Research With Community

by Sarah Bender

Members of the wider Pittsburgh community can be an integral part of the research process for numerous disciplines, offering specific expertise and valuable perspectives that shape studies and expand impacts. But these relationships can also bring challenges, from establishing and continuing meaningful relationships to managing funding. Are there ways that CMU can better support partnerships between researchers and the community, empowering critical dialogue and information sharing?

That’s the question a new partnership between the University Libraries and the Center for Shared Prosperity (CSP) aims to address.

Both groups on campus find a variety of opportunities to engage with the wider community, and both hope to find new ways to facilitate even more successful collaborations. So this semester, Data Education Librarian Emma Slayton and CSP Coordinator for Cultural Change Olivia Wells launched a series of lunchtime seminars to invite students, researchers, and members of the community alike to discuss some of the questions and challenges that accompany community engaged research. 

“Our goal with these seminars was not to make people give up their lunch hour, but to gather a community of people with similar research experiences and goals,” Wells explained. “By bringing these people together, we can come up with ideas to make the whole process easier, and eventually advocate for changes that improve the entire system.”

The first session focused on conducting research in a K-12 environment. Erin Gatz, from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, gave attendees an overview of different aspects that researchers should consider when working with Pittsburgh Public School students. Gatz is the Head of Partnerships for PLUS – Personalized Learning Squared, a human-computer tutoring program at Carnegie Mellon University that aims to double math learning for K-12 students.

“As a 2005 graduate of Brashear High School in Pittsburgh Public Schools, I am committed to ensuring that the technological innovations being developed at Carnegie Mellon University benefit local K-12 students,” Gatz said. “But creating and maintaining equitable community-university partnerships is not easy work! It requires leadership from communities and schools, humility and active listening from researchers and university partners, and prioritizing student and teacher voice. I am excited to see the Center for Shared Prosperity engaging the university community in these important conversations.”

Later in October, the group met again, this time to discuss working with community collaborators. At this session, Associate Director of the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry Harrison Apple moderated a conversation about the importance of aligning research institutions with the immediate needs of community partners.

“I'm thankful for Olivia and Emma's work to create the Research with Community seminar series because it gave me the opportunity to work with other research support staff at CMU on strategies to meet challenges,” they said. “As a seminar group, we are working towards a solution that simultaneously improves our relationship with the region and the breadth of knowledge production we steward as an institution.”

Much of the session focused on the logistics around bringing partners on board and paying them for their participation. The group discussed other considerations as well — for example, some community members might only have limited internet access through a phone, or may not be able to accept payments without jeopardizing public benefits.

“When community members participate in research, they’re giving up their valuable time outside of their normal 9 to 5,” Wells added. “Working within their resources and compensating them for their expertise is an important part of the process. It was great to come together and explore what is and isn’t possible in these relationships.”

For the final seminar session, held November 17, Bob Gradeck led a discussion on working with community datasets. Gradeck manages the Western PA Regional Data Center at the University of Pittsburgh, which is a shared technological and legal infrastructure that supports research, analysis, decision-making, and community engagement in our region.

For those who can’t make it to CMU during lunchtime, there’s one more opportunity to get involved. On the evening of December 8, Slayton and Wells will host a special two-hour discussion session, or “unconference” — a participant-driven meeting that encourages multi-disciplinary exchange through peer-to-peer learning. This discussion invites participants from both higher education as well as community organizations and members to share experiences, challenges, and strategies for building meaningful, ethical, and equitable data practices. Attendees are welcome to bring their own questions, ideas, and experiences to shape the conversation.

“The agenda will be developed by those who attend, but I think we will find that people want to talk about things like: how can researchers work with new organizations in less-researched parts of Pittsburgh, as an institution how can we maintain lasting relationships with community, and how can we get past the feeling that we have to reinvent the wheel for each study,” Wells said.

“Our work doesn't end with this series,” Slayton said. “The listening session is a chance not only to reflect on the last year, but also to investigate where we should be focusing next. How can we help bridge gaps that our researchers and community members are struggling with? We’re going to come up with a plan together.”

The Research With Community: Discussion Session will be held on Monday, December 8 from 3–5 p.m. in the Sorrells Library Den. Register to attend.