community engagement

Working in Our Communities

Community Engagement Separator A slash icon used to separate content For Faculty and Staff Separator A slash icon used to separate content Working in Our Communities
Hyperion coffee shop in downtown Fredericksburg.
Hyperion coffee shop in downtown Fredericksburg.

Working in Our Communities

Collaborative partnerships are an important way to address community-identified needs, give back to our broader Fredericksburg-area community partners, and in some cases, provide unique learning experiences for students.

There are some best practices to follow to help ensure that these partnerships are successful:

  1. Effective Communication: Timely, respectful, and thorough communication helps ensure that all involved parties are having their needs understood and their goals accomplished.
  2. Memorandum of Understanding: For more involved, longer term projects, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a useful tool for clearly outlining the expectations and commitments of both parties involved in the partnership. An MOU can help you set expectations about volunteer times and project outcomes. The Center for Community Engagement has a sample MOU you may wish to use, or you can reach out to the Center for Community Engagement and we can help you design a customized MOU for your program.
  3. Feedback: Generally, it is a good idea to provide the community partner with some sort of feedback mechanism (an online form, a follow-up meeting, or a written feedback form) to provide feedback about the partnership and to suggest any needed improvements.

Community Engagement