Greater than the Sum of its Parts: Formalizing University-Community Partnership

University-community partnerships are a relatively new phenomenon in higher education. Several sets of principles of partnership have been developed in the last decade. However, no attempt has been made to assess the process through which individuals and organizations come together to form a university-community partnership. This study surveyed medical school faculty and community partners participating in active partnerships. Results show that the partnership agreement dimensions of goals and mission, partnership governance, resources, and assessment form the basis for formalizing a partnership, and predict successful progress toward the next phase of the model. KEYWORDS University-Community Partnerships; Community Engagement; Model Building