Getting+to+outcomes+-+The+dance+between+communities+and+universities+(Beckman)

**Getting to outcomes: The dance between communities and universities** Mary Beckman, Associate Director, Academic Affairs and Research, University of Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns [mbeckman@nd.edu] Naomi Penney, Research Associate, University of Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns [npenney@nd.edu] Margaret Pfeil, Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame [mpfeil1@nd.edu]



**Keywords:** Community partner, food co-op, campus-community framework, community impact

**Track:** Community outcomes and impact

**Format:** Team presentation


 * Date & time: **Thursday 2:00-3:10
 * Location: ** Salon 6

**Summary:** The Community-Based Research Program at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns has entered a partnership with a local food co-op to pilot a community impact framework and track a broader community-wide effort at improving area food security for lower income families. The foundation for this effort is the development of a neighborhood food co-op. The Monroe Park Food Cooperative was formed to address the need for affordable grocery staples and affordable, fresh produce within the Monroe Park neighborhood. This presentation brings together the perspectives of a community partner, and University faculty in describing the results of a pilot study to test an emerging framework on community impact.

To test the applicability of the Community Impact Framework, logic models were used by each of the community partner projects. The models were used for two purposes: 1) assessment of project objectives and 2) to help community partners better focus their efforts toward a shared goal over a 3-5 year assessment period. Each of the community partners was involved in setting the overall project goal of improving food security. Each partner, while autonomous in its programming and specific program goals, agreed to let the University partner help set up its logic models and track the partners’ activities, evaluate their efforts, and convene periodic monitoring and evaluation meetings to look at how the framework was or was not aiding the goal achievement of the various combined efforts. The lessons learned from this project demonstrate a need for more research on how community-campus partnerships can work together to reach positive change in local communities.

**References:** Chung C., & Myers S. L. (1999). Do the poor pay more for food? An analysis of grocery store availability and food price disparities. //Journal of Consumer Affairs,// 33, 276–96.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Kaufman P. R., MacDonlad, J. M., Lutz, S. M., & Smallwood, D. M. (1997). //Do the poor pay more for// //food? Item selection and price differences affect low-income household food costs.// Washington DC: USDA Economic Research Service.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">MacDonald, J. M., & Nelson, P. E. (1991). Do the poor still pay more? Food price variations in large metropolitan areas. //Journal of Urban Economics//, 30, 344–59.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Morland, K., Wing, S., Diez-Roux, A., & Poole, C. (2002). Neighbourhood characteristics associated with the location of food stores and food service places. //American Journal of Preventive Medicine,// 22**,** 23–29.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Wrigley, N., Warm, D., Margetts, B., & Whelan, A. (2002). Assessing the impact of improved retail access on diet in a ‘food desert’: A preliminary report. //Urban Studies,// 39(11), 2061-2082.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Zenk, S. N., Schulz, A. J., Israel, B. A., James, S.A., Bao, S., & Wilson, M. L. (2005). Neighborhood racial composition, neighborhood poverty, and the spatial accessibility of supermarkets in metropolitan Detroit. //American Journal of Public Health,// 95, 660–67.

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