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Multi-campus partnerships offer the possibility of increasing the quality and quantity of research experiences that an institution can offer its undergraduate students. They also provide a mechanism for invigorating and energizing faculty members, particularly those from departments that are small or lack a research-friendly environment. Using the Research Site for Educators at the University of Minnesota (MN RSEC; www.chem.umn.edu/rsec) as a starting point, this session examined goals and strategies in setting up multi-campus partnerships between a research university and institutions whose primary mission is undergraduate education. The two session leaders are both involved in the MN RSEC, which is designed to bring together faculty from undergraduate institutions (i.e. community colleges, baccalaureate colleges, and universities that offer master’s degrees) and faculty from research universities to enhance the research and educational opportunities in chemistry at both the undergraduate and research universities. Dr. Robin Tanke is a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a small comprehensive university with an average of fifteen chemistry majors, and Dr. Jeffrey Roberts is a professor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, a large research university. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the MN RSEC involves approximately 35 undergraduate colleges. The University of Minnesota benefits from the partnerships by enriching the schools’ undergraduate education in chemistry and attracting their students to Minnesota’s graduate program. The other participating institutions benefit by gaining funds and other resources, by having access to experiences that are not available on their own campuses, and by getting important advice.

Participants had three main interests in wanting to learn about multi-campus partnerships: To learn how to overcome problems and establish real partnerships with area schools (including K-12 schools), to develop successful NSF undergraduate research centers, and to form successful relationships with the larger community. In all three instances, establishing productive partnerships requires first, identifying the goals driving the alliances and then devising strategies for initiating and sustaining them so that they retain their effectiveness and vitality.

Partnerships provide a useful way to bring together resources from a variety of sources to solve specific problems and to build community-wide relationships. Benefits from such partnerships can be plentiful, but the road to success is often filled with challenges. The first challenge is often how to initiate a successful partnership. Several conditions must be present:

A major challenge in developing successful partnerships relates to funding. While funding is needed to sustain and govern successful partnerships, it is only part of a partnership. A partnership must have a deeper reason than funding to exist if its programs are to endure. In addition, funding is often provided by agencies that have specific goals that may or may not match all the goals of the partnership. It becomes important to keep all partnership goals in mind when working with a funding agency. When searching for funding for a specific partnership initiative, sustainability needs to be addressed. One must ask, “are we looking for an enduring program or enduring effects of a program?” At the outset, the partners must determine whether the ultimate goal is to establish a long standing program or to produce effects which will improve all of the partners.

Institutions face many barriers as they attempt to form effective partnerships. One challenge is to convince colleagues to become involved. Often, faculty and administration do not see the benefits they would derive from the association, nor do they feel that the benefits are worth the time they would be expected to commit to the project. It was suggested that skeptical faculty members and administrators be invited to join the partnership once evidence of success can be demonstrated. “Converts” often become the biggest advocates of partnership programs. A second barrier is funding, particular after the initial grant that has supported the development of the partnership runs out. A third, more persistent challenge is establishing equity among the partners. Despite their different needs, capabilities, and resources, all partners must have a sense of ownership of the program and contribute equally, though the nature of their contributions may vary. In order to succeed, a partnership must find ways to ensure equity. There is no precise formula for this. Every partnership is likely to find its own way of balancing interests.

The session concluded with participants talking about the lessons they learned as they attempted to establish successful partnerships:







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Forming Multi-Campus Partnerships