1 Forthcoming in Miller, J. E., (2010). To Improve the Academy: Resources for Faculty, Instructional, and Organizational Development, Vol. 29. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY Andrew N. Carpenter, Ellis University; Linda Coughlin, St. Mary’s College of Maryland; Susanne Morgan, Ithaca College; Christopher Price, The College at Brockport, State University of New York ABSTRACT Investigating colleges' and universities' social capital through its five dimensions—civic engagement, norms and trust, collective action, bonding capital, and bridging capital—provides a powerful way of thinking about organizational and faculty development. Four very different institutions of higher learning have promoted their organizational development through efforts that build social capital. We seek to inspire additional application of and research into this topic by demonstrating that confronting the complexities of social capital within diverse campus communities can help faculty developers to understand those communities with greater nuance and in ways that improve their ability to design and implement development initiatives. The study of social capital is most developed in political science, economics, sociology, and community organizing. We submit that the concepts underpinning social capital and its effects on community have value for institutions of higher learning as they develop their organizations and especially their faculty. Thus the question that inspires this article is: Might a thorough understanding of the dynamics of social capital allow us to understand our organizations' development potential and give us tools for building stronger communities on our campuses? THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL CAPITAL