What Was, What’s Now, What’s Next: University-Based RPP Brokering in Shifting Institutional Contexts

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

What does it mean to broker research-practice partnerships between universities and practice partners in today’s shifting institutional, political, and financial climate? In this symposium, we will share findings from a 2024 survey of university-based RPP brokers across the U.S. The data will serve as a springboard for reflections from university-based brokers across RPPs with varying histories and timelines on current challenges within four areas addressed by the survey: institutional partnership location, funding structures and cost support, RPP institutional champions, and institutional views of collaborative education research. Following the reflections, presenting teams will facilitate conversations with participants around what institutional strategies and supports are needed to realize the value of RPP work as part of reimagining education futures.

Sub Unit

• SIG-School, University, Community Collaborative Research

Chair

• Jennifer Goldstein, California State University - Fullerton

Papers

• Emerging Identities: How Context Shapes Early-Stage Research-Practice Partnerships - Megan E. Welsh, University of California - Davis; Christina Murdoch Mills, University of California - Davis; Jarrett Terry, Florida State University; Nicole Patton-Terry, Florida State University

• Meeting in the Middle: Navigating RPP Growth, Institutional Complexity, and Sustained Collaboration - Nina R. Schoonover, University of Virginia; Peter N. Knox, University of Vermont; Jennifer Goldstein, California State University - Fullerton

• Building and Maintaining Sustainable Research Partnerships in a Shifting Sociopolitical Context: Lessons from Long-term RPPs - Rachel Ruggirello, Washington University in St. Louis; Laura Neergaard Booker, Vanderbilt University; David Bryant Naff, Virginia Commonwealth University

Session Organizer

• Peter N. Knox, University of Vermont

Discussant

• Paula Arce-Trigatti, National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships