Lead the way

  1. Faculty and Staff
  2. Strengthening relationships

Strengthening relationships

Ready to connect?

Ready to build relationships with community and industry partners? Here are ways you can get involved with community engagement as a faculty member at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½â€™s. 

Importance of faculty involvement  

Faculty involvement is an integral step in strengthening Ä¢¹½´«Ã½â€™s relationships with our local, regional, national, and international communities. Providing students with an opportunity to participate in community-engaged learning is a unique avenue for enriched learning in an environment that builds students’ workplace networks, improves their professional skills, adds an application component to their instruction, and provides the possibility for long-lasting and meaningful change for partners. Through course instruction, research, and even co-curricular opportunities, faculty have a wide variety of ways to get involved.  

Value of community engagement

  • Integrate hands-on learning in your courses 
  • Connect and network with professionals in your industry 
  • Provide students with applied experience of their skills in your courses  
  • Connect with community through your research 
  • Leverage new technologies and resources 
  • Align pedagogy to SDGs 

 

Are you ready for community engagement?

What level of engagement am I seeking from my partner?
It is important to define early on in a project the roles and expectations that you are looking for in your partnership. For example, are you looking to provide a partner with a solution to their presented challenge independently? Or might this solution require their initiative in collaborating more directly with you throughout the partnership?





What resources do I need to facilitate this partnership?
Not having the proper resources in place can present a major challenge to community engaged projects. It is important to discuss with your partner logistical considerations such as cost, pre-existing resources that can be adapted/ inform new ones, as well as the time a project may take to complete.






Does this project respond to my partner's needs?
A project should clearly and precisely map onto the challenge that a partner has presented in whole. If not, it may be worth a discussion with your partner to see if it may be more suitable for you to focus on a certain component of a partner’s challenge in your collaboration with them.






What are my motivations to get involved in community engagement?
There may be many distinct reasons that an individual may want to get more involved in community engagement. In deciding on a partnership and subsequent project, having an understanding of your own goals, values, and motivations regarding a partnership can be an informative tool in guiding your collaborations.






Levels of Engagement  

Engagement is understood to be enacted on spectrum and may include:  

  • Inform: provide balanced and objective information to help community members understand the problems, alternatives, and/or solutions.
  • Consult: obtain feedback on analyses, alternatives, and/or decisions.
  • Involve: work directly with community partners throughout the initiative to ensure that concerns and aspirations are considered. 
  • Collaborate and co-create: partner with communities in each aspect of the initiative and choose preferred solution from community perspective  
  • Empower: place final decision with community partners 

In the media

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½'s Logo on a blue field

Nov 10, 2026

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ advances plans for a new Health Sciences facility in Oshawa

The university has been actively working with the City of Oshawa to establish a facility to serve as a new regional home for Health Sciences education.

mitchell hall

Nov 09, 2026

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½â€™s invites community input on future campus development

A public information session on November 19 offers an opportunity to learn about and provide feedback on the university’s long-term Campus Master Plan.

campus

Nov 03, 2026

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½â€™s United Way campaign nears 80 per cent of goal

Donations to the biggest workplace campaign in the region help community members access the programs they need.

See Gazette Articles