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Collaboratory at VCU
Understanding and Showcasing Our Community Engagement
The VCU Division of Community Engagement is excited to begin rolling out Collaboratory, a powerful platform designed to track and showcase the university’s community engagement and public service activities.
What is Collaboratory?
Collaboratory is a one-of-a-kind software that helps institutions understand the full landscape of their engagement — the who, what, where, when, and why of activities, partnerships, and more, designed with and for their communities.
Through Collaboratory, faculty and staff can strategically document, understand, and elevate their engagement work. The platform highlights interdisciplinary collaboration, community partnerships, and institutional impact, helping VCU:
- Align with community-identified needs
- Streamline data for accreditation, reporting, and funding
- Demonstrate the real-world impact of engagement efforts
▶️ Watch this short video to learn more:
What Kind of Information Is Collected?
- Institutional Community Engagement & Public Service Activities
- Engagement Throughout the Curriculum
- Faculty and Staff Profiles
- Department Profiles
- Community Partner Engagement
Where We Are Now: Adoption & Piloting Phase
We are currently in the early adoption and pilot phase of Collaboratory at VCU. This means we’re actively building awareness, testing the platform, and inviting initial users to begin entering data and exploring features.
Become a Data Champion
We’re looking for Data Champions to help us lead the way!
As a Data Champion, you will:
- Participate in the initial onboarding process for Collaboratory at VCU.
- Begin entering your own partnership activity data into the system.
- Provide input on the types of materials and resources needed to support successful implementation and make the platform easier for others to use.
- Share your experience using Collaboratory with colleagues and staff.
- Encourage others to use Collaboratory to document and publish their own partnership activity data.
By signing up, you’ll play a key role in shaping how VCU tells the story of its impact in the community.