WiCC Regional GatheringNovember 6th, 2015

Jennifer Skolaski, Ph.D.Community & Nonprofit Leadership Consulting, LLC

Perspective

Studied, researched, and have participated in university-community relations as a student

Worked within the UW system as a project, research, and teaching assistant; as well as lecturer

Professionally worked within and for nonprofit organizations

Five Ways Higher Education & Community Nonprofits

can Work Better Together!

1. Research

Faculty and Staff: Research local nonprofits as national models Engage local populations and organizations in the

research e.g., UW-O Sociology Community Advisory Board

Community: Use best practices/methods and evidence for their

work

Students: Study how community resources are addressing

communities issues

2. Career Opportunities

College Student Interest in Going into Nonprofit Careers

Have nonprofit executives and other staff speak with students about potential career opportunities (going beyond the job fairs – e.g., UW-Madison SoHE networking nights)

Similar to the business sector, connect student curriculum to nonprofit careers (e.g., grant writing, development, marketing, leadership)

Provide experiential learning opportunities

3. Staff Support

Boundary Spanning in Higher Education: How Universities Can Enable Success

Problem: Public land-grant universities are at a crossroads—facing less

public funding, relying increasingly on other sources to finance their mission. At the same time, these institutions are called to maintain their historical missions of outreach.

Boundary Spanner: A university employee who, in roles distinct from tenure track

faculty, works between the institution and community sectors to represent and meet the needs of both parties, connect institutional resources with community needs, translate communication between partners, and engage the community as a representative of the institution striving to create mutually beneficial and understanding partnerships by balancing power differentials and opposing perspective and needs.

4. Student Scholarships

Problem: The Intern has two jobs, a full class load, and an

internship that could be beneficial to the organization and the student, but they don’t have the time or energy.

Solution: Provide scholarships for students that are

interning at nonprofits that support the student as well as some of the work for the nonprofits (it costs nonprofits time and money as well).

5. Funding Nonprofits:

Gain evidence for the work that they do (i.e., program evaluation), and gain access to best practices/successful models to do their work => leveraged funding

Universities: Collaborative grants and community partners =>

leveraged funding

Everyone working together => Collective Impact => Community change => Everyone wins!