Background/Origins of the Project

revised 9/15/15

Sections. Please organize your paper with the following headings, centered with bold-face type, with no underlining, and use 14-point font: Background/Origins of the Project Methods and Work Undertaken Challenges Faced and Responses to those Challenges Project Outcomes & Sustainability Ties to Academia Conclusion

Following is a guide for what to include in the paper sections:

Background/Origins of the Project: Information/data on the social issue or problem related to your project, information about the organization with which you worked, and a description of why and how the project idea was developed. Be sure to describe clearly the purpose of your product or research.

Methods and Work Undertaken: Details of the specific activities you undertook to complete the project, including tasks, meetings, communications, and other steps to achieving your project outcome. You may choose to include a timeline.

Challenges Faced and Responses to those Challenges: Description of the challenges you faced in carrying out the project, including your own challenges, communication issues, timeline and external influences, etc. Discuss how you responded to the challenges through adjusting your perceptions, work, etc.

Project Outcomes & Sustainability: Description of the final product and/or research and the impact it will have on the organizational partner’s work, the communities the organization works with, and the broader society/social issues. Also include a description of the outcomes for you as a community-engaged scholar and the ways that the outcomes and/or partnership will be sustained, as applicable. Note: Results from community-based research should only be shared with Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for the project and community organization approval for publication.

Ties to Academia: Discussion of how knowledge and skills you developed and applied through this project and partnership tie to your course material, your chosen academic field(s) of study, and campus-community collaborations. This section is largely reflective but also may include references.

Conclusion: A summary of the major take-aways from your project/paper. Include a statement on the overall value to you, your partner, engaged/affected communities, and society.

Length and Line Formatting. The paper should be a minimum of 5 pages or 2,500 words single-spaced (not including title page, tables/figures, or reference page) and a maximum of 12 pages or 5,500 words. In the body of the paper, do not indent paragraphs. Instead, use the “after” function (located in the paragraph drop-down menu of Word) set on “6” to separate paragraphs. (Defining everything written and then setting after to 6 should separate paragraphs.)

References. Include at least 10 scholarly references in the paper, with a list of references on a separate page at the end (either in APA or MLA style). References may be most relevant in the sections on background, methods, and ties to academia, though they may be included in other sections as well.