A national civic engagement organization recently recognized Trinity College and Connecticut State Community College Capital for their outstanding initiative in the local community to address complex social issues.
Through the initiative, called the Liberal Arts Action Lab, student and faculty teams from the two colleges partner with Hartford organizations on semester-long research projects that meet identified goals.
“We are honored to recognize these community-campus partnerships as the inaugural winners of the Campus Compact Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnership Awards,” said Bobbie Laur, Campus Compact president. “Effective, respectful, and mutually beneficial partnerships between campuses and communities are essential to creating the just and prosperous future we all seek. These exemplary partnerships demonstrate just some of the many different ways communities and campuses working together can create meaningful impact.”
Program members include Derin O. Atalay, director of the Liberal Arts Action Lab and lecturer in public policy and law at Trinity, Laura Minor, former director of Center for Hartford Engagement and Research (CHER) academic programs and lecturer at Trinity, Erna Alic, CHER program manager at Trinity, and Jeffrey Partridge, the Liberal Arts Action Lab faculty director and professor of English at Connecticut State Community College Capital.
“At Trinity, we are committed to building lasting connections with the local community,” said Atalay. “The award underscores the importance of strengthening partnerships between higher education institutions and the broader community. It’s about deepening our ties to the local community and offering our students meaningful experiences that extend beyond the classroom.”
Through the Liberal Arts Action Lab, community partners propose the research questions, ensuring that the projects address real needs and priorities within the community. Students apply to join project teams, enrolling in two courses that equip them with research skills and digital tools while working closely with these partner organizations.
A key component of the initiative is the Hartford Resident Advisory Board (HRAB), which includes local residents who play a crucial role in prioritizing research proposals and ensuring that community voices guide project selection. By empowering community partners to propose their own research questions, the Liberal Arts Action Lab strengthens its connection to Hartford and enables residents to influence initiatives that directly impact their lives.
This collaborative approach enriches the student experience and fosters a sense of ownership within the community, ultimately aiming to create lasting positive effects for both Hartford and the students involved.
“An educational partnership such as this between a private four-year college and a two-year community college is a unique, somewhat complex, but ultimately win-win arrangement, ” said Partridge, of Connecticut State Community College Capital. “Our students report that participating in the Action Lab increases their confidence, enhances their skillset, opens their eyes to unforeseen educational and career opportunities, and sets them apart in their applications to four-year colleges and universities.”
Other award winners this year include: Youth Action Lab and Lugo-McGinness Academy at the University of Virginia, Chester-Swarthmore Fellows Council at Swarthmore College, and Initiative for Sustainable Communities at the University of Iowa.
According to Campus Compact, programs recognized by the a new Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnerships Award exemplify the core principles of effective civic and community engagement—reciprocity, collaboration, transdisciplinarity, and sustainability—and address specific social issues affecting communities, such as public health, violence prevention, economic development, K-12 education, climate change, or houselessness.
