The Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement invites submissions of Projects with Promise. The Project with Promise category is designed for descriptions of early-stage university-community engagement projects with early indications of impact; plans for long-term evaluation; plans for how the project will be sustained; and best practices or lessons learned for the reader. The goal of a project with promise is a cogent, concise, clear description that outlines initial steps to measure impact, and that outlines plans for a rigorous long-term study of impact.
Project with Promise Articles should
- Set the context:Describe the university. Describe the community and its identified need. Why did the institution and the community decide to partner? What relevant literature specifically speaks to the problem/issue/need that is being addressed? In this section, provide just one or two sentences to overview the project: What exactly are the goals of the project? For the community? For the university students (if applicable, e.g., praticipating in a service-learning course or community service project)? For the university faculty members (if applicable)? For the institution overall (if applicable)?
- Provide details about the project:What faculty expertise is being applied to the project/issue/need? What exactly does the project do? How long has the project been in place? How many have participated in the project? Why and how many are univeristy students involved in the project (if applicable)?
- Measure the impact of the project:What initial steps are being taken to measure the impact of the project? What is the connection of the author(s) to the project and to the measurement of impact? Was IRB approval secured? If not, why not?
- Present findings:What was being measured/addressed? What was discovered - organized parallel to the outlined goals of the project if possible.
- Discuss the implications of the early-stage assessment:How will the findings be used for this specific project?
- Outline next steps:What are the implications of the early-stage measurement findings for the project? How will the findings be used to improve the project? How will the project be sustained over time? Outline the assessment being put in place to measure long-term outcomes/impacts of the project?
- Conclude for the reader with lessons learned and/or best practices:What can the reader take away from this description of a project with early-stage findings about the impact of the project? Summarize the practical, tacit best practices or lessons learned.