The Consortium Structure
What is The Consortium?
Strategic Spartanburg’s Community Research Center houses the Community Based Research Consortium (The Consortium). The Consortium is an interdisciplinary research initiative that focuses on a wide array of economic, public health, environmental, social, and related issues in Spartanburg County. The Consortium is a collaborative effort between multiple organizations and individuals, from different fields, who come together to jointly conduct research on a specific topic or set of topics. The goal of the Consortium is to combine resources, expertise, and knowledge to explore complex community challenges through research that may be beyond the scope of a single organization or individual.
Why create a consortia?
Spartanburg County is home to seven institutions of higher education and fervent research around diverse communities. Unfortunately, this academic inquiry is often siloed with little opportunity for intra-institutional collaboration. The Consortium was formed for a variety of reasons, including to dismantle structures that keep community focused scholars from collaborating, create positive impact with communities, access funding opportunities that are only available to collaborations, to share data or infrastructure, to facilitate interdisciplinary research, and to build networks and partnerships.
Who leads this group?
The Community Based Research Consortium is facilitated by Strategic Spartanburg and led as a flat initiative. All members have a voice in the direction of The Consortium.
What will The Consortium do?
The outcomes of a research consortium may include publications, evaluations, toolkits, policy recommendations, or other forms of knowledge dissemination.
Who are the members?
Members of the Consortium are faculty and staff of the Spartanburg County’s institutions of higher education and community partners. They agree to work together on a specific research project or set of projects, and may share resources such as funding, staff, facilities, or equipment.
