community members, stakeholder groups, and the expertise and resources of VCU to inform engagement efforts and drive sustainable, community-informed outcomes…

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New Short-Term Priorities as agreed upon in May 2024:  

1. Co-create a framework with community members and partners for future training, engagement, and outreach.
2. Establish new training modules in collaboration with the community partnerships workgroup to build a shared campus culture around Community Engagement practice
3. DCE will host a series of engagement opportunities and round-table conversations with community leadership from VCU’s Priority Communities to ascertain collaborative opportunities for training and research initiatives, aiming to pull from community expertise and needs.  Priority Community touchpoints might tie into ongoing DCE happenings such as the Connect Conference or MLK Celebration Week.
4. The CE Education Workgroup aims to forge a strong collaboration with Shari Garmise throughout the Carnegie Classification process. Our goal is to comprehensively understand and evaluate the training and research endeavors of university departments and partners, both ongoing and prospective. 

Previous Long-Term Priorities:  (Beyond 2024) 

1. Create accessible entry points for involvement.
2. Build an accessible website for opportunities and training. (Collaboratory)
3. Highlight existing campus and community work. (Collaboratory)
4. Invest in pathways to community projects.
5. Introduce badges and certificates for training.
6. Foster a culture of community engagement.
7. Promote personal connections and stories.
8. Prioritize and define community engagement across VCU.

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Notes from September 2024 Meeting:

1. Develop a Training Module for VCU Faculty, Students, and Staff:  Develop a comprehensive training module focused on Community Engagement (CE) principles, processes, and language. This module, potentially hosted on Canvas as an interactive presentation, will be accessible to all members of the VCU community. The existing CE Digital Badges will serve as a foundation for this training, and members of the CE Council will be invited to complete the badge. Throughout the year, a dedicated workgroup will evaluate the current badge content and provide recommendations for additional topics and content to expand the badge program. VCU Community Engagement Badges
2. Utilize Collaboratory to Track and Highlight Community Projects:  Leverage Collaboratory to explore and showcase training, educational opportunities, and community-based projects led by University faculty, staff, and students. Once Collaboratory is launched, this group will identify and recommend University projects related to education and training opportunities in the Richmond region, ensuring their proper cataloging within the digital repository. This effort will help build a comprehensive archive of the University's community engagement initiatives.
3. Form a Community Group from Priority Partnership Communities:  Identify and establish a group of Community Engagement (CE) Priority Partnership Communities, including a CE Community Ambassador and key pre-established stakeholders, to collaboratively design and develop new training modules. These modules will serve both internal VCU purposes and external needs in the Richmond region. The group’s primary objective is to help VCU align its priorities based on the training needs identified through this partnership. This initiative will officially launch during the Connect Conference, driving forward the collaborative efforts and the workgroup would like to ask for volunteers or recommendations of community members to join.  

Combined Goal for Academic year 2024/25

Connect Conference Plans: Shari offered to share the Connect Conference registration list ahead of time, enabling the group to identify potential key members who could be engaged during the event. The goal is to convene the group informally during lunch and introduce the collective's mission for the year, which focuses on developing and featuring necessary training and educational opportunities.

Community Ambassador Program Involvement: We could involve members of the new Community Ambassadors Program by reaching out in advance of the conference to inform them of our plans. Additionally, we will contact Verenda to obtain a list of community groups and pre-established stakeholders to strengthen our outreach efforts.

Objective: The ultimate goal of this collective is to assist VCU in formulating priorities based on the training needs highlighted through this collaboration.

VCU Training Pathway and Badge Development: Shanza suggested that, through the VCU Training pathway, participants could earn a badge upon completing the training. Shari referenced the current badges available through DCE, found here:
VCU Community Engagement Badges.

The group agreed to review the existing Community Engagement Badge and identify gaps, with the potential to build upon it. The goal is to have a fully developed Community Engagement training and education badge by the end of the academic year.

The goals of the economic development work group are to

• Promote equitable economic growth in alignment with civic engagement principles.
• Identify how to strengthen collaborations with local communities to facilitate economic development.
• Enhance workforce development opportunities in support of economic growth.
• Identify how to support innovation and entrepreneurship as drivers of economic development.
• Leverage public-private partnerships to advance economic development initiatives.

Workgroup Members

• Stephen Davenport, Assistant Vice President for Social & Economic Development
• Garret Westlake, Associate Vice Provost for Innovation, Da Vinci Center
• Alison Miller, Interim, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources, VCU Human Resources 
• Elizabeth Prom-Wormley, Associate Professor, Population Health/Department of Epidemiology
• James Gahagan, Interim Associate Vice President for Transformative Student Experiences
• Aloni Hill, Assistant Professor, Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture
• Edward Howard, Director of Operations, VCU Online, and Continuing and Professional Education
• Ann Kildahl, Director of Sustainability
• John McHugh, Director of Procurement Services, Procurement Services

Summary from the latest meeting:

The workgroup reviewed and approved the previously mentioned initiatives, confirming their importance in enhancing the university’s economic development activities.

The workgroup co-chair then asked members to prioritize initiatives for the remainder of the semester and the rest of the year. After conversation and deliberation, it was determined that the following initiatives would be prioritized:

• Identify existing mircocredentials that spur economic development 
• Identify potential positions that would lend themselves towards the future development of a workforce development plan. Potential positions include:
• Lab techs
• Community outreach liaisons / Community health workers 
• Facilities management positions 
• Strengthen ties to community colleges (invite partners for this group)
• Indigenous communities in Virginia 
• VCU Spaces available to the community (invite partners for this group) 
• Can community access be available at a lower cost 
• Ensure a comprehensive review of spaces available on the MCV campus that are available for community members
• Develop a resource guide to share with community members

Of the identified initiatives, it was determined by the group to focus on the following two options for the remainder of the semester: 

1. Identify existing mircocredentials that spur economic development 
2. VCU Spaces available to the community (invite partners for this group) 
1. Can community access be available at a lower cost 
2. Ensure a comprehensive review of spaces available on the MCV campus that are available for community members
3. Develop a resource guide to share with community members

The other priorities will be pursued beyond the end of this semester. 

Workgroup members were then asked to share updates from their respective units. 

• The Office of Sustainability encourages community members to be mindful of the free store and to remember it as an opportunity to directly support VCU students. 

The group discussed various administrative tasks and agreed to meet once per month. The next meeting will be scheduled at a later date. 

The goals of the Grants and Awards work group are to :

• Recognize and promote outstanding community engagement and research efforts by VCU faculty, staff, and students, highlighting their contributions to the university's mission and Quest 2028
• Assess the impact and outcomes of funded projects to ensure they align with the community's needs and the university's goals
• Gather feedback from the community and grant recipients to continually improve the grants and awards program

Workgroup Members

• Misti Mueller, Executive Director, Mary and Frances Youth Center
• Ariana Bracalente, Director of Philanthropic Grants, Development and Alumni Relations
• Logan Vetrovec, Director, Education and Research, Office of Health Equity
• Jose Alcaine, Ph.D., director of research services in the Office of Research and Faculty Development and affiliate faculty in the Department of Foundations of Education at the VCU School of Education,
• Lydia Klinger, Director of Strategic Collaboration
• Glenny Escotto, Senior Project Manager, VCU Massey Cancer Center

Updates from workgroup: 

From Spring 2024 to Fall 2024, a robust process was developed to launch the Academic-Community Partnership Planning Grants. This involved establishing the application process, reviewing grant applications, and selecting recipients to support collaborations between academic institutions and the community. Additionally, the process for the Excellence in Community Engagement Awards was created, involving a call for nominations and the selection of outstanding nominees. These efforts will be celebrated at an award and recognition ceremony scheduled for October 10th, recognizing the achievements of grant recipients and awardees.

Looking ahead to Spring 2025, the award and recognition ceremony will continue to recognize and promote exemplary community engagement and research efforts. This event will have a more selective nomination process, with announcements anticipated in January. The process for requesting nominations for the Excellence in Community Engagement Awards will be refined, and preparations for the next grant cycle will begin to ensure continued support for impactful academic-community partnerships.

The goals of the research workgroup are to:

• Identify and propose solutions for infrastructure barriers in community-engaged research.
• Recommend ways to recognize community-engaged research in faculty promotion and tenure processes and reward all faculty for their involvement.
• Identify training, support, and resources to enhance research skills and capacity for successful community-engaged funding

Workgroup Members

• Maghboeba Mosavel, Associate Vice President for Community Partnerships (co-chair)
• Caroline Cobb Amey (co-chair)
• Amy Salisbury, Associate Dean for Research, Nursing
• Jered Wendte, Research Associate, School of Nursing/MHWP/RHWP
• Emily Zimmerman, Associate Professor, Center on Society and Health/Epidemiology
• Stacy Johnson, EEO-AA Manager, VCU Health - Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Faye Belgrave, Chief Diversity Officer
• Susan Bodnar-Deren, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
• Camille Coy, Director for Strategic Initiatives, Enterprise Marketing and Communications
• Jill Blondin
• Faika Zanjani, Associate Director of Academic Programs & Research Training, Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry and Innovation
• Michael Newsome
• Jill Bowman

Council on Community Engagement: Research Workgroup Meeting (held on August 27, 2024)

1. Welcome and Review
   - Reviewed slides from the May 14, 2024, meeting and presentation.
   - Shared data collected over the summer will inform future workshops.

2. Workshop Plans
   - Plan for two workshops: one in the fall and another in the spring.
   - The fall workshop will focus on community-engaged research, featuring a panel of 3-4 researchers sharing lessons learned.
   - The panel will include representatives from the IRB to assist with researcher-IRB communication.
   - The panel will be recorded and made available online, with potential follow-up in-person meetings.

3. Panel Members
   - Potential panel members suggested for the fall include Ana Diallo (Nursing), Gabriela León-Pérez (Sociology), Marcia Winter (Psychology), among others.
   - The **fall panel is scheduled for October 23, 2024**.

4. Resource Development
   - Aim to create a resource on community-engaged research methods, pulling from existing programs and training (such as the CITI program).
   - A draft document will be prepared for the next meeting.

5. New Partnership Database
   - Discussed the launch of a new database, **Collaboratory**, with the first group of volunteers to pilot the system.
   - An onboarding meeting will take place in late September or early October.

6. Other Discussions
   - Explored ideas like increasing student membership and expanding the workgroup.
   - Next meeting is planned for late September or early October.