Establishing and Sustaining Community Partnerships

1. Establishing and Sustaining Community Partnerships Faculty Fellows Program 2008 Brenda Marsteller Kowalewski Community Involvement Center

2. Workshop Topics • Finding community partners • What’s important in a partner? • How do I find a partner? • Making first contact • Organizing a project: It takes two • Follow-up conversation • Building partnerships • Faculty and community partnership • Student and community partnership • Service-Learning Contract • Partnership agreements • Sustaining partnerships • Partnership assessment

3. Pre-flection • What are some of the key components you are looking for in a community partner?

4. What’s Important in a Community Partner? • Promotes 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.

5. What’s Important in a Community Partner? • Logistically works • 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.

6. Finding Community Partners: How? • Service-learning coordinator acts as matchmaker • Data base of community organizations • Service Opportunity Directory • Prior knowledge and interest in the organization • On site visit • Community Partner Activities • Partners in Service Learning Events • Colleagues • Students Proposals • Miscellaneous Resources • Phonebook • Internet

7. S-L Coordinator as Matchmaker • Pros • Coordinator has knowledge of wide range of organizations • Coordinator can “weed out” the least relevant options • Coordinator 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.

8. Data base 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.

9. 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.

10. 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 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.

11. First Contact: The Initial Conversation • If the partner is unfamiliar with the concept provide a brief summation of service-learning. What is it? • Examples: • A teaching style where students work in the community to learn classroom concepts • Students gain insight into citizenship • Highlight why you think your class and their organization might be a great partnership. • What needs do they have that might integrate with the course’s objectives. • Ask about their “to do” list.

12. Organizing a Project: It Takes Two • Questions to Ask (Worksheet) • 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: Co-teacher coordination • Faculty member is the classroom teacher • Community Partner is the lab instructor

13. A Follow-up to the Conversation • Send Course Materials • Syllabus (at a minimum) • Consider other items that might help partners • 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

14. Building Partnerships • Level the playing field • Community partners tell us they are intimidated by faculty status • Open lines of communication • Provide partners with syllabus & assignments • Open dialogue about expectations • Partnership agreement or MOU

15. 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 • Introduction of Projects • Reading Discussions • Guest Speakers • Oral Presentations

16. 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

17. Building Partnerships:Community Partner Handbook • Introduction • Expectations and responsibilities • Faculty hopes and objectives • Materials • Syllabus • Assignments • Readings • Faculty Contact Information • Websites • Bibliography

18. Quick Pause to Reflect • What methods for building community partnerships seem to be most appropriate for you at this point in the planning of your service-learning course?

19. Student and Community Partner: A Working Relationship with the Faculty • 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 handout)

20. Sustaining Partnerships:Communication & Collaboration • Get feedback from partners • throughout the semester (on the partnership, student performance, 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. • Provide recognition of their contribution to teaching your students • Certificate, letter, thank you note, etc. • Invite them to a campus sponsored recognition event

21. 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 • Review the community partner contact and project information form • Inquire about their current needs and objectives.

22. CIC’s Assessment Instruments • Student feedback • http://icarus.cs.weber.edu/dha/CIC_ServerSide/volunteer/student_feedback.html • Faculty Feedback • http://icarus.cs.weber.edu/dha/CIC_ServerSide/volunteer/faculty_feedback.html • Community Partner Feedback • http://icarus.cs.weber.edu/dha/CIC_ServerSide/volunteer/partner_feedback.html

23. Reflection • List three things you will do to either find, build, or sustain a community partnership.

24. 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.