About the Awards
The Community–University Partnership Awards (CUPA), a program started under the leadership of LaMarr Billups, recognizes the work of UW–Madison faculty, staff, and students, and their community partners across the state of Wisconsin, as they address pressing public issues in Madison and the surrounding region.
These awards offer an opportunity to thank our community partners and highlight exemplary partnerships that get to the heart of the Wisconsin Idea—community members and UW–Madison personnel working collaboratively to transform our campus and communities for the public good.
The program is organized by the UW–Madison Office of Community Relations, Community Partnerships and Outreach (CPO) Staff Network, and the Morgridge Center for Public Service with support from the Office of the Chancellor. Selected projects are active across the state and uphold the following standards for high-quality community–university partnerships:
- Embody the original spirit of the Wisconsin Idea by contributing to a vibrant, inclusive, participatory democracy.
- Are sustained beyond one event or activity.
- Demonstrate a relationship characterized by respect, equity and engagement in all phases of the partnership.
- Build the capacity of both community and university partners to address the target issue(s).
- Result in measurable community change related to the target issue(s).
- Exemplify best practices in the chosen methods or tools of engagement.
Application Criteria
The 2020 application’s evaluation criteria was re-designed to cover the 4 R’s of community-engaged scholarship from Samory T. Pruitt’s Building a Conceptual Framework for Community-Engaged Scholarship, as seen below.
“We believe all community-engaged scholarship should be relevant in that it addresses a societal need, promote reciprocity or mutual collaboration between the community and higher education, adhere to the fundamentals of research, and build in resilience that promotes sustainability. We look at this process through the lenses of the four characteristics of relevance, reciprocity, research, and resilience—that we refer to as the Four Rs.” (Building a Conceptual Framework for Community-Engaged Scholarship, Samory T. Pruitt).
Relevance
What societal need is being targeted through the partnership’s work?
What positive impact is being made in the community?
Reciprocity
How is the relationship between university and community partners ensured to be respectful and equitable in the process?
How is the project ensuring mutual benefit between partners?
Research
How does the project exemplify best practices in the chosen methods or tools of engagement; for example, participatory action research, service learning, or outreach programming?
How is the project contributing to a larger body of knowledge in the field (i.e. published research, community toolkits, etc.)?
Resilience
How is this project contributing to long-term impact of investment?
How is this project or partnership sustainable beyond the time of the research grant (for example)?
How to Apply
- Complete the online application.
- The application will ask for:
- Basic contact information and details of the partnership.
- Individual names and roles associated with the partnership from the university team and community collaborator.
- Responses related to the partnership’s role in vital components of community-engaged scholarship
- Additional information will be available in the application portal.
Application Deadline
We will not be accepting applications for the 2021 calendar year. CUPA awards will resume in 2022.
Contact
If you have any questions about the awards, please contact community-relations@mailplus.wisc.edu.
2019 Award-Winning Partnerships
- ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION TO SUPPORT STUDENT VOTING
- UNIVERCITY YEAR
- UNCOVERING AND DISCOVERING GEOGRAPHICAL MEANING IN WISCONSIN’S RURAL LANDSCAPES: OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING BY THE STATE CARTOGRAPHER’S OFFICE AND THE PUBLIC LAND SURVEY SYSTEM WORK GROUP
- ENHANCING HEALTH LITERACY IN A WISCONSIN LITERACY COALITION
- EMPOWER ME WELLNESS PROJECT
- ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH EDUCATION AND RESEARCH: THE UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER AND UW SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH (SMPH)
- EARTH PARTNERSHIP: INDIGENOUS ARTS & SCIENCES
Judges
Bill Barker, Associate Dean for Research, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Mary Beth Collins, Executive Director for the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies, Director of Centers Engagement and Professional Skills Courses, School of Human Ecology
Suzanne Dove, Assistant Dean for Academic Innovations, School of Business
Cheri Dubiel, Executive Director, Community Shares of Wisconsin
Sarah Esmond, Administrative Director, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), Collaborative Center for Health Equity (CCHE), School of Medicine and Public Health
Aaron Fai, Assistant Director of Public Humanities, Center for the Humanities
Jan Greenberg, Associate Vice Chancellor, Office of Research & Graduate Education; Professor, School of Social Work
Colleen Howes, Associate Dean of Communications, Advancement and Engagement, School of Education
Gavin Luter, Managing Director, UniverCity Alliance
Megan Miller, Assistant Director for Civic Engagement & Communications, Morgridge Center for Public Service; Community Partnerships and Outreach Staff Network Co-Chair
Mitch, Clinical Faculty and Director of Neighborhood Law Clinic, UW Law School
Leslie Orrantia, Director of Community Relations, Office of the Chancellor
Molly Schwebach, Outreach Specialist, Nelson Institute & Center for Healthy Minds
Olayinka Shiyanbola, Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy
Stephen Ventura, Professor, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences; Faculty Senate, Executive Committee; Affiliate, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies; 2018 Community-University Partnership Award Recipient
Earlise Ward, Faculty Director of Morgridge Center for Public Service; Professor, School of Nursing
Danielle Wendricks, Morgridge Center for Public Service and UW South Madison Partnership Student Employee; Undergraduate Student, School of Human Ecology
Troy Williams, Ph.D. Student in Civil Society & Community Research, School of Human Ecology
Danielle Yancey, Director of Native American Center for Health Professions; 2018 Community-University Partnership Award Recipient
Faisal Abdu’Allah
Creative Arts Community Faculty Director for the Arts Institute; Professor, Department of Art
Sarah Archibald
Associate Director of The Network and Co-Director of the Grand Challenges Initiative, School of Education
John Baldacchino
Director of the Arts Institute
Libby Bestul
Co-Chair for Community Partnerships and Outreach Staff Network
Lisa Chambers
Associate Director for Morgridge Center for Public Service
Cheri Dubiel
Executive Director, Community Shares of Wisconsin
Sarah Esmond
Administrative Director for the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and Collaborative Center for Health Equity (CCHE)
Merry Farrier-Babanovski
UW South Madison Partnership Coordinator; MA Student in Education Policy Studies
Katherine Loving
Program Manager, Healthy Campus, University Health Services
Alfonso Morales
Professor, Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture; UW–Extension Specialist
Kevin Niemi
Director of Outreach and Community Engagement, WISCIENCE
Leslie Orrantia
Director, Office of Community Relations, Office of University Relations
Sam Park
Undergraduate Student Representative
Paul Robbins
Director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Molly Schwebach
Senior Outreach Specialist, Center for Healthy Minds
Soyeon Shim
Dean, School of Human Ecology
Randy Stoecker
Professor, Department of Community and Environmental Sociology
Bria Brown
Membership Coordinator, Community Shares
Lisa Chambers
Associate Director, Morgridge Center for Public Service
Mary Beth Collins
Director of Centers Research and Public Affairs, School of Human Ecology
Merry Farrier-Babanovski
UW South Madison Partnership Coordinator; MA Student, Education Policy Studies
Dadit Hidayat
PhD Candidate, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Jack Jorgensen
Co-Director, Wisconsin Collaborative Education Research Network, School of Education
Katherine Loving
Program Manager, Healthy Campus, University Health Services
Amanda Ngola
Clinical Assistant Professor and Field Education Coordinator, School of Social Work
Kevin Niemi
Director of Outreach and Community Engagement, WISCIENCE (Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement)
Leslie Orrantia
Director, Office of Community Relations, Office of University Relations
Jeffrey Russell
Vice Provost for Lifelong Learning; Dean, Division of Continuing Studies
Molly Schwebach
Senior Outreach Specialist, Center for Healthy Minds
Lynet Uttal
Professor, School of Education