Community PartnersCU Engage is interested in supporting the development of partnerships between community organizations and faculty, staff, and students from CU Boulder. In our approach to partnerships we value collaboration, democratic (or collective) methods of inquiry, and social action.

CU Engage was founded as the center for community-based learning and research on the CU Boulder campus. Community-based research places the community members and people who are most affected by research at its core, thereby better informing outcomes and empowering groups to be agents of positive change in their own communities. It values the wealth of local knowledge as essential to quality research and social action.  For example, a community-based research project on the CU Boulder campus invited students of color to examine barriers to joining programs on the campus. Thus putting the individuals who are most affected by this issue at the center of the research.

In community-based learning, undergraduate students work with community organizations as a required component of an academic course. It is based on a commitment to foster student learning through experience while simultaneously advancing the mission of the community partner. Some great examples of community-based courses are taught in the INVST program, although many others exist in various departments on campus.

The Center would like to help connect you with people on campus who might be interested in partnering and have relevant interests and expertise, particularly for collaborative research projects or community-based learning courses. Please take a few minutes to complete the following form so that we may better assist you in connecting with the campus.

Community Partner Interest Form

To learn about some of our existing partnerships – and how you might get involved, please click on the following links:

If you are seeking support from CU Boulder student volunteers for a service project, please contact the Volunteer Resource Center at 303-735-4495.

If you are curious about the variety of outreach projects that CU staff and faculty have underway please visit the Office of Outreach and Engagement, which maintains a high quality searchable database, or contact the Outreach Office.

For general queries about CU Engage, please contact Naomi Naylor at naomi.naylor@colorado.edu.

Finally, if you have specific questions about forming a community partnership with an academic course at CU Boulder or are interested in developing a research or evaluation study, please contact CU Engage Executive Director Roudy Hildreth at roudy.hildreth@colorado.edu