Unintended outcomes of university-community partnerships: Building organizational capacity with PACE International partners

Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) at Macquarie University provides experiential opportunities for students and staff to contribute to more just, inclusive and sustainable societies by engaging in activities with partner organizations. PACE International offers a range of opportunities with partners overseas. Underpinning PACE is a commitment to mutually beneficial learning and engagement. To align with this commitment, PACE-related research engages partner perspectives and those of students and academics. The dearth of scholarly research on partner perspectives of community engagement (Bringle, Clayton & Price, 2009) underscores this imperative. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with partner representatives this article examines some of the apparently unexpected benefits of engagement with PACE that community partners report have contributed to their improved organizational capacity. We conclude by speculating that what can be perceived by universities as unexpected and unplanned by-products of student engagement, may actually be intended and strategically planned outcomes of community partners.