Productive Community Engagement: Community? Engage? Why bother?

Academic Board forum, 4 April 2003 Introduction Speakers Highlights General points in discussion

Introduction
The aim of the forum was to stimulate discussion about the challenges facing universities in the area of community engagement and to pose the questions:

Are current community engagement practices preparing and benefiting graduates for their post-university experiences, advancing research or otherwise returning value to UTS? What are some of the key challenges facing universities in the area of community engagement, and how will UTS respond to these challenges? How can community engagement activity be measured and evaluated? How do we know if it is adding value to community, staff and students?

Although attended by about 50 people, the forum had reinvigorated discussion about community engagement within the University.

Speakers
Sr Susan Connelly Sr Susan Connelly RSJ is a well known advocate for the rights of refugees, is an outspoken advocate of East Timor issues and of the need for greater morality in governance. Brendan Lynch Mr Brendan Lynch headed the team responsible for the recruitment of the 60,000 volunteers for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. David Gardener Professor David Gardiner is acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor at QUT, and formerly as Pro-ViceChancellor (Research and Advancement) was responsible for QUT's community engagement initiatives. Mark Jackson Mr Mark Jackson spent 12 months working in Cambodia as an Australian Youth Ambassador

for Development. Nada Roude Ms Nada Roude is a community development worker connected to many community organisations throughout NSW.

Highlights
The following are highlights of key points made by speakers: Sr Susan Connelly Sr Connelly pointed out that there is a need to recognise the importance of education in its own right and not simply as part of an economic model. She emphasised the necessity for universities to recover their role in shaping public policy rather than accepting what is handed down from government. She saw a leadership role for universities in recovering truth and integrity and informing the development of public policy. Brendan Lynch Mr Lynch outlined the lessons learned from the Sydney Olympics experience. He outlined the critical factors leading to a successful community engagement program as follows:

specific training for those involved team building, testing and evaluation effective communication and follow-through reward and recognition recognition that appropriate resources must be provided.

David Gardener Professor Gardiner outlined the QUT experience with its community engagement programs. QUT had benefited from having a top-level plan under which community engagement activity was organised. This gave it appropriate recognition and ensured that community engagement activities were consistent with organisational goals and strategies. Community engagement is seen as being closely related to teaching and research. There is a strong ethos at QUT of inculcating community engagement values in students as well as staff. QUT provides $200,000 off the top in competitive grants each year, and $300,000 for faculties as part of the Community Engagement Quantum. Community engagement is seen as being both philanthropic and potentially commercial. It is useful in creating long term relationships. Mark Jackson Mr Jackson posed the question as to whether it is the university engaging the community, or the community engaging the university. He pointed out that while the community must be receptive to the university's initiatives, it is also essential for the university to be receptive to the community's initiatives. He viewed community engagement as a two-way process in which both

sides learned from each other. Nada Roude Ms Roude presented community engagement as a way in which universities could address social justice challenges and provide both training and leadership within the community. Universities were seen as having a moral obligation to assist community needs. She also reinforced the message that student involvement in community engagement activities was an essential part of the education of students in a multicultural society. She spoke highly of the community engagement work of Shopfront.

General points in discussion

The following were among the points raised in discussion: 1. The community should be involved as early as possible in the planning cycle. 2. Current community engagement activity within the University needs to be better recognised and validated, and the role of the University as a good 'corporate citizen' should be emphasised. 3. There may be advantages in re-conceptualising community engagement as research or at least having a broader interpretation of 'research funding'. 4. There is a need for a comprehensive database of community engagement activity. 5. There is a need for adequate recognition of and resourcing for subjects that encourage community engagement or have a large community engagement component. 6. There are benefits in having a part of the organisation dedicated to facilitating community engagement activity, such as Shopfront. 7. Consideration should be given to defining what is meant by 'community', including international communities. 8. The close linking of community engagement with the core activities of teaching and research is critical to the profile of community engagement within the organisation. 9. The possible relevance of moving towards a 'triple bottom line' approach, which widens the scope of traditional reporting to include the social, environmental and economic performance of an organisation, was also suggested. The Vice-Chancellor made the point that 'community engagement' is a much better term than the existing term 'community service'. Community engagement is a less patronising term and offers more possibilities, and is consistent with the practice orientation of UTS. Community engagement is not only a core value of UTS but also arises out of the core activities of teaching and research. It includes UTS partnerships in joint research and consultancy, workbased learning programs and teaching service provision for a wide range of community groups. He suggested that the way forward for UTS might be along the lines of:

adopt a more strategic approach to community engagement, regard community engagement as an integrating theme across UTS, professionalise engagement with the community,

engage students more deliberately in community engagement, explore an adaptation of the QUT approach for UTS.

http://www.gsu.uts.edu.au/academicboard/forums/engagement/index.html

Community Outreach Coordinator Job at QUT Student Guild, Brisbane

The QUT Student Guild is a student representative body that provides a diverse range of services, activities and facilities to theUniversity community. We are seeking a motivated and talented individual who has experience in volunteer coordination.This position aims to initiate, implement and coordinate a community volunteer program for QUT students and to pursue the fundingopportunities associated with this.The postion is part time 3 days per week.ResponsibilitiesFostering and enhancing QUT students engagement with the broader community through volunteer and outreach work.Initiating, developing and facilitating a volunteer based Community Outreach Program at QUT.Investigating, sustaining and managing volunteer opportunities for QUT students.Building partnerships with existing and prospective organizations and networks involved in the Program.Using proactive recruitment processes to achieve student engagement targets.Managing and responding to all incoming enquiries in a timely and accurate fashion.Assisting and supporting students in finding appropriate placements and sourcing volunteers for on-campus projects such as technicalworkshops for students.Overseeing all applications and placements as well as volunteer distribution.Sourcing funding opportunities for the Guild associated with the Program.Developing policies and procedures for the Program that reflect best practice, ensuring the Program meets legal requirements as well asfunding obligations.Increasing on and off campus awareness of the Program through active promotion.Creating and maintaining statistics, databases and other relevant information and providing reports as required.Conducting effective presentations as requested to publicize the Program and facilitate involvement.Key selection criteria includes:1. Experience in a similar role preferably in a not-for-profit or welfare/advocacy environment.2. Ability to work in a dynamic and changing environment, experience in a diverse organisation and familiarity with a committee or board reporting structure.3. Excellence in interpersonal and organizational skills, and initiative.4. High level of computer literacy and proficiency in developing effective databases and presentations.5. Demonstrated effectiveness in managing programs and people6. High level of written and verbal communication skills7. Experience in writing and applying for funding grants8. Degree in Social Work or similar would be beneficialPlease address the selection criteria. Applications can be sentto [email protected] or click apply below.The QUT Student Guild is an Equal Opportunity Employer http://ausjobsearch.info/5595/community-outreach-coordinator-job-at-qut-student-guild-brisbane

12 steps to a successful PR campaign

Campaigns are a significant part of the public relations profession and should be carried out with meticulous planning and thorough management. Specific step-by-step measures should be taken when planning any PR campaign to ensure it meets the objectives set or, in other words, achieves what needs to be achieved. Thorough planning processes in PR campaigns demonstrate that whatever results occur are deliberate or, indeed, have be taken into consideration. Here Ill list the 12 stages of planning a successful PR campaign. RESEARCH No matter what kind of PR activity youre involved in, research will be at the core of it. Depending on what youre doing, different research methods can be used at various times. For example, if youre working on a campaign to influence teachers that a school drug testing programme will help eradicate drug abuse among pupils, you might want to find out their current opinion by carrying out a nationwide questionnaire among teachers. Or maybe youre embarking on an internal communications audit and want to speak more in depth with employees. Initiating a focus group might be a good means to do this. Research methods are categorised into two groups: Primary This is finding out the information you want first hand: Questionnaires, one-to-one interviews, telephone interviews, focus groups, blogs etc. Secondary Often called desk research and involves gathering information from already published sources: Books, journals, papers, libraries, Internet etc. SITUATION ANALYSIS The research youve carried out should clearly define the current situation with regard to the campaign. Depending on whats involved, this might include an organisations current situation in the market, how its perceived by customers or staff or how its fairing financially. Going back to the drug testing in schools example, it might include the current situation with regard to public opinion on the issue or how its been portrayed in the media. Whatever your campaign involves, you must be absolutely aware of everything both internally and externally. From this you can carry out a situation SWOT analysis to examine Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the current situation, and a PEST analysis to examine the external environment Politically, Economically, Socially and Technologically. OBJECTIVES

Once youre aware of the problem(s) your organisation is facing, you can then define the objectives of the campaign. The objectives are what is hoped to be the end result of the PR activity. Each objective must be SMART. Specific: Are they clearly defined and comprehensible? Measurable: Can each objective be measured in the evaluation? Achievable: Considering other factors (e.g. budget and timescale) are they achievable? Realistic: Are you being realistic given the resources you have? Time: When do you want to achieve the set objectives? Depending on the situation, sometimes the objectives set can initially be before the research has been undertaken. IDENTIFYING PUBLICS Who do you want to talk to? The research carried out in the initial stages of the planning process should have identified each public relevant to the campaign. This is crucial to ensure your key messages are communicated efficiently as possible. The research also should have identified each publics current attitude to the situation allowing you to tailor your key messages appropriately. Using the drug testing in schools example, publics can also be sub-categorised into: Latent publics: Groups that face a problem but fail to recognise it pupils Aware publics: Groups that recognise a problem exists teachers, media, parents Active publics: Groups that are doing something about the problem Drug organisations, the Government. IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS Once the publics of this campaign have been categorised, it is then important to identify who the stakeholders are. A stakeholder analysis is not as specific as identifying publics as it looks at everyone that is involved in the campaign as opposed to only those who need to be communicated to. Publics can also be categorised as stakeholders also. A stakeholder analysis may involve: * Employees * Identified publics * Suppliers * Senior executives * Investors * Etc KEY MESSAGES Once you know the issue youre facing, the current situation of the organisation (both internally and externally) and who you want to talk to, you then have to plan what you want to say. Every

PR campaign needs to have a set of messages that forms the main thrust of the communication. These messages need to be clear, concise and readily understood. Key messages are important for two reasons. First of all, they are an essential part of the attitude forming process and second, they demonstrate the effectiveness of the communication. Key messages must not cross over or conflict. STRATEGY The strategy in a PR campaign is often confused with the tactics. However, the strategy is the foundation on which a tactical programme is built. It is the theory that will move you where the current situation is now to where you want it to be. The strategy is usually the overlying mechanism of a campaign from which the tactics are deployed to meet the objectives. A good example, albeit a rather gruesome one, of strategy and tactics is noted in Gregorys Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns where she describes the USs plans to move against Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait: The objective: To get the Iraqis out of Kuwait The strategy: According to General Colin Powell was to cut them and kill them The tactics: Pincer movement of ground forces to cut the Iraqis off from Iraq, carpet bombing, divisionary tactics, cutting bridges and so on. TACTICS The PR profession has a number of tactics (or tools) in its armoury. The challenge is choosing the right tactics to meet the objectives. Again, depending on what type of campaign youre involved you might use media relations, lobbying, events, interviews, blogger relations, presentations, consultations, newsletters, competitions, podcasts, stunts, websites, conferences, photography, video news releases, etc etc. Remember, dont use no new fangled tactic because its perceived to be cool, cutting edge or the in thing. Only use the tools that will best help you meet your objectives. Although, creativity is always paramount. TIMESCALE Now you know the overall strategy and which tactics youre going to use, youve then got to allocate a time to do it. A timescale allows you co-ordinate your tactics appropriately and helps you be aware of certain deadlines. Not only that, if there are certain future events that relate to your campaign, you can tailor a tactic in your timescale to coincide. Take the drug testing in schools example I mentioned earlier. If you know that 10 July is National Drugs Awareness Week then you might want to mount a media relations campaign throughout that week. Or on the flip side, if there are more prodominant happenings in the news agenda you could hold off until things have died down. An example of an annual planner might look like this:

This campaign tends to drip in the beginning stages, burst through the middle and then drip toward the end BUDGET Allocating the budget is an essential part of a campaign so all costs should be taken into consideration. The primary reason for a budget lets you know what you can or cant do, but it also allows you to allocate money to the specific areas of the campaign: Operating costs Distribution, administration, travel, production, seminars Human Overheads, expenses, salaries Equipment Telephones, furniture, computers CRISIS ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT PLACE Risk is an inevitable part of some PR campaigns, so being thoroughly prepared in case a problem does occur is paramount. For detailed information on devising a crisis communications plan (CCP) see this post I made earlier. EVALUATION The evaluation is an ongoing process particularly in a long-term PR campaign so it is critical to constantly review all specific elements. Evaluating a campaign should be done in two ways:

Ongoing The ongoing review is what will be carried out throughout the campaign. It is not calculated at the end of all the campaign activity, but constantly throughout. If certain elements of the campaign are not working as effectively as thought in the planning stages, it can be re-focused or re-jigged to fit. End The end review will take place after all PR activity has finished and where the final results will be compared against the campaign objectives. To do this, the tactics for each objective will be analysed individually and critically. The evaluation is vital to discover which parts of the campaign were successful and which were not. Not only that, it helps determine what the current situation is after the PR activity has ended. The evaluation process is the added value of PR and is something that should not be neglected. Happy campaigning.