Browsing by Subject "Community Engagement"

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Bringing parent and community engagement back into the education reform spotlight: a comparative case study.
(2010-03) Gordon, Molly F.
In this study I argue that educational practitioners and policy makers cannot solve the problem of increasing student learning and growth by organizationally isolating the work of schools from communities. The purpose of this study was to explore which organizational conditions have enabled and which have hindered schools and communities from successfully working together to help students learn and grow. In addition, I explore why some districts and schools continue to struggle with engaging outside stakeholders despite their efforts. I used a comparative case study design and chose to investigate three districts and two schools within each of those districts in order to see how district engagement policies and practices filter down into schools. I used neo-institutional and organizational theories as conceptual tools. Results showed that district level engagement efforts were loosely-coupled with school level policies and practices. Policies that did exist around engagement were vaguely worded and weakly monitored. In addition, few innovative approaches existed to actively engage outside stakeholders. This study confirms the neo-institutional framework and its usefulness in examining engagement policies and practices.
Building Together: Integrating Community Insights from North Minneapolis into West Broadway Development
(2024-05-01) Mussa, Ahlam; Caples, Edward; Eckstrom, Carly; Polk, Spencer
Justice Built Communities (JBC), an equitable economic development arm of Pillsbury United Communities (PUC), owns a handful of vacant lots and disused properties in North Minneapolis. PUC envisions a development process that heavily involves the community. As JBC is still in its infancy, PUC is looking to gather information from residents and business owners on how to best develop the acquired properties. The Humphrey team laid the foundation for future engagement. This included conducting interviews with previous organizations who engaged in the area, community engagement work, and focus groups. Additionally, a content analysis of engagement documentation associated with North Minneapolis was synthesized and gaps identified. The culmination of this work resulted in recommendations to PUC to equitably engage the community with purpose and meaning. These recommendations will be further leverage to create a space that will lead to prosperity for its residents.
Community-Engaged Scholarship in African Higher Education: Exploring Faculty Motivations and Barriers to Community-Engaged Scholarship in Malawi
(2015-09) Nkhoma, Nelson
This research study examines the factors influencing the motivations of faculty at three Malawian public universities across six campuses in conducting community-engaged scholarship. The study employed a mixed-methods approach in which data were collected using a survey of community-engaged scholarship and in-depth interviews with a total of 110 faculty members who conduct community-engaged scholarship. Analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data reveal the influence of personal, institutional and external community incentives, including but not limited to the desire to teach well, personal commitments to specific issues and people, a perceived fit between community engagement and disciplinary goals, and availability of internationally funds by donors. This mixed-methods study found that faculty in Malawi, like elsewhere in African and the United States, have a rich reservoir of motivations that are rooted in personal goals, cultural background, and institutional norms of practice. Findings suggest that motivation for community-engaged scholarship likely varies by type of engagement and the overall proportion of time faculty members consider to spend on community-engaged scholarship. The study also finds that the increasing marketization of community-engaged scholarship and higher education in general has a paradoxical influence on what faculty report as motivations for conducting community-engaged scholarship in the Malawian context. While community engagement has forced faculty to plod the new territory that views scholarship as entrepreneurship, it has also cast faculty as “intersectors” bridging various stakeholder interests and needs to solve scholarship and societal problems. As main actors positioned at a significant scholarship position, the study reveals how faculty aspirations intersect at the need to improve their personal knowledge, students’ capacity to learn, transform society and contribute to their disciplines. However, these faculty motivations and aspirations are contradicted and limited by incomprehensive institutional and government support and the overreliance on external community supports which are competitive, tied to donor goals and very time specific.
The CREATE Initiative Policy Toolkit: Sharing In the Benefits of a Greening City
(2020) Swift, Kaleigh; Klein, Mira
"What are ways that we can envision greening as a way to create a more equitable and just world?" The CREATE Initiative, an interdisciplinary group of scholars, community leaders, and engaged researchers funded by the University of Minnesota's Grand Challenges Research Initiative, works to tackle issues at the intersection of environment and equity. In this video, research associate Mira Klein and program coordinator Kaleigh Swift of the CREATE Initiative describe the scope and purpose of the initiative's policy toolkit. The toolkit aims to redesign existing anti-displacement policy tools to provide guidance for institutions and organizations working with communities of color and low-income communities who face displacement as a result of green gentrification, housing crisis, and historic inequities. Klein and Swift discuss the process of creating the toolkit, explain its goals and strategies, and share their hopes for its implementation: "There's a clear relationship between environmental justice types of work and housing work. If people are able to make that connection, that's really important." Listen to Humphrey School assistant professor Bonnie Keeler discuss the CREATE Initiative in more detail in this Civios podcast: https://hdl.handle.net/11299/218236
Designing a Volunteer Experience: Waders, Pipe Cleaners, and Glitter
(2014-02-17) Gray, Jena
In order to face current and future environmental challenges, we need to have more people engaging with the environment in a positive way. This thesis explores the motivations and satisfactions of volunteers of an environmentally-focused volunteer program. Design thinking is examined as a tool to improve volunteer satisfaction by allowing the volunteers to develop their own innovative solutions.
Episode 22: A Contested Home: Healing Through Art and Storytelling
(2019-07-16) Manneberg, Avigail; Kuftinec, Sonja; Conners, Kate
"How can art be used to acknowledge conflicting narratives of ""home""? In this podcast, Avigail Manneberg, a Minneapolis-based artist and adjunct faculty member in the University of Minnesota Department of Art, and Sonja Kuftinec, a professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Theater Arts and Dance, discuss their project ""A Contested Home,"" which uses art and storytelling to engage themes of forced migration and displacement in the Galilee. Their project focuses on a single geographical space called ""home"" by two different groups: the village of Ya'ad/Mi'ar in the Galilee region of northern Israel. The village of Ya’ad was built in the 1970s and settled by Israeli Jews next to the ruins of the village of Mi’ar, whose Palestinian descendants continue to live in the area. Working with local artists and partners, Manneberg and Kuftinec held workshops focused on personal Mi'ari family narratives and testimonials to confront taboo narratives of forced displacement."
Episode 26: The CREATE Initiative: Research at the Intersection of Environment and Equity
(2020-02-17) Keeler, Bonnie; Foy, Melanie Sommer
Bonnie Keeler, assistant professor in the science, technology, and environmental policy area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, discusses her work with the CREATE Initiative. In founding the initiative, Keeler and University of Minnesota geography professor Kate Derickson sought to combine their research areas in a program that addresses issues at the intersection of environment and equity using interdisciplinary, community-engaged, mission-driven scholarship. Groups of CREATE graduate researchers have partnered with members of the Policy Think Tank—a team of community leaders from Minnesota, Atlanta, and elsewhere—to consider the context of historic racial inequality in cities and understand community members' concerns as cities increasingly invest in policies to address climate change and improve urban sustainability. The CREATE Initiative has also developed an action-oriented policy toolkit to help community members advocate for the benefits of greening initiatives to reach their communities without engendering displacement.
Episode 27: The Immigration Court Observation Project
(2020-03-30) Chan, Linus; Levesque, Chris; DeWaard, Jack; Foy, Melanie Sommer
The Human Rights Defender Project is a collaborative initiative from The Advocates for Human Rights, the University of Minnesota Law School James H. Binger Center for New Americans, and Robins Kaplan LLP. As part of the project, members of the public can volunteer to sit in on detained immigrant court hearings—which are always open to the public—and record what they observe and feel about the process, giving them a chance to see what these hearings consist of beyond their depictions in the media. In this podcast, you'll hear from three Minnesota academics affiliated with the project: Linus Chan, associate professor of clinical law and director of the Detainee Rights Clinic at the James Binger Center; Jack DeWaard, UMN associate professor of sociology, graduate faculty at the Minnesota Population Center, and adjunct faculty member at the Humphrey School; and Chris Levesque, a PhD student in sociology at UMN and graduate research assistant at the MPC. They discuss why the project differs from other court observation projects due to its focus on perceived fairness, how they're working with the qualitative and quantitative data being collected, and some takeaways from the data itself—including examples of what observers view as fair or unfair.
Facilitating Organizational Change: Using CHAT to Connect Community Engagement and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at an Engaged Institution
(2024-01) Telles, Arien
There is limited understanding of the connections between community engagement and racial DEI at colleges and universities working to institutionalize engagement. Community engagement is not being institutionalized within an educational system that is a blank slate, nor does it operate within a vacuum. Community engagement operates within a racially inequitable system, yet there is a lack of empirical studies investigating how DEI is addressed as colleges and universities perform the work of transformation. This study provides insight into the ways racial DEI operates within community engagement, both overtly and covertly, in colleges and universities that are working towards organizational transformation into engaged institutions. In addition to responding to a gap in the literature, this study contributes to the field by identifying and analyzing the role of racial DEI within community engagement by considering what organizational contradictions exist when analyzing how community engagement and diversity, equity, and inclusion operate together. Using cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) as a theoretical framework and analytical tool, the findings of this study provide several implications for research and practice as it relates to organizational change approaches that reveal insights into complex institutional challenges aimed at addressing pressing social issues.
Happy Cities: The Role of Transportation
(2017) Fan, Yingling
Psychology research increasingly suggests that emotional well-being contributes to human development in significant ways. Happier people often are more productive and creative, have better family and social relationships, and in general are more successful. For urban planners, it is important to understand people’s daily emotional experiences as they move through cities, according to research by Yingling Fan, Associate Professor in the Regional Planning and Policy Area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Are we creating neighborhoods and cities with emotional intelligence, capable of evoking positive emotions and reducing negative emotions?
“It is a lifeline to understanding what we are experiencing right now.” Hearing from the Guthrie Theater audience during a pandemic
(2020-05-04) Clinton, James; Soisuwan, Ganokporn
In late April, a survey sent to Guthrie Audience members received 1,627 responses and aimed to answer three questions: 1) are arts/storytelling and the Guthrie Theater relevant to audiences now; 2) are Guthrie Theater-produced shows important to the Guthrie audience; and 3) how important is online artistic content for the Guthrie audience now? Upon analyzing survey results, the Humphrey School team recommends that Guthrie Leadership do the following: 1) maintain in-house productions as much as possible; 2) do not heavily invest in creating new online programming; 3) coordinate with Twin Cities arts institutions to communicate to a wider audience and build excitement for the arts when programs can safely resume. 61% of survey respondents were season ticket holders, so these results should be understood to reflect the opinions of Guthrie’s most committed audience members. Conclusions: ● For the Guthrie audience, the arts are relevant for themselves and the Twin Cities community right now. Arts and storytelling helps them feel connected at this time. The Guthrie audience primarily miss seeing plays, the physical space of the theater, and social components that accompany live theater. The arts matter now and live theater will matter in the future. ● The Guthrie audience cares deeply about in-house productions, and believes it deepens their connection to the wider Twin Cities artistic community. In-house production is an important factor in their decision to purchase tickets to the Guthrie. ● Many audience members engage with storytelling right now, but not with Guthrie’s Facebook content or with other institutions they previously engaged with in-person. There is little interest in new online content from the Guthrie Theater. There is a desire to see programs in-person.
MN StoryCollective: Citizen Storytelling
(2024-08-01) Inglis , Maximillion; Neuser , Abrahm; Olson, Julia; Williams, Matt
The Minnesota Story Collective (MNSC), an initiative of the State of Minnesota, was established to collect and analyze qualitative narratives from diverse community members. This effort aims to provide state agencies with a flexible and ongoing source of qualitative data to ensure that programs, policies, and practices better meet the needs of all families. In Fall 2023, MNSC collected a substantial dataset through community events and an online portal, creating an opportunity to more deeply understand key communities or subgroups in Minnesota, including: youth, single parents, and parents of children with identified special health needs. This project was undertaken to analyze the collected narratives and identify recurring patterns and themes within the data of these three subgroups. The analysis focused on three key research questions: (1) What are the frequently recurring ideas shared by participants? (2) What do these stories reveal about the lived experiences of Minnesotans? (3) How can the MNSC initiative be effectively communicated to potential users to enhance policy-making processes? Through thematic analysis, the study identified seven primary themes across the narratives: Home, Region/Place, Events, Community, Institutions, and Needs (with subcategories of Barriers to Needs and Needs Met). These themes were further explored within the context of the three target populations, providing insights into the unique challenges and experiences faced by each group.
Osseo Health and Wellness Project: A Community-Driven Model to Address Inequities in Students’ Nutrition, Health and Wellness in a Culturally Diverse School District.
(2021-09) Mutiga-Waititu, Murugi
Osseo Health and Wellness Project (OHWP) is a community-driven initiative led by African Immigrant Services (AIS), a community organization serving African immigrants in the Northwest suburbs of Hennepin County. OHWP partnership includes Osseo Area Schools Nutrition Services (OAS-NS), community members, and other stakeholders including the University of Minnesota. The main purpose of OHWP was to increase parents' and students' voices in shaping culturally responsive and equitable health and wellness practices, systems, and outcomes within OAS-NS. Using a community-driven action research approach, OHWP organized and convened a community focus group to which students, parents, community members, and OAS staff were invited. Based upon input from parents, students, and community members, the Osseo District School Board approved the new OAS wellness policy in 2017. The superintendent subsequently appointed four wellness coordinators to manage the district-wide implementation of the wellness policy. AIS provided two African community chefs who trained the kitchen staff on the preparation of five different recipes. The students loved the new recipes, and they were incorporated into the school lunch menus. Clear labeling of food was carried out across all schools allowing students with different cultural, religious, and medical needs to better participate in the School Lunch Program. OAS is now working on hiring more staff from the community and continuing to work on making the menus healthier. The school district better appreciates the African immigrant community as a valuable resource and the community holds greater power and voice in continuing the work. The AIS model offers the opportunity for transferable experiences in cross-cultural relationship building between communities and the educational institutions serving those communities. To the extent these experiences can be replicated in other settings, they hold promise to break down barriers and pave ways for the parents to be a greater part of their children's lives in school.
Sharing Community Engagement in Pharmacy – An Invitation
(University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, 2011) Sorensen, Todd D.; Davis, Robin L.; Balidemaj, Festina
Summary of Katharine J. Densford Center Activities and Acccomplishments 2012-2020
(2020-12) Pesut, Daniel J
The purpose of this report is to summarize the activity of the Densford Center under the leadership of its third director, Daniel J Pesut, PhD, RN, FAAN, who served from 2012-2020. Detailed in this report is a brief history of the Densford Center followed by annual goals and accomplishments, which are supported by materials in the appendices. Established in 1997, the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership was the nation’s first university-based center dedicated to improving health care worldwide through the development and promotion of nurses as leaders. The center is named after Katharine J. Densford, an internationally known leader and director of the School of Nursing from 1930 to 1959. Densford was an independent and visionary woman who changed the face of nursing in Minnesota and across the globe. She held offices in almost every nursing organization of the time and, more importantly, she was an agent for social change. Through her influence, the School of Nursing helped redefine how leadership could benefit patients, nursing, and health care. The center was created to perpetuate the legacy of this pioneering hero, and to assist nurses in addressing contemporary challenges in the same spirit as its namesake. Dr. Mary Jo Kreitzer was named the center’s first director, succeeded by Dr. Joanne Disch. Building on the work of the previous directors and grounded in the legacy of Katharine Densford, Dr. Pesut aspired to focus on the following goals and objectives • Convene communities of practice, learning and research regarding nursing leadership, foresight literacy, and interprofessional health professions education • Educate, coach, and build the competency and confidence of nurse leaders • Stimulate innovation in nursing and health care through the application and use of creative and design thinking principles • Communicate the value of nursing influence on policy, practices, and issues related to the greater public good regarding health and a care economy Appendix A is Dr. Pesut’s curriculum vitae documenting his faculty achievements through time including his tenure at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Conference and continuing education Evaluation data of Densford center program offerings is contained in Appendix B. An aggregation of Densford Center News Columns appearing in the Minnesota Nurse Magazine is contained in Appendix C. A list of selected external sales, consulting and speaking engagements can be found in Appendix D. A list of The Florence Schorske Wald Scholars can be found in Appendix E. Documentation of additional social media and recent podcasts related to various topics is found in Appendix F. Acknowledgment and thanks to Ms. Midori Green for her assistance in collating and aggregating these materials into the document.

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