Community Partnerships & Outreach Staff Network members share a vision of the Wisconsin Idea that recognizes community members as full partners, essential to the engaged, collaborative work that transforms our communities and institutions for the public good.
The Community Partnerships and Outreach (CPO) Staff Network was established in 2008 as a community of practice of University of Wisconsin–Madison staff members who span the boundaries between campus and community. Staff members are the “brand representatives” of the Wisconsin Idea.
CPO Staff Network professionals facilitate projects, programs, services and relationships with community partners that are sustained, mutually beneficial, equitable and respectful of the knowledge, values, priorities, resources and needs of all partners.
Get involved: Join the Google Group for the CPO Staff Network to stay updated with email updates and resources by clicking here.
Co-design to bring community perspectives and lived experience into the research process
Tuesday, Nov. 12
9 to 10am via Zoom
Register for event.
Have you ever wondered how the co-design process might be applied to bring community voice into research projects? Join Reid Parks and Kat Phelps in exploring how this methodology can be used to incorporate insights from people who are closest to the issues at every stage of a research project—from prioritizing and defining issues to designing and implementing effective solutions.
October CPO with UW Connects
Tuesday, Oct. 15
9-10:30am
Morgridge Center for Public Service, Round Room
Fran Puleo Moyer, Associate Director of Outreach Programs for UW Connects, will be joining us to share information and gather feedback around the potential development of a new statewide engagement hub for campus. What does this mean? Well, much like University Marketing and University Communications serve as a resource for best practices, resources and trainings, UW Connects could serve similarly as a resource hub, but also a data collection/reporting point for those doing outreach around the state…whether its well-seasoned outreach teams or a graduate student in a lab taking on a new outreach activity.
Among many priorities, the goal is that the hub will unify UW outreach and its messaging, help track and report on work being done, provide a connecting point for Wisconsinites who are unsure how to connect, and support our institutional commitment to the Wisconsin Idea. Since UW Connects sits in the Office of State Relations and Statewide Outreach, another important aspect is to expand connection of existing outreach work with legislators by district. Collaborators include the Morgridge Center, UniverCity Alliance, and UW Extension. Your ideas and thoughts are important, so hope to see you there!
Public Works: Graduate Student Community Engagement Opportunities Mixer
Wednesday, Oct. 9
3 to 4:30pm
University Club Building, Room 313, 432 E. Campus Mall
Are you a graduate student interested in community engaged approaches to research and teaching? Looking for professional development geared toward pursuing public-facing careers post UW-Madison? Curious about the public possibilities of your knowledge and credentials?
Join a collection of community-engaged units for a graduate student mixer intended to provide students with the chance to network across disciplines with like-minded peers and learn about resources available to support your community engagement interests.
RSVPs are required and seats are limited. To join, please send an email with your name and affiliation to: weindling@wisc.edu. Light refreshments will be available.
The purpose of the CPO Staff Network is to create a horizontal structure across campus units for engagement professionals to:
- Share information and resources
- Disseminate best practices
- Collaborate
- Participate in targeted professional development opportunities
- Implement quality initiatives
- Improve outcomes for community partners
- Increase access and reduce entry-point confusion for community partners.
The goals of the CPO Staff Network are to ensure vertical alignment in the implementation of the Wisconsin Idea to:
- Increase UW–Madison’s capacity to respond to community priorities
- Support structures and policies that sustain quality community engagement
- Engage boundary spanners at all levels in leadership, planning and decision making
Information on past meetings, including slides, recordings, or notes can be accessed here. You must have a UW email account to access. If you are not a UW employee but are interested in the work of this group, please contact Cory at sprinkel@wisc.edu
Marian Farrior, Restoration Work Party Manager, UW–Madison Arboretum / marian.farrior@wisc.edu
Keri Robbins, Event Manager in the Division of Extension, UW–Madison / keri.robbins@wisc.edu
Cory Sprinkel, Community-Engaged Scholarship Specialist, Morgridge Center for Public Service / sprinkel@wisc.edu
Danielle Weindling, Public Humanities Coordinator, Center for the Humanities / weindling@wisc.edu
Anna Courtier-Bishop, Director of Community-based Learning, WISCIENCE / anna.courtier@wisc.edu
Katrina Phelps, Community Liaison, WINRS / kephelps@wisc.edu
Meredith Turany – Community Outreach Specialist with Carbone Cancer Center / mturany@wisc.edu
José Luis Ramierez – Assistant Director of Civic Engagement with Morgridge Center for Public Service / jramirez27@wisc.edu
Resources
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Communities of Practice
Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice; Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder
Using Emergence to Take Social Innovations to Scale; Meg Wheatley & Deborah Frieze
Linking Colleges to Communities: Engaging the University for community Development; the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland
Engagement
Building a Two‑Way Street: Challenges and Opportunities for Community Engagement at Research Universities; Lorilee R. Sandmann & David J. Weerts
Reshaping Institutional Boundaries to Accommodate an Engagement Agenda; Lorilee R. Sandmann & David J. Weerts
Transforming Campuses and Communities Through Public Engagement: The Critical Role(s) of Boundary Spanners – Video 57 min.
Evaluation
Are We Making a Difference? Evaluating Community Based Programs: Presented by Christine Maidl Pribbenow, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 8/2009.
University of Wisconsin Survey Center
UW Extension Logic Model Resources
Developmental Evaluation: A Developmental Evaluation Primer
A Practitioner’s Guide to Developmental Evaluation
Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use by Michael Quinn Patton
Journals
Outreach and Engagement Professionals Network
The Outreach and Engagement Practitioners Network (OEPN) is a community of practice for university staff, non-tenure-track faculty, and community partners. These outreach and engagement professionals—or “boundary spanners”—develop and sustain relationships between higher education institutions and community partner organizations by facilitating, managing, directing, and administering ongoing projects, programs, services, and research. Learn more.