Fostering collective impact: Measuring and advancing higher education’s contributions to civic health and equity in Colorado

Abstract

Although colleges and universities typically employ input metrics such as volunteer hours to assess the contributions of campus-community engagement, they often fail to measure outputs in reciprocal partnerships with community leaders. This article discusses a community-based participatory action research (CBPR) study that centered on community expertise and assessments of campus-community engagement in determining the outcomes for regional civic health and equity. The study used collective impact and decolonial theories, and involved community and campus leaders from three Colorado universities working collectively to develop instruments for determining measurable contributions of campus-community engagement. Findings demonstrated that collective impact and CBPR are well suited to supporting reciprocal partnerships between universities and community leaders aimed at assessing and decolonializing campus-community engagement. The findings also revealed that campus assessments differed from community assessments in illuminating ways. The article concludes with actionable recommendations for campuses interested in fostering collective impact and CBPR in efforts to improve regional civic health and equity.