Anne E. Fortune, AM, PhD Director, Internships in Aging Project Professor, School of Social Welfare University at Albany, SUNY Lenard W. Kaye, DSW, PhD Director, Center on Aging Professor, School of Social Work University of Maine HPPAE: University-Community Partnerships

Workshop Objectives 1. Describe benefits of university-agency partnerships 2. Discuss principles of coalition-building processes in field education 3. Highlight essential components of partnerships between agencies and schools of social work in field education

Preliminary Considerations in Building Partnership Initiatives  Weigh benefits and costs of partnership building  Cultivate aging service agency interest in education  Align university mission with agency mission  Cultivate university interest in social work with older adults  Build on existing relationships  Re-energize existing members

Preliminary Considerations in Building Partnership Initiatives  Obtain support of critical members of university and SSW  Incentives for agency participation  Train students to be workers  Improve status of agency  Improve status of aging services  Support for field instructors

Why Have Partnerships?  Enrich education with current field practice applications  Assure that student learning is relevant to practice  Develop a higher quality program  Enhance status of university in the local community and the status of the community in the university  Increase agency commitment to SW education and the project  Increase collaboration among community agencies  Create shared responsibility for program sustainability

Choosing Agency Partners  Agency partners selected based on:  Efforts to build diversity  Ethnicity, geography, SW concentration, well to end-of- life  Widest possible range of practice opportunities  Recruitment of quality field instructors  Maximal agency participation  Mix of new and former contacts  Identify “magnet” agencies  Ability to engage fully in consortium  Desire to work closely with university

Exercise 1  What incentives would encourage agencies to participate in the project?  What agencies would I choose to participate in the project?

Building University–Community Partnerships  Partnership as a relationship  Commit toward the success of a stated project  Cooperate and establish mutually agreed- upon short, medium and long-term goals  Recognize the legitimate roles and interests of the partnership’s members  Share information with each other  Recognize the importance of the partnership  Acknowledge the partnership is greater than the sum of its parts

Developing Shared Mission  Strong involvement of consortium (agencies and university)  Decisions made by soliciting opinions from all  Use of task groups or committees to designate, elaborate, implement tasks to carry out mission  “Buy in” at multiple levels  Communication of mission  Within consortium: regular meetings  Outside consortium: publicity, interns’ work, written educational/marketing materials  University or other party as impartial broker helps foster cooperation

Coordinating Partner Efforts  Strategic use of internships and university resources to benefit agency partners  Grant-writing  Inter-agency special projects  Multiple leadership groups if appropriate  Multi-university partnerships  Large-scale SSW curriculum, fundraising, agency recruitment projects  Clarification of agency and university roles  Shared activity toward sustaining project is crucial to movement

University Considerations in Forming Partnerships  University support at all levels  Senior administration  Administration  Departmental  Faculty  Field instructors  Students  Maintenance of funding over the long term  Incentives to recruit others  Transformational experience  Sustaining partnerships over time

Exercise 2  What incentives might you use for your university?  Who would you need to bring in?

Balance the Consortium Membership with Multiple Perspectives  Primary and rotational field instructors  Agency staff serving active and vulnerable older adults  Retired and working older adults  Current and former students in the program  Other students with interests in aging  Social work executive and field placement officials  Community volunteers

A Genuine Partnership is Central to Success: Practice Tips  Emphasize reciprocity and exchange  Dispense with the ivory tower mentality  Learn to speak a common language  Be willing to recognize program flaws while remaining positive and enthusiastic  Be receptive to input and constructive criticism from others

Building the Consortium Relationship: Basic Ground Rules for Success  Remember you are a host and treat members well  Run structured meetings that stay on task  Recognize member’s role as a barometer of program performance and practice relevance  Continuously publicize everyone’s efforts  In program literature  On the project website  In media releases  In publications and presentations

Building the Consortium Relationship: Basic Ground Rules for Success  Continuously underscore the uniqueness and pioneering nature of the program  Use communications technology whenever possible to make efficient use of busy people’s time  Establish consistent methods for informing all partners of program progress  Prepare letters of recognition for service rendered to partners’ employers  Invite partners to university events and programs and waive or reduce fees when possible

Building the Consortium Relationship: Basic Ground Rules for Success  Give members opportunities to share their expertise  Speakers at workshops/conferences  Classroom lecturers  Student mentors  Host agency field site visits  Co-authors of publications/articles  Showcase their best practices

Partnership Payoffs  Establishment of a permanent and committed professional geriatric network in the community loyal to the school and its mission  Shared responsibility for program planning, marketing, and fundraising  A quality assurance mechanism insuring ongoing program accountability  Joint buy-in to the responsibility of insuring program sustainability

Workshop Highlights  Preliminary considerations  Choosing agency partners  Building university-community partnerships  Developing a shared mission  Coordinating partner efforts  University-specific considerations