Addressing Logistical Concerns

When forming meaningful partnerships built on trust and mutual respect, there are also logistical & administrative challenges that are involved in the partnership. Most of these challenges fall under a handful of areas.

Project Approval/IRB Process

Every party involved in the research, including staff of the community organization , must complete the human subjects protection training. You also may need approval from the community organization’s internal board.

Resources

Conducting research takes up a lot of resources, including time, money and space. Be mindful of how you plan to compensate community partners for their administrative support (office space, time, etc.) and ensure your work isn’t undermining their regular tasks.

Sustainability

Clearly defining policies around things such as conflict resolution, data management, the boundaries of respect in the relationship, etc will ensure it withstanding against challenges that may occur.

Hiring & Payment

It is important to make sure a process for payment has been set up between the academic researcher & backing institution with the community organization.

Training Research Staff:

Facilitate a bidirectional learning environment where academic staff learn about the community and community organizations can learn about the various research processes (data collection, interpretation, etc.)