Section II
Project Staffing
In the projects observed, partnership implementation was achieved only when people in charge of carrying out program activities knew what to do, how to do it, and was provided with resources to maintain their understanding throughout the implementation process. These three prerequisites led to ongoing role clarity for all participants on both the conceptual and applied level. Strategic staffing allowed several partnerships undertaking complex organizational or reform activities to provide managerial or technical support, or both, that assisted in clarifying roles and relationships.
Strategic staffing involves both political and practical aspects. First, the partnership must be certain that key endorsed by the participants they will interact with. If no one is willing to approach the person for help, the role of technical support and assistance will go unfilled. Additionally, when partners have little confidence in the abilities or commitment of key partnership staff, potentially valuable relationships may fail to reach their potential and may limit the success of the partnership. Second, the partnership must match key personnel to the resource position in terms of previous experience or in terms of providing adequate training and regular in-service to ensure the practical value of the person-as-resource.
The following two practices address these issues in the context of collaborative hiring and volunteer recruitment. In each case, clear role definition underlies the practice, yet is insufficient for determining success without consideration of political and practical aspects.
Transition of Key Personnel
Omaha Job Clearinghouse, Omaha, NE
A collaborative hiring process was developed following tension over dismissal of a key staff member. Representatives from project partners were involved, as well as some participating local businesses. A search committee posted positions and interviewed candidates until consensus was reached. Reaching consensus was viewed as essential, even if it entailed additional job postings and hiring delays. Other staff members assisted in smoothing transitions by assuming responsibility for high priority tasks.
Impact
Three key staff positions were filled successfully in the project's first two years of operation. Two of the new hires were minorities. One partially funded counselor was moved into a fully funded position. His former position was filled after reviewing 50 to 60 applications. The Human Resources Office of the community college facilitated the hiring process quickly and without incident. Role clarity and project commitment enabled the project to continue functioning smoothly, without interrupting services, through transition of key personnel.
Description
The purpose of the Omaha Job Clearinghouse (OJC) was to prepare educationally disadvantaged and gifted students for the transition into the work force or college. The primary means of pursuing this goal were multiple job shadowing experiences for each participating student. The aim was to enable high school seniors without firm college plans to make career or education plans based on visits to up to four different job sites as well as visits to relevant higher education institutions. Partnership members included the Chamber of Commerce, the local community college, and public schools. The program depended on maintaining numerous business participants willing to provide individual job shadowing experiences to many students at various times throughout the school year.
Following dismissal of the original business/community coordinator, a search committee was established to facilitate hiring new project personnel. The job involved recruiting businesses for participation in the program and was a key position. Establishing a search committee eased tensions created by the dismissal and brought together representatives from all members of the partnership, as well as the local Small Business Association. In this way, all participants became aware of applicants' qualifications and were able to fully endorse new hires.
Although consensus for the first search was not achieved until after a second posting and round of interviews, other project staff voluntarily took on extra duties to cover the vacant position. Eventually, this position was filled by someone well-respected by all partners. The collaborative process resulted in successfully hiring qualified individuals in several key positions.
Establishing clarity in roles and relationships may smooth transition during personnel turnovers. The project was without an educator-business liaison for a relatively long period, yet service was not interrupted. Project leaders made certain that, in the initial phases of start-up, all staff members were fully apprised of the roles they were to play, and how these roles fit together to build the functioning project. This role clarity enabled other personnel who worked with business partners to maintain the smooth functioning of the project because they could
- prioritize the tasks formerly completed by the business and community coordinator;
- identify means of integrating high priority tasks into their own work roles; and
- motivate them to extend the extra effort and commitment required because they understood the implications for the project as a whole if these tasks were neglected.
Context
The success of the hiring process was due, in part, to the structure of the partnership. The partnership was governed by a board of directors and an operations committee. The 10-member board of directors comprised representatives from all primary partners, the Chamber of Commerce, a local community college, and public schools. The project director and the Chamber of Commerce officer served as the primary project facilitators. The community college served as the fiscal agent and the host institution. Many of the partnership tasks, including handling the hiring process, were incorporated into the existing jobs of college personnel. In this way, the project had an existing infrastructure to provide a variety of services that required little additional support.
Most of the partners had pre-existing ties, which further facilitated the success of the hiring process. For instance, businesses long worked with local high schools; the college and the social service agency collaborated on a training program; and the college funded a job shadowing project. These ties helped cultivate the collaborative nature of the partnership. All partners shared the ultimate goal of enhancing the Omaha work force and increasing the percentage of college-bound students.
Finally, the strength of the relationships among partners and the collaborative, vision-sharing nature of the partnership led to levels of commitment and project knowledge that enabled and motivated staff to identify and assume extra work to maintain smooth functioning during transitions of key personnel.
Contact Person
Randy Schmailzl, project director
Metropolitan Community College
P.O. Box 3777
Omaha, NE 68103-0777
(402) 449-8418
Volunteer Project Managers
Boston Partners in Education, Boston, MA
Math and science professionals volunteered to manage a variety of partnership classroom activities including mentor-student meetings, workshops and field trips, and linking community resources to the classroom. The Boston Partners in Education (BPE) recruited and trained volunteers, as well as provided a resource manual. Coordination duties required a fairly substantial time commitment. With the support of these volunteers, the project was able to increase the number of students and teachers served.
Impact
Volunteer coordinators for partnership classroom activities contributed 800 management hours during the 1992-93 school years. With this support, the project was able to expand services from 3 classrooms in one elementary school to 12 classrooms in four elementary, two middle, and two magnet high schools with little additional cost. In the 1993-94 school years, Volunteer Project Managers (VPMs) became integral members of school planning teams, which focused on improving math and science instruction.
Description
The "Masterminding: Partners in Learning and Using Mathematics and Science" project used VPMs to plan and coordinate partnership activities with classroom teachers. Project goals were to improve the quality of math and science instruction, improve student achievement in these areas, increase students' interest in continuing in mathematics and science (especially female and minority students), and create a replicable model program. Partners included the public school system, local science museum, an electronics corporation, and a nonprofit agency experienced in establishing and facilitating educational partnerships. Partnership activities were of two types: training teachers in high quality teaching strategies in mathematics and science, and providing partnership services, such as mentoring and field trips, to students in participating classrooms.
Project expansion increased the complexity of managing partnership classroom activities to the extent that staff no longer could coordinate services effectively. On-site paid coordinator positions were impractical, burdening school staff with extra tasks was unreasonable, and continued expansion added to the difficulty. Consequently, as a cost-efficient alternative, the project recruited and trained math and science professionals to serve as VPMs for project classroom services.
One to two VPMs worked with each participating classroom teacher to plan and coordinate Masterminding activities during the school year and to tailor activities to the needs of a particular classroom. In addition to joint planning and subsequent scheduling and organizing, VPMs oversaw outreach and support to mentors and parents, as well as provided ongoing implementation assistance to teachers. Project classroom activities included enrichment workshops and field trips, family events, parent training, professional development activities for teachers, and linking relevant community resources to classroom instruction. During the second year of operations, VPMs became the laboratory of school-level planning teams for improvement of math and science instruction.
The partnership provided 10-12 hours of training and in-service workshops for the VPMs, along with a detailed manual for ongoing reference. The training and provision of orienting materials was key to the primary goal of regular and well-organized on-site partnership activities. In addition, the training and in-service requirements aided in determining the commitment level of the potential VPMs. VPMs needed to be willing to commit 10-15 hours each week to the project, although some VPMs shared duties, which reduced their time commitment.
This practice supported and facilitated program expansion by introducing a voluntary middle tier of management for program services. The project viewed the VPMs as a steppingstone toward institutionalization. Incorporation of the VPM role into the school planning teams would have been helpful in this process.
Context
Budget concerns plagued the local public schools during the course of the project. Teacher layoffs loomed and school supply budgets were cut, making extra classroom resources particularly scarce. These factors may have influenced the easy expansion of project services into classrooms. Eventually, the planned teacher development and training activities were redefined into establishment of a Math/Science Education Network. Coordination of network activities became a VPM responsibility.
The primary partner, BPE, has a 20-year history of developing and establishing ongoing school volunteer activities in the area. Although not many school districts include a sponsoring group with such a track record, including a partner with experience in recruiting and training volunteers for such efforts can be important for success.
