CoLab Timeline
2016
Initial conversations with partners & stakeholders
With support from a grant from the Community Foundation for Monterey County, the initial CoLab team, comprised of faculty from CSUMB and MIIS, facilitated discussions with higher ed and community partners to discuss the impact of existing community engagement work at both institutions.
December 2016
CoLab White Paper
Based on insights gathered from the facilitated discussions, the CoLab team published the concept paper for the Community Solutions Lab, titled “Combining Community and Campus Knowledge for the Public Good”. The white paper lays out CoLab’s vision, potential, and challenges.
2018
Partnership with Gonzales
In its first iteration, CoLab began a partnership with the City of Gonzales, a small agricultural city in the Salinas Valley. Gonzales’ enthusiasm for partnership and work in youth civic action and health equity make it a great collaborator for CoLab.
2018-2020
CoLab receives grant funding for research
CoLab received grants from the Giannini Fund and to promote its inter-institutional and community engaged research in Gonzales. Faculty and students worked with Gonzales partners to conduct engaged research.
Spring 2020
Faculty Fellows
Eight Faculty Fellows from both CSUMB and MIIS participated in a semester of relationship-building, which included an all-day visit to Gonzales and visioning conversations about CoLab and supporting engaged research.
Summer/Fall 2020
CoLab undergoes first strategic planning process
When Covid-19 hit, the CoLab team decided to take advantage of the lull in project work to step back and reflect on what they’d learned and goals for the future. These strategic conversations resulted in a new name, mission, vision, and core values.
2021-2023
Middlebury Provost Grant
With support from a grant from Middlebury’s Provost’s Office, CoLab’s 2021-23 activities combined a Critical Service Learning approach with Action Research methodologies to develop critical engagement competencies in our students while fostering meaningful and intentional engagement with our local communities.
2021-2022
CoLab nurtures its partnerships and org sustainability
The CoLab team continued to grow relationships with its existing and new community partners as activities resumed post-pandemic. CoLab conducted an organizational assessment to see opportunities and challenges ahead for the initiative. CoLab also took stock of the existing outreach, courses, trainings, and opportunities for engagement
Fall 2022
CoLab goes All-In at a conference for Social Justice
CoLab sponsored the attendance of 20+ students, faculty, and staff at the All-In: Co-Creating Knowledge for Justice Conference hosted by the University of California Santa Cruz Social Transformation Institute, bringing together community-engaged researchers, activists, and community-based organizations to reflect on university-community partnerships. the conference also served as an experiential learning opportunity connecting students, faculty, and staff to critical community engagement approaches, networks, and social justice issues locally.
2023-2025
Community of Practice
Based on learning from the past two years, CoLab has shifted into a new model as a Community of Practice (CoP). In his new iteration, CoLab 1) serves as a support hub for collaboration between academic and community partners, and 2) foster key dispositions and skill sets for students’ and faculty’s ethical engagement with the Monterey County community and beyond.