CUP Connect

CUP Connect is an online portal where communities can seek research and evaluation support, capacity, and expertise.

Launched in 2025, CUP Connect aims to bridge the gap between communities’ needs for research and evaluation support and our network of researchers, practitioners, and students

CUP Connect can help you:

CONNECT

  • To subject matter experts
  • To community organizations in the Edmonton region
  • To students who can bring capacity to your organization

CREATE

  • Research and evaluation projects
  • Research tools (ex. surveys, needs assessments)
  • New networks and relationships for your organizations

IMPROVE

  • Your organization’s strategic thinking
  • Your organization’s evaluation skills and knowledge
  • Your organization’s ability to demonstrate impact
 

How does CUP Connect work?

1. You submit — Completing a form is the first step in our process for handling community requests for research or evaluation support and partnerships. Your responses will help us understand your needs and how we can best assist you. Access the form here:

CUP Connect Request Form

2. We review — We review your request and contact you within two weeks to set up a brief meeting. We work with you to refine your request, identify specific needs, and determine a strategic and cost-effective plan to meet your needs.

3. We create connections — We seek the expertise, capacity and/or resources to properly support your needs. The connection may involve a direct partnership with CUP researchers or students and/or other experts in CUP’s broader university and community network. Note: Depending on the complexity of your request and our network's capacity, creating connections can take anywhere from a week to a month. We do our best to steward connections in a timely manner and maintain strong communication with your organization

4. Follow-up — We reach out to ensure the connection is meeting your needs. Additionally, we ask for feedback about your experience with CUP Connect. We are constantly refining our process, so your insight is important to us.

* Our capacity to respond to your request is drawn from CUP and our network of CUP Collaborators (trusted academic and community experts). While this is a broad network, it does not guarantee we can find the right connection or support for every request.

 

Testimonials

Here is some of the feedback we've received from users of CUP Connect:

  • “Overall, the process has been exceptionally positive [...] CUP Connect helped me move from an initial idea to concrete planning, and supported me in gaining momentum and making decisions about how to structure [my] event, clarify next steps, and connect with the right people and resources.”
  • "The CUP process exceeded my expectations […] The ability of the CUP team to pivot and adapt based on what’s before them was remarkable.”
  • “[This] process was critical in informing our strategic direction […] CUP put words to the issues/gaps as well as strengths of the work. It felt validating. It could have been easy for CUP to dodge or understate the issues. This did not happen, however, and I am very grateful for that.”
 

Who are CUP and ECN?

CUP Connect is run by the Community-University Partnership (CUP) and serves as a portal for requests from our community partners. The Evaluation Capacity Network (ECN) is housed in CUP, and CUP Connect serves as a portal for ECN requests as well. 

  • CUP is a research centre with more than 20 years of experience in community-based research. We aim to foster collaboration between researchers, organizations, and members of the public to address issues facing children, youth, and vulnerable communities.
  • ECN is a national network of evaluation researchers, practitioners, and community members. ECN’s goal is to strengthen the evaluation capacity of the social-serving and non-profit sectors, and it regularly runs workshops and classes for students, organizations, and community members. Learn more about the ECN.