1. Leading or Facilitating
Leading or Facilitating? Creating effective and sustainable community partnerships a personal perspective Ilena Young Centre Manager, Wangaratta Regional Study Centre Division of International Education and Partnerships

2. partnerships and CSU
CSU engages with a broad range of organisations as partners
Our partnerships at an organisational level assist in achieving strategic objectives
But at the other end of the spectrum staff are asked to engage in networks, alliances & partnerships at a community level
The opportunity and potential for a large multi-campus, multi-faculty, multi-school organisation like CSU is the breadth and diversity of community based partnerships
But this in itself becomes the key challenge ... how do we see, monitor and manage what is going on, so that what we build achieves our goals and becomes sustainable
CSU engages with a broad range of organisations, both within Australia and overseas,

3. Why community partnerships are different
Strategic partnerships follow traditional legal business definitions of partnership
Highly structured and formalised
Business - community partnerships
Philanthropic - Funding community delivery
Community partnerships
Integrative – creating new solutions - dynamic, fluid, evolving
Community partnerships can create a sustainable competitive advantage They can also be used by CSU to leverage our potential, create synergism and extend our responsiveness

4. What makes a community partnership work
Instigation - a shared idea … the entrepreneurial leader
Initial explorations the welcoming facilitator
Group formation the creative facilitator
Within this space are Respect / Transparency / Trust / Relationship / Commitment
Definition of shared goals the inclusive leader
Delivery and activity the project managing facilitator
Evaluation and review the reflective leader
Deciding what to do next both leader and facilitator

5. The challenges of multiple Community partnerships
By nature community partnerships are integrative, dynamic, fluid and evolutionary
And it is exactly this that gives them their potential, and that makes them so valuable as we increasingly move into a complex and changing environment
En masse though, the challenges this presents a large multi-campus, multi-focus organisation are going to be
Overall management, review and evaluation
Maintaining alignment and avoiding splintering away from core focus

6. understanding multiple Community Partnerships
Level 5 – Integrating activities into every day practice
Level 4 – Collaboration on new activities
Level 3 – Extension activities
Level 2 – Core agreement and action plan
Level 1 – Information sharing
Level 0 –Dialogue

7. Managing Multiple community Partnerships
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Totals
Level 0 - Dialogue 7 9 4 24
Level 1 - Info sharing 5 8 6
Level 2 - Core activity 21
Level 3 - Extension 25
Level 4 - Collaboration 3 16
Level 5 - Integration 1
No of partners 38 22 30
115
Average
1.64
1.97
2.04
2.23
2.00

8. Maintaining alignment and strategic focus
Categories of strategic intent
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Totals
Level 0 - Dialogue 7 9 4 24
Level 1 - Info sharing 5 8 6
Level 2 - Core activity 21
Level 3 - Extension 25
Level 4 - Collaboration 3 16
Level 5 - Integration 1
No of partners 38 22 30
115
Average
1.64
1.97
2.04
2.23
2.00

9. So - creating effective and sustainable community partnerships ...
leading or facilitating?
Community partnerships are as complex as the communities within which they sit They hold tremendous potential for CSU to strengthen our position into the future Creating effective and sustainable community partnerships involves a complex skill set There are time to lead – whilst listening There are times to facilitate – whilst guiding There are times to manage – whilst allowing dynamism, flex and evolution For CSU to do this effectively in an environment in which we have multiple campuses, multiple focuses and many varied staff members engaged in different activities We first have to know what is going on