Finding Service-Learning Community Partners TUTORIAL 3 Finding Service-Learning Community Partners Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 1

Tutorial Goals At the end of this tutorial, you will have an understanding of: Criteria involved in choosing community partners General tips in maintaining relationships with your community partners Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 2

Tutorial Objectives At the end of this tutorial you will be able to: Choose criteria most important for your course Identify potential community partners for your course Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 3

Finding service-learning community partners Thinking about sending your students to “any” community is like picking “any” text for your course Important and thoughtful process of course preparation Important for faculty involvement in site planning Howard, 2001 Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 4

Criteria for finding (and maintaining) Community Partners Placement Match (course and mission) Meet needs to Empower Community Objective-related Time Commitments Based on Understanding and Trust Orientation Materials within these slides are adapted from various references found at the end of this presentation Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 5

Finding service-learning community partners Supervision Training of Students Communication with Site Relationship Building Follow-up with Site Materials within these slides are adapted from various references found at the end of this presentation Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 6

Finding service-learning community partners Placement Match To match course content Ex: class on nursing could be placed at a homeless shelter; but would be better placed at a health clinic To match university and department mission Be careful with any conflict of interest for values Ex: medical students working with an abortion clinic or with a program doing research on fetal tissue Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 7

Finding service-learning community partners Meet needs to Empower community You are not there to “serve” the community Rather you want to enhance their strengths and help them to fulfill their needs by working with them on how to improve their communities Work with community to identity needs Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 8

Finding service-learning community partners Meet needs to Empower community Empower community members to work within and become their own resources Conduct a “needs/strengths” assessment Find out in advance how your class can enhance the community Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 9

Finding service-learning community partners Objective-related Criteria Course content objectives Filing papers at a daycare, while doing service does little to help students experience the hands-on responsibilities of child education practices Site needs to have complimentary interests and resources to make a match for course If you are to work with community to enhance strengths (meet needs), they have to have some potential resources and/or interests to carry out initiatives Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 10

Finding service-learning community partners Objective-related Criteria Civic engagement objectives If you want students to be advocates for public policies of unfair labor wages, visiting one plant for just one hour in a semester will not be sufficient They need longer, more immersed experiences with the people in the community; with the workers, families, various organizations, labor unions… Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 11

Finding service-learning community partners Time Commitments What can you get accomplished in your semester? Is your project something you can combine with another semester’s or instructor’s class? Piggy Back method How many meetings or hours will you need to accomplish your objectives? Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 12

Finding service-learning community partners Time Commitments What is the weather for your project or does it matter? Ex: building a swing set in the park for a neighborhood; collecting ground water samples, being inside or outside…will you have to be weather-dependent? Ex: when working with an elder population, visits per semester may work better than mandating x number of hours per week… Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 13

Finding service-learning community partners Based on Understanding and Trust Faculty need to also work with sites so the site partner understands the nature of service- learning and the course Partners needs to trust each other that the assignments will be carried out on both ends Faculty members need to know that students will have guidance and leadership at the site Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 14

Finding service-learning community partners Orientation Prepare students for the experience of service- learning Prepare students for the population Make sure students understand the mission of the site prior to working with the community Cover liability issues with students (i.e., travel accidents…) Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 15

Finding service-learning community partners Training of students How many hours of training will students need at the site, if any? Is training completed by service site supervisor/director? Find out if students need background check Who pays, what clearance level is… Particularly important if working with young or elder population Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 16

Finding service-learning community partners Supervision Can students be on their own or do they need supervision? Can they be with community members on their own? Sometimes with children a supervisor/teacher must be on site at all times… Sometimes with elderly, students cannot be in someone’s apartment; but can be in a common’s area (HUD regulations) – depends upon facility Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 17

Finding service-learning community partners Communication with site Keep consistent communication with site during the project Open lines of feedback and assess during the project in order to make changes as necessary As faculty, visit site on occasion to see first-hand what students are doing and to visit with supervisor Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 18

Finding service-learning community partners Relationship building As faculty, you should be personally invested in the service project and the community in which you are partnering View the relationship as reciprocal and keep ties with your community partners Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 19

Finding service-learning community partners Relationship building Celebrate the successes at the end of the semester Invite community to campus Equally share in the success of the project Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 20

Finding service-learning community partners Follow-up with site Conduct a post-assessment with your partners Find out what went well during the semester What could be improved upon for the next project? Take the time to visit with community members if possible (not only supervisor/director) Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 21

Finding service-learning community partners Follow-up with site Any opportunities to collaborate with other courses/instructors for a different project? Encourage your students to continue to visit the site on their own time to keep the relationship with the community partners Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 22

Final thoughts Overall… Building effective community partnerships take time Keep open lines of communication Be patient Enjoy the mutual benefits Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and you are ready to go out and find your community partners Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 23

References Conville, R. L., & Weintraub, S. C. (2002). Service-learning and communication: A disciplinary toolkit. Washington, DC: National Communication Association. Gelman, S., B. Holland, B. A., Driscoll, A., Srping, A., & Kerrigan, S. (2001). Assessing service-learning and civic engagement: Principles and techniques. Providence, RI: Campus Compact. Heffernan, K. (Ed.), (2001). Fundamentals of service-learning course construction. Providence, RI: Campus Compact. Sandy, M., & Holland, B. (2006) Different worlds and common ground: Community partner perspectives on campus-community partnerships. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 30–43. Sandy, M. (2007) Community voices: A California campus compact study on partnerships. San Francisco: California Campus Compact. Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University © 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies 24