Community Partnerships Strategic Plan
Vision
The Office of Community Partnerships (OCP), an office in the Chancellor’s division of the
University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) will become a national leader in creating,
developing, and deploying impactful community partnerships that advance its teaching and research
mission while strengthening ties to a global community.
Mission
To proactively provide leadership to existing relationships and generate new partnerships that lead
to the development of meaningful opportunities that successfully integrate university functions
enabling highly productive, sustainable collaborations among industry, government and non-profit
entities and interactions with faculty, staff and students.
I.
Statement of Need
UNCW has supported a traditional, decentralized approach to community engagement
which has maintained a range of relationships at all levels of the university. A need for a
more centralized comprehensive and intentional approach has emerged. Because UNCW is
uniquely positioned to make significant contributions to our community and corporate
development, and because we each have significant impacts on each other, Community
Partnerships is able to provide the responsive, holistic approach desired by industry,
government and organizations while internally enabling other university stakeholders (i.e.
student affairs, colleges, advancement, other services, etc.) to leverage resources, capabilities
and assets through coordinated engagement, analytics and communications.
II.
Definition
As defined by the Carnegie Foundation, community “engagement” describes the collaboration between
institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the
mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in the context of a partnership.
Partnerships developed for collaborative, beneficial relationships between UNCW and
communities and corporations exhibit several of the following characteristics:
a. Are tied to an external community or corporate organization(s).
b. Focus on a community or corporate need or issue where UNCW takes a leading role in
affecting change.
c. Activities are of mutual benefit to the whole university and for the growth and
development of the partner.
d. Provides opportunities for faculty, staff and students to participate in impactful
community- and/or corporate-based learning, research or service.
e. Are usually formalized, and may have a contract or memorandum of agreement to
specify the terms of operation.
f. May be funded from a variety of sources including university funds. Some partnerships
are unfunded and have only in-kind support.
Community Partnerships Strategic Plan | Office of the Chancellor Page 1 of 6 g. May be a fee for service or professional development training provided in support of a
public or community organization.
III.
Focus
The purpose of the Community Partnerships organizational structure is to provide the
university leadership as a means to strategically strengthen relationships with the global
community through an improved approach that facilitates interactions between industry,
government, the community and the university. We will:
1. Manage select strategic organizations to grow relationships in areas of community and
corporate engagement;
2. Collaborate with faculty and staff and corporate and community representatives to
communicate plans and goals for improved interactions;
3. Establish best practices and data infrastructure to develop plans and implement
actions leading to the most successful outcomes;
4. Produce communications and marketing materials that guide the development of
partnerships and benefit community and corporate representatives in organizational
interactions.
IV.
Assets and Organization
Only through collaborative and communicative efforts of the divisions of UNCW will this
plan be successful:
 Academic Affairs
 Advancement
 Athletics
 Business Affairs
 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
 CREST Research Park
 Information Technology Systems
 Sponsored Research and Graduate Studies
 Student Affairs
 University Relations
Community and Corporate Engagement
Traditionally, UNCW has incorporated a very active culture of community service and outreach, and
our students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents and donors continue to build a strong relationship with
constituents of the region. Similarly, corporate engagement activities are incorporated into aspects of
UNCW aimed at enhancing development and economic services. Community Partnerships will
advance the university’s mission to engage the local and broader community in partnerships that
promote learning, discovery and economic development. These may include (but are not limited to):
 research opportunities for faculty and students to find solutions for corporate,
community and/or government challenges and to enhance business growth
 volunteer service, coordination and implementation for community development
initiatives
 faculty and staff expertise shared through organizational training and skill
development
 corporate and community program evaluation and assessment by faculty and
students
 reciprocal mentorship of students, faculty and community and business leaders
Community Partnerships Strategic Plan | Office of the Chancellor Page 2 of 6 OCP will be a national leader in a model that strengthens key strategic internal and external
relationships and identifies innovative new avenues of partnership in a comprehensive manner that spans
across multiple disciplines.
GOAL: Connect our corporate and community partners with the Journey of Learning, the Love of
Place and the Power of Ideas and Innovation. Developing expectations will serve as the foundation
for increasing the culture of community and corporate engagement among students, faculty and
staff.
Strategies:
 Strengthen the University’s reputation as a visible, reliable, and effective body in addressing
the most pressing immediate and long-term public and private needs to demonstrate
UNCW’s love of place and promote the power of ideas and innovation which positions us
as a driving force in building a vibrant community.
1. Conduct external evaluations of the community and business members’ attitudes and
opinions of the University as a community partner;
2. Continue dialogue and university-based and community-based discussions with corporate
and community partners to explore and assess their needs, issues and concerns
3. Engage community and business leaders in key decision making boards and review
committees pertaining to the establishment of partnership policies and programs;
4. Participate in and give support to business and community-sponsored events and activities;
5. Develop and formalize short- and long-range plans and action steps for inclusion in
community enhancement and corporate growth.
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Develop, support, and implement strategic initiatives that raise the status and legitimacy of
community partnerships in ways that promote the advancement of the university.
1. Actively recruit faculty and academic leaders to participate in existing and new engaged
scholarship activities and initiatives;
2. Initiate a Chancellor-level legacy within the community which elicits university-wide
attention, support, collaboration and participation in activities that promote the betterment
of humanity through citizenship, leadership and innovation.
3. Consult and coordinate with departmental teams in the development of engaged teaching
and outreach opportunities that enhance each discipline
4. Develop a foundational structure intended to increase capacity and resource focus while
engaging community and corporate partners effectively and efficiently, or simply, to enable
UNCW to move at the speed of business.
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Support university personnel, programs and divisions in the development and growth of
their expertise and prominence through shared data and connections within our resource
network.
1. Institute initiatives that strengthen capacities to increase partnership opportunities;
2. Work with the Division of Student Affairs to support a leadership and mentorship program
in which student leaders are provided guidance and training by community and business
leaders;
3. Collaborate with national and international experts to share insights on university-wide
partnership institutionalization and development;
4. Cultivate leadership opportunities that enhance involvement in purposeful civic service;
Community Partnerships Strategic Plan | Office of the Chancellor Page 3 of 6 5. Develop a university-wide process for nominating university personnel for internal and
external engagement awards;
6. Recruit outstanding engagement leaders at the university to serve as spokespersons to
demonstrate different ways of developing an engaged scholarly agenda;
7. Work with Academic Affairs to develop criteria for reviewing and optimizing the quality of
service-learning courses, internships and other community-involved educational experiences.
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Encourage and support business and economic development by generating objective
research that presents opportunities and solutions for evolving professional issues.
1. Support, implement, and evaluate innovative approaches that produce business growth
activities as an effective strategy for advancing the university’s key role as an economic
driver;
2. List university research and teaching initiatives (e.g., interdisciplinary initiatives,
undergraduate research, international studies, intercultural competence and multicultural
initiatives, etc.) and identify action steps for finding and developing corporate partnerships
that can facilitate the accomplishment of set goals;
3. Conduct a study of other universities and their approaches to infusing business growth into
key research and teaching objectives;
4. Assess current business relationships to discover potential partnership opportunities and
develop strategies toward next steps;
5. Collaborate and support the programs and initiatives of the CIE, its start-up companies and
high-growth corporate partners with networking and research opportunities that promote
continued growth.
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Explore and pilot new approaches to expand the impact and strength of community and
corporate engagement to align with the broader community around shared interests, issues
and objectives.
1. Establish and commit to UNCW Signature Project(s) that, along with current volunteer
projects, provide parameters that incorporate volunteerism, learning, research and economic
growth while inspiring a “love of place.”
2. Create a Citizenship Pledge for UNCW faculty, staff and students to commit to “Year of
Service” initiatives
3. Establish processes to increase the number and frequency of beneficial interactions with
community and corporate partners, including internships, recruitment, and research
opportunities
a. Increase the level of students, faculty and staff volunteerism to 100% participation
b. Increase the number of volunteer hours from 70,000 to 500,000
c. Measure increases in total corporate investment and commitment through gifts,
sponsored research, and private grants

Create a Campus Outreach Council, appointed by the Chancellor, of designated outreach
and engagement faculty, staff and students to act as a liaison network, both internally and
externally, to assist in the implementation of OCP goals and missions.
1. Externally, the Council will act as the liaison for his/her partnering organizations,
navigating new and current opportunities within the community
2. Internally, the Council will maintain regular communications among colleagues within
defined departments to identify and prioritize potential cross discipline collaborations
Community Partnerships Strategic Plan | Office of the Chancellor Page 4 of 6 3. The Council will partner with the Faculty Senate’s Engagement & Outreach Committee
to encourage cross discipline collaborations, consider assessment of partnerships and
communicate successes
4. The Council will consider and recommend reporting methodologies and measures of
success
Analytics
It is critically important to measure the community and economic engagement impact and
demonstrate the relevant contribution UNCW makes to the economy, community growth,
education and quality of life. To do this, the data infrastructure must be established to help us
develop a current partner analysis that will lead to a partnership continuum.
Goal 1: With Information Technology Systems, establish a set of metrics and data systems for
accounting and assessing the broad range of engagement activities, tracking the engagement flow,
analyzing organizations for interest intersections with the university and determining steps that lead
to maximum potential.
Strategies:
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Develop an integrated project management system for university-wide engagement activities
that will:
provide cross-platform access to data from current systems used for reporting and merge
that data into usable information for community and corporate partner analysis;
Develop a database for the collection of an inventory of engaged scholarship and service
across the disciplines;
Track the flow of partner engagement within university divisions with updates to new data
Identify indicators and review current and new data to assess the scale and scope of
engagement initiatives to qualify and quantify new opportunities;
Work with the Office for Institutional Research and other appropriate units to identify
places in which engagement reporting processes can be improved and enhanced;
Measure, revise, and test benchmarking tools

Establish a set of metrics and data systems for the collection of reported engagement
activities to measure impact, which can be leveraged for funding, policies, development and
expansion.
1. Mine existing engagement and research data to document areas of impacts that are being
measured as well as gaps in knowledge;
2. Establish a timeline for measuring specific impacts and trend outcomes of engagement to
advance the understanding of corporate and community engagement;
Communications
Along with other media strategies already in place and being developed, communications and
marketing materials that guide the development of partnerships will be important to share the
university’s partnership model and build recognition as one of the leading engaged universities.
Goal 1: Share the university’s partnership stories through regional, state, national and international
networks as a means to build recognition as one of the leading engaged universities
Strategies:
Community Partnerships Strategic Plan | Office of the Chancellor Page 5 of 6 
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Create a webpage that lists and showcases various departmental partnership initiatives,
expectations and outcomes;
Support University members’ participation at leading national and international engagement
conferences;
Develop and study innovative and cutting edge approaches to community and corporate
engagement and disseminate experiences and findings widely;
Develop a public relations campaign that spotlights the range and depth of the university’s
engagement initiatives through multiple media venues;
Market partnership activities in university publicity for admissions, new faculty and new
student orientations, staff recruitment, university general catalogue, and websites;
Produce a series of two-minute promotional videos highlighting the university’s relationships
and partnerships with community and business leaders;
Produce annual reporting that showcases and evaluates successes and initiatives developed
for the attainment of stated goals
Establish an effective communications program with inclusion in the university-wide enewsletters to inform the institution about upcoming community and corporate leader visits,
important activities, and new partnering opportunities
Support Student Affairs’ goal of creating an Engagement Wall in the Fisher Center to help
UNCW “tell its story” as it relates to community service
Goal 2: Increase awareness of community engagement data
Strategies:
 Record and capture indicators to include inventory, hours, participation, impact and partners
for engagement efforts
 Include data in annual and quarterly reports to Boards of Trustees, Visitors and Foundation
members
 Develop a dashboard of data accumulated on engagement webpage and student wall display
 Utilize student-led organizations (Student Affairs, Athletics, etc.) to share video clips and
photos of engagement
 Share engagement data in annual engagement impact report
Community Partnerships Strategic Plan | Office of the Chancellor Page 6 of 6