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Community Partnership Philosophy

The Boise State Service-Learning Program’s community partnership philosophy is to create an interconnected network of stakeholders and organizations to make collective communities stronger.

We see partnerships as a way to grow the strength of our community based on these principles: (adapted from the Bonner Program UNC Chapel Hill)

Principles

1. Building Meaningful and Reciprocal Partnerships

Successful service-learning partnerships are mutually beneficial and based on reciprocity. Boise State faculty, staff, and students prioritize intentional relationship-building that supports community needs while enhancing student learning. Active listening ensures partnerships align with real-world challenges and contribute to shared knowledge and solutions.

💡Want to learn more? Please see this story exploring the magic of reciprocity. 

What You Can Do Together:

  • Consider and discuss opportunities, limitations, and needs during the project design stage and semester debrief. Your community partner can find tools to get started with the Service-Learning Preparation Guide.
  • Define clear roles for students to maximize their impact and opportunity to learn and clarify the responsibilities of your partner.
  • Utilize opportunities for feedback to improve collaboration.

2. Leveraging Strengths and Resources to Support Your Partnership

Combining your and your Community Partner’s expertise and leadership are central to service-learning. While students gain access to invaluable experiential learning, Community Partners can connect with university resources, including access to new stakeholders, campus resources, and other engagement opportunities. By leveraging these assets, these community partnerships can enhance organizational capacity and elevate learning impact.

What You Can Do Together:

  • Identify service-learning activities that meet your learning goals and complement your partner’s needs, bandwidth, and objectives. 
  • Utilize and incorporate inherent student skillsets like peer outreach, program evaluation, and social media marketing.
  • Encourage exploring the Service-Learning Program’s Community Partner Resources page.

3. Committing to Sustainable Growth and Long-Term Impact

Community impact extends beyond a semester, of course, and Service-Learning partnerships should commit to sustaining collaboration that aligns with long-term organizational goals. Embrace a growth mindset, learning from experience, and refining service-learning strategies to ensure success. Thinking and acting with a long-term focus will maximize the opportunities for learning for students and impact for your partner.  

What You Can Do Together:

  • Strive for multi-semester service-learning relationships with community partners to build continuity and lower the required investment in your partnership. 
  • Work with community partners to improve service-learning outcomes through coordination on needs, revising project design, and communication.
  • Engage your community partner as a co-educator! Being a co-educator often requires little, and sometimes no, change in approach but can lead to high-impact learning for students and long-term investment from your community partner.