The civic mission of universities has been subject to ongoing debate, with growing calls for higher education institutions to strengthen their engagement with local communities. Despite this imperative, universities face significant challenges in developing genuinely community-centered initiatives amid competing institutional priorities (Hartley et al., 2010; Wegemer et al., 2020). Service-learning (SL) has gained prominence as one pedagogical response to this challenge, positioning itself as a mechanism to connect academic work with community needs (Santos Rego et al., 2023). However, a critical question remains unexamined: Do university SL projects foster authentic reciprocal partnerships with community organizations, or do they function primarily as experiential learning opportunities that benefit students while serving communities in more peripheral ways?

To examine this question from the community perspective, our research addresses:

• To what extent is SL integrated into entities' strategic planning and organizational vision?
• What degree of reciprocity characterizes university-entity relationships from the community perspective?
• What barriers prevent authentic reciprocal partnerships, and what improvements do entities propose?
• How do initial expectations align with actual outcomes experienced by community partners?

Specifically, this study aims to:

• Analyze the nature of university-entity relationships within Spanish SL projects from the community perspective.
• Examine the strategic integration of SL methodology within social entities' organizational frameworks.
• Assess the degree of perceived reciprocity in university-community partnerships.
• Identify gaps between entities' expectations and actual partnership outcomes.
• Synthesize community recommendations for strengthening university-entity collaboration.

Our analysis is grounded in Holland (2001) framework for evaluating SL from a community perspective, which emphasizes:

• Capacity to fulfill the entity's mission and introduce new activities or services.
• Economic impact through new funding streams.
• Perception of reciprocity, particularly whether entities propose objectives for the partnership or participate in setting goals for the university and students.
• Partnership sustainability, understood as mutual trust.
• Entity satisfaction, especially regarding intentions to continue collaboration.

Building on this foundation, we incorporate Gelmon et al. (2001) dual-focused framework that examines both tangible partnership outcomes and relational dynamics. The outcomes dimension addresses entities' capacity to fulfill their organizational missions alongside social and economic benefits realized through collaboration. The relational dimension explores partnership quality itself, encompassing interaction patterns between community and university, partner satisfaction -with particular emphasis on reciprocity- and the continuity of collaborative arrangements.

This theoretical framework allows us to move beyond student-centered evaluation, the predominant focus in SL research, to examine whether these partnerships genuinely serve community needs or function primarily as experiential learning opportunities for students. The literature suggests that authentic SL requires mutual benefit, co-creation, and sustained engagement, yet preliminary findings indicate a gap between this ideal and current practice (Rodríguez-Izquierdo, 2023).

Adopting a community-first analytical lens, this study addresses a significant gap in Spanish and international SL research on partnership dynamics.

Research Design This study is part of the research project "University Impact on the Community through Service-Learning Projects: A Study Focused on Reciprocity" (El impacto de la universidad en la comunidad a través de los proyectos de Aprendizaje-Servicio. Un estudio centrado en la reciprocidad), funded by the Spanish State Program for Promoting Scientific-Technical Research and Knowledge Transfer (State Sub-program for Knowledge Generation 2021) (PID2021-122827OB-I00). Using a qualitative multi-case design, the study analyzes 38 semi-structured interviews from social entities participating in service-learning projects across nine Spanish universities: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Universidade da Coruña, Universidad de Jaén, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Universidad de Navarra, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Universitat de València and Universidade de Vigo. Participant Selection and Data Collection Participants were selected using purposive sampling, targeting social entities actively involved in SL collaborations with the participating universities. The sample includes both educational centers and social organizations, recognizing the diversity of community partners. Semi-structured interviews explored multiple dimensions of the partnership experience, with particular attention to: - Strategic integration: Whether and how SL methodology is contemplated in entities' strategic plans (inclusion in current strategy, not contemplated, or planned for future integration). - Reciprocity perception: Entities' assessment of whether their relationship with the university is reciprocal, ranging from balanced reciprocity to partial reciprocity to absence of reciprocity, including justifications for their assessments. - Improvement recommendations: Entities' suggestions for strengthening university-organization relationships across multiple dimensions (communication, institutionalization, resources, training, joint evaluation, and flexibility). - Expectations and outcomes: Initial expectations (defined, diffuse or concrete goals), and degree of expectation fulfillment (complete, partial, or unfulfilled). Additional areas explored included the context and description of SL projects, the university's role and social responsibility, connections between SL and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), university-entity associations, project results, and organizational impact. Data Analysis Interview transcripts are being analyzed using thematic content analysis with support from qualitative data analysis ATLAS.ti software. The coding scheme integrates both deductive codes derived from theoretical frameworks (Holland, 2001; Gelmon et al., 2001) and inductive codes emerging from the data. Artificial intelligence tools assisted in the initial development and refinement of the coding framework to enhance analytical rigor and comprehensiveness. Key analytical categories include: - Strategic integration. - Reciprocity dimensions. - Partnership improvement areas. - Expectation management and outcomes. Methodological Considerations The analysis maintains methodological rigor by noting data gaps and avoiding overgeneralization from incomplete interviews.

Preliminary Findings Analysis of 38 interviews reveals critical insights into the university-entity relationship that challenge assumptions of reciprocal SL partnerships: 1. Limited strategic integration: SL methodology appears weakly integrated into entities' strategic frameworks. Many organizations do not contemplate SL in their strategic plans, viewing collaborations as opportunistic rather than strategic. This suggests SL partnerships often develop ad hoc rather than through intentional alignment with organizational missions. 2. Reciprocity deficit: Perceived reciprocity is predominantly partial or absent. While some entities report balanced reciprocal relationships, the majority describe asymmetric dynamics characterized by significant organizational investment with minimal returns. Students emerge as primary beneficiaries, with entities providing practical learning spaces and exposure to social reality while receiving limited tangible benefits beyond occasional service improvements or volunteer recruitment potential. 3. Expectation-reality gap: Initial expectations frequently remain diffuse or poorly defined, and when concrete goals exist, fulfillment is often partial or incomplete. This gap appears linked to insufficient communication at partnership initiation and limited entity involvement in objective-setting, echoing Holland's (2001) emphasis on reciprocity in goal formulation. 4. Systematic improvement needs: Entities identify multiple areas requiring strengthening: enhanced communication mechanisms, greater institutionalization of partnerships, increased resources, better training for students and entity staff, joint evaluation processes, and improved flexibility in partnership arrangements. The emphasis on joint evaluation is particularly significant, as entities seek genuine co-creation in both project design and assessment, currently largely absent. 5. Positive service impacts despite challenges: Despite reciprocity deficits, many entities report improved service quality and enhanced attention to users resulting from student participation, indicating partnership potential when structural barriers are addressed. Implications Findings suggest Spanish university SL partnerships require fundamental restructuring toward authentic reciprocity through strategic integration, institutionalized communication channels, joint design and evaluation mechanisms, and clearer distinction between SL and volunteerism projects.

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