Relationships and Partnerships in Community- Campus Engagement: Evolving Inquiry and Practice

Abstract

Inquiry and practice related to community-campus partnerships are ever evolving, with significant current momentum toward democratic engagement. To inform the ongoing development of associated practitioner scholarship, we examine the development of a tool for assessing the quality of community-campus relationships, the Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale (TRES), as a microcosm of some underlying dynamics in previous and current work. After an overview of its conceptual foundations, we present TRES, review examples of its uses across multiple contexts, and share lessons learned from critical reflection on those uses along with associated implications for the future development of such tools. Subsequent discussion focuses on shifts toward conceptualizing both partnerships themselves and processes of inquiring into them in terms of systems and co-creation. Seeking to support readers in operationalizing democratic engagement in their inquiry and practice, we share conceptual frameworks, tangible tools, guiding questions for research, and reflective critique on our experience as practitioner-scholars of partnerships.