Too often is the case where campus-community partnerships are based upon a model that operates with university stakeholders as experts approaching communities as problems to fix (Boyer, 1990). Specific examples of inequitable collaboration have been observed in decision-making and short term programs driven by funding and its accompanying rules (Bringle & Hatcher, 2002). Instead, working groups with stakeholders of diverse identities and roles, can operate within a web of active relationships and partnerships with complex dynamics that require effective management and on-going analysis (Sandy & Holland, 2006; Dotterweich, 2006; Walsh, 2006). Continued investment in shared understanding and usage of common language, rules, expectations, and accountability (Parent & Harvey, 2009) are required for effective partnership. Partnerships involving campus and community stakeholders, with health and wellness at the forefront of the collaborations, are in fact growing rapidly and have been associated with the promotion of healthy behaviors (Toh, Chew, & Tan, 2002; Cameron, Craig, Coles, & Cragg, 2003).

Admitting individual and organizational limitations that do in fact lead to continued failures, UConn Husky Nutrition & Sport works to enact the following qualities as part of campus-community partnerships within the Hartford North End, across the state of Connecticut, and University of Connecticut communities:

• Fosters meaningful and reciprocal relationships
• Values diverse community and youth voices in identifying needs and desires
• Sustains and invests in partnerships
• Co-constructs structures and processes to deliver and evaluate nutrition and sport-based youth development education programs
• Facilitates spaces for continuous learning and growth around equity focused values and practices

Citations: Bruening, Dover & Clark, 2009; Bruening, Fuller, & Percy, 2015; Boyer, 1990; Bringle & Hatcher, 2002; Sandy & Holland, 2006; Dotterweich, 2006; Walsh, 2006; Parent & Harvey, 2009; Toh, Chew, & Tan, 2002; Cameron, Craig, Coles, & Cragg, 2003; Campus Compact.