Lauresa Wigfall from the UMES ATOD Center shared lessons she had learned from building relationships in the campus community. Her partnerships include:

• People who manage logistics for campus events
• School of Pharmacy
• Student organizations
• SGA leadership
• Local health department
• Chief of Police

Key Takeaways:

• Be polite! “Please” and “thank you” go a long way.
• Get out of your silo and be available to work on projects outside ATOD.
• Meet people in person and make eye-contact.
• Meet people where they are. For example, if trying to form community partnerships, go out into the community to talk to people.
• Think of people you would not normally think are interested in prevention work – they might end up being your biggest collaborators!
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Keep open lines of communication with campus and community
  partners and share information when you get it.
• Building partnerships does not happen overnight. Keep reaching out.
  Give it time.
• Do not give up. Someone is always listening to your message even if you are unaware at the time.
• Work on capacity building with everyone. No one is too big or too small to connect with.
• Do not be afraid to ask experts in other areas for help.
• Work smarter, not harder!

Other Takeaways:

• Learn to say “No” if there is too much on your plate.
• Use MD-CAS data in setting your agendas. For example, rely on your strategic objectives when trying to decide which tasks to take on.