During the past decade, words and phrases like "engagement,""reciprocity," and "building a two-way street" havebeen scattered throughout speeches and literature calling forcolleges and universities to develop more mutually beneficialrelationships with their surrounding communities. The purposeof this article is to advance a model for understanding the challengesand opportunities for building community-universitypartnerships that are embedded in the values of reciprocity andengagement. This model is advanced through an analysis ofknowledge flow theory and case studies of community-universitypartnerships at two land-grant universities. The core conceptsof the model focus on breaking down knowledge flowbarriers, building capacity for university-community engagement,and identifying motivators to promote engagement initiatives.