Building a Student Organization–Voluntary Health Agency Partnership—and Maintaining It During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

New and enhanced partnerships are crucial for harnessing resources and exchanging knowledge, particularly for university student groups with limited resources and networking opportunities. The objective of this paper is to address the value of a student-community partnership and illustrate factors that have contributed to the partnership’s success, using a framework developed by the Gallup Corporation that describes characteristics of strong relationships. This paper further addresses the specific challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic within this student-community partnership. Using this process helped to explain why the partnership was successful and highlighted opportunities for continued relationship building. The lessons learned from this experience will strengthen and enhance future community-engagement initiatives.

Keywords

• Student organizations
• partnerships
• collaboration
• voluntary health agency
• COVID-19 pandemic