Community-Based Research

Allegheny College’s Center for Experiential Learning

This Community-Based Research project is funded through a CNCS Learn & Serve Grant. CBR at Allegheny College is a joint venture of Princeton University and the Bonner Foundation. Allegheny College has already been doing CBR work with the Meadville community for a number of years. The CBR grant funding 3 years will advance the CBR work in the following ways.

• Forming an effective gateway for community partners to seek partnerships with the college on their research needs.
• Increased collaboration among the centers will offer coordinated, effective engagement with community partners.
• The coordinated dissemination of information will build more reciprocal and balanced partnerships with the community.

DEFINED

“Community-based research is a partnership of students, faculty, and community members who collaboratively engage in research with the purpose of solving a pressing community problem or effecting social change.”

(Kerry Strand and others, Community-Based Research and Higher Education, Jossey-Bass, 2003), p.3.

CBR is best understood as research that is community initiated – “with” or “for” the community, not “on” or “about” the community.