Transcript Choosing A Community Partner

Working Effectively with
Community Partners
LEARNING in ACTION
Review of the Seven Elements of
High Quality Service
1.Integrated Learning- clearly articulated learning
outcomes
2. High Quality Service- meet actual community need
3. Collaboration- all partners benefit and contribute
4. Student Voice- students actively plan & participate
5. Civic Responsibility- contributes to the community
6. Reflection- connect service & academic learning
7. Evaluation- measure learning & service goals
Workshop Topics
 Finding appropriate community partners
 What’s important in a partner?
 How do I find a partner?
 Making first contact
 Organizing a project
 Building partnerships
 Faculty and community partnership
 Student and community partnership
 Sustaining partnerships
 Review of Syllabus Development, Reflection, Grading
 Your questions, concerns, and successes
Campus Community
Partnerships for Health
(a good guide)
Principles of Good Community-Campus
Partnerships
Adopted by the CCPH Board of Directors, October
2006
http://www.ccph.info/
How can we formally integrate
the principles of partnership
into our work?
Pre-flection
 What are some of the key components you
are looking for in a community partner?
 How have you identified community
partners?
The Service-Learning Quadrant
The Service-Learning Quadrant, developed at the Service-Learning
2000 Center, Stanford University, California, provides an effective
method for recognizing the differences between high service and low
service, unrelated learning and integrated service-learning projects.
Questions to Consider when Designing a
Service Learning Project
 What are my course objectives?
 What to I hope to achieve through this partnership?
 What course concepts to I desire my students to learn through a
hands-on experience? How can I reinforce this goal in the
classroom?
 How can the students and I contribute to our local community?
 What type of service learning is the best fit for these students?
 Direct Service, Capacity Building, Policy Development,
Education, etc.?
What’s Important in a Community Partner?
 Provides support for learning
 Has needs that directly relate to your course objectives
and students can address.
 Willing collaborator & communicator.
 Able to mentor students.
 Provides safe learning environment.
 Has enough infrastructure to support the students’ work
What’s Important in a Community Partner?
 Logistically works for students
 Open during hours that work with students’ schedules.
 Willing to work with students’ schedules.
 Location accessible to students.
 Can accommodate the number of students in your
course.
How to Find Community Partners:
 Service-learning website
 Center for Service-Learning Staff
 Prior knowledge and interest in the organization
 On site visit
 Community Partner Activities

Partners in Service Learning Events
 Colleagues’ recommendations
 Students’ Proposals
 Miscellaneous Resources
 Community foundation
 Internet
S-L Staff as Matchmakers
 Pros
 Staff have knowledge of wide range of organizations
 Staff can “weed out” the least relevant options
 Staff can facilitate first contact between faculty and partner
 Faculty have to identify the course objectives they hope to address
via service-learning.
 If you are new to service-learning, this can be very helpful.
 Cons
 You are relying on a matchmaker who may not completely
understand your course objectives.
Web Site Approach
 Pros
 Wide range of organizations at your finger tips.
 You do the “weeding out” with your specific course
objectives in mind.
 You make first contact with partners.
 A seasoned practitioner might enjoy this level of control.
 Cons
 Can be overwhelming, especially for a novice to service-
learning.
 “Weeding out” process rests with you which can be time
consuming.
Faculty Interest Drives Partnership
 Pros
 Creating a partnership based on interest and passion.
 May already have a rapport with staff at the organization.
Don’t need an introduction.
 Established lines of communication.
 Can focus on building a partnership rather than simply finding
one.
 Familiarity with needs and structure of organization.
 Better sense of what your students’ experiences will be.
 Better sense of how your course objectives will be met through
service-learning at this particular organization.

 Cons
 If involved with the organization in another capacity prior to
service-learning partnership, may need to re-negotiate or re-define
roles.
Students Choose
 Pros
 Students may be more likely to have a genuine interest in the project
if they self-select.
 Students less resistant to service-learning because they can find a
service site that fits into their schedules.
 Easier on the faculty member in terms of finding service-learning
placements.
 Cons
 Run the risk of service sites that are not consistent with teaching
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course objectives.
Faculty are not creating partnerships; they are creating placements.
Faculty may have as many community partners as they have students
in their class.
Faculty members have a lot less control over quality of the learning.
 Have to build in quality control mechanisms (e.g. site approval
process).
Run the risk that the focus becomes more about service, less about
learning.
Miscellaneous Resources
 Pros
 Faculty may find new resources not previously considered
 Faculty can find partners that meet course topics and personal
research interest
 There is the opportunity for creativity in establishing new
relationships.
 Cons
 Some apprehension may exist in calling an unfamiliar agency and
explaining a new collaboration effort
 Information may not be conveyed clearly enough
 An agency may be exhausted by other classes
First Contact: The Initial Conversation
 If the partner is unfamiliar with the concept provide a brief
summation of service-learning. What is it?
 Examples:
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A teaching style where students work in the community to learn classroom
concepts
Students gain insight into civic responsibility
Mutually beneficial
Give examples of potential projects
 Summarize your course syllabus and highlight why you think
your class and their organization might be a great partnership.
 What assets do they offer as co-facilitators of student learning?
 What needs do they have that might integrate with the course’s
objectives?
 Ask about their “to do” list.
Organizing a Project: It Takes Two
 Suggested things to discuss/clarify
 Contact Information

Preferred method of contact
 Hours of project (time and amount)
 Number of students needed
 Mission Statement/Agency Objectives
 Project information- details
 Course objective relevance
 Additional information not previously listed
 Roles to Play: Coordination & Expectations
 Faculty member is the classroom teacher
 Community Partner is the lab instructor
A Follow-up to the Conversation
 Send Course Materials
 Syllabi is the minimum
 Consider other items that might help partners
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Faculty contact information
SL assignments
SL readings
Links to SL sites
Student Contact Information (voluntary)
 Seek a second contact for clarification
 Welcome materials from community partners
 Organizational Handouts
 Announcement, flyers, etc. on project details
Planning for the Orientation
 How will your students get oriented to the site(s)?
 In class presentation or on-site???
 Community Partner Website or brochures?
 Share your success stories
Building Partnerships
 Level the playing field
 Help the community partners to feel like a part of the
teaching/learning team
 Help them to understand about academic timelines
Include them in planning and evaluation activities
 Open lines of communication
 Provide partners with syllabus & assignments
 Open dialogue about expectations
Building Partnerships
 Keep in Contact
 Follow up phone calls
 “Check-In” emails throughout the semester
Organize community partners’ emails in a group list
 Invite partners to class activities
 Oral Presentations
 Reading Discussions
 Introduction of Projects
 Guest Speakers

Building Partnerships
 Faculty make site visits
 To observe students in action
 To serve along side of students
 To hold a class or reflection session on site
 Community Partner Orientation
 Community Partner Handbook
 Institution Sponsored Activities
Building Partnerships:
Community Partner Handbook
(see website)
 Introduction
 Expectations and responsibilities
 Faculty hopes and objectives
 Materials
 Syllabus
 Assignments
 Readings
 Faculty Contact Information
Challenges
Please share the challenges you have
overcome and how….
 Transportation
 Time
 Supervision
 Evaluation
 Others
Sharing Experiences
What methods have you employed
 to build partnerships?
 To solve problems?
 To incorporate meaningful reflections?
 To evaluate your students’ learning?
Student and Community Partner:
A Working Relationship
 Student and Partner Contact
 Encourage partners to provide an orientation meeting for students
Request students go as a group the first time to meet a partner
and learn more about the project.
 Suggest a tour, if applicable
 Reminder: students are service-learning students, not volunteers.
They’ve come to learn from you.
 When a problem arises, reassure students in approaching partners
for clarification or help.
 Incorporate partner information as part of a refection exercise.
 Example: What have you learned about your agency/organization
thus far and its role in the community?
 Student Partner Contract (see samples)
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Sustaining Partnerships:
Communication & Collaboration
 Get feedback from partners
 throughout the semester (on the partnership, student performance,
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etc.)
At the end of each semester to assess what needs to occur next time
Review the community partner contact and project information
form
Inquire about their current needs and objectives.
Ask the community partner to complete the evaluation form
 Provide recognition of their contribution to teaching your
students
 Certificate
 Invite them to a campus sponsored recognition event
Sustaining Partnerships:
Communication & Collaboration
 Follow through on their requests for assistance
 Letters of support on grants
 Helping them to identify staff members
 Open Dialogue about needs
 Needs of the organization may change over time.
 Your needs may change over time.
 Dialogue to make sure both needs are still being met through the
partnership.
 Consider a community partner evaluation form
 Plan Ahead
 Discuss changes and continuances for the next term
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Review the community partner contact and project information
form
Inquire about their current needs and objectives.
Expect the Unexpected:
When problems arise, how will you deal with them?
 Faculty as Mediator
 Student and Community Partner issues
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Behavior issues
Change in partners’ requirements and expectations
 Investigating the Miscommunication
 Faculty and Community Partner differences
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What is the concern?
 Course objectives not clearly explained?
 Mission or expectation of the partner not understood?
 Break down in communication between faculty and student or
community partner and their staff?
Other Issues/Challenges
Staff Changes at the site
 Reestablish contact
 Send basic materials again if necessary
 Review project agreements and make new arrangements
if needed.
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Inform students of any changes
 Be prepared with a back up plan
Other challenges????
Reflection
 List three things you will do to either find, build,
or sustain a community partnership.
 How will you use information from this workshop
to improve your practice?
Conclusion
 A good relationship with a community partner begins with open
communication and continues to develop through the same means.
 Course content, logistics of location and time, and cooperation drive
much of your efforts in finding the appropriate community partner.
 There are a number of ways to find partners, all have advantages and
disadvantages.
 Employ the methods that produce partnerships that are best suited to
teaching your course objectives.
 Partnerships, like any relationship, need to be nurtured.
 Much of this is accomplished through contact, communication and
collaboration.