Building Community Partnerships (11:607:402) Syllabus

Course Description

3 Credits. Building and mobilizing community coalitions and partnerships is a well-developed strategy for leveraging resources towards solving complex community problems. These solutions require the engagement of multiple community sectors. In this course students learn the essential elements for building collaborative partnerships across disparate groups. Students examine various coalition/community partnership frameworks and develop leadership skills necessary to initiate, build, evaluate, and sustain durable coalitions and community partnerships. This course is beneficial for students pursuing careers in healthcare, public health, human services, education, community development, non-governmental organizations (NGO), faith-based organizations, non-profits, government (local, state, federal), foundation and business and corporations.

Instructor

Gina M. Suriano
732-232-4094 (mobile)
gina.suriano@rutgers.edu

Office Hours: Post your questions pertaining to the course in my Virtual Office (listed under Course Home) or if you would prefer, email me directly or contact via phone.

Course Objectives

• Explore the benefits and challenges of effective collaborative leadership through various community partnership frameworks and models;
• Learn about communication, decision-making, and problem-solving methods for effective leadership;
• Understand others' needs and perspectives to foster sound partnerships;
• Develop an approach to leadership that responds effectively to changing circumstances;
• Examine specific methods to cultivate collaborative leadership traits, skills, and roles.

Required Text

Leading Through Collaboration: Guiding Groups to Productive Solutions, John Glaser. Corwin Press. 2005

Evaluation/Grades

Final grade with be representative of:

• Discussion Questions = 25%
• Essays = 25%
• Quizzes = 20%
• EdPuzzle Videos = 10%
• FINAL Research Project = 20%

Grading

Per Rutgers guidelines:

A = 90–100
B+ = 87–89.9
B = 80–86.9
C+ = 77–79.9
C = 70–76.9
D = 60–69.9
F = below 60

Course Schedule

Module One

• Course Overview: navigate through the Home tabs to acclimate yourself to the course
• Week One Icebreaker Discussion Question
• Sign up/register for EdPuzzle

Module Two

• Read Preface and Part I: "Staying on One Page: An Attitude on Coherence"
• Read Chapter One: "Coherence: The Mysterious and Scientific Side of Problem Solving"
• View EdPuzzle Video: "The Fastest Way to Build Self Confidence"
• Assignment: Discussion Question - Model Collaborator: Given your experience (academics, professional, community, social, etc.,): Provide a brief example of someone that reflected collaborative leadership in a group setting (no names necessary, keep it generic). What capacities did the person exemplify and how did it affect the group dynamic? Provide a brief example of someone that reflected adversarial attributes in a group setting (no names necessary, keep it generic). What negative traits did the person exemplify and how did it affect the group dynamic? Based on the EdPuzzle video in Module One, what are the indirect behaviors you use to borrow confidence or protect what you have? How can indirect behaviors affect collaboration and coherence?

Module Three

• Read Chapters Two and Three: "Starting with the Self - Attitudes and Habits That Promote Collaboration" and "Creating Shared Meaning"
• View EdPuzzle Video: "The Power of Vulnerability"
• Complete Discussion Question: The Self + Vulnerability Based on the chapter readings and EdPuzzle video on vulnerability, what have been your experiences of individuals who have "armored up" in group settings? Have you "armored up" in group settings? Why? What can your experience(s) with vulnerability teach us about the skills needed to promote collaboration?

Module Four

• Read Chapter Four: "Perils of Coherence"
• View EdPuzzle Videos (two videos this week): "Conformity & Groupthink" and "Groupthink Group 13 2015"
• Complete Discussion Question: Groupthink + Questioning Assumption: Upon reading Chapter Four and viewing the two Ed Puzzle videos, "Conformity & Groupthink" and "Groupthink Group 13 2015", what do you consider a prime example of groupthink that caused major chaos, devastation, and/or harm (can be a current event or from prior era/epoch in history)? Briefly discuss a personal example where groupthink negatively affected your understanding and sense of truth in a school/academic group, team/sports, social circle, family, community or organization. Based on the experience and your new knowledge, how could you have questioned these faulty assumptions that led to you "certainty?"

Module Five

• Read Part II in textbook: "Tools and strategies for Leading Through Collaboration"
• Read Chapter Five: "Fundamental Elements for Creating Coherence"
• There is NO EdPuzzle assignment this week
• Complete Reflective Essay on Coherence: Coherence is a foundation of collaboration. How does the convergence of purpose amongst community partners/collaborators be the basis of creating win-win scenarios? Using "The Four Fundamentals" (Table 5.1 in the text), share a personal, academic, and/or professional situation that reflects these elements. If the situation was not positive, use the fundamentals as an example of how it could have been approached differently (i.e. handled better). Overall, how/why can these fundamentals contribute to coherence, namely for your leadership experiences and potential?

Module Six

• Read Chapter Six: "Aligning the Team"
• View EdPuzzle Videos (2 this week): "Tom Wujek: Build a tower, build a team" and "Rethinking Thinking"
• Complete Module 6 Quiz

Module Seven

• Refer to Chapter 6 for this week's module assignment
• There is NO EdPuzzle assignment this week
• Complete Discussion Question - (refer to Chapter 6) - Work Teams: Community partners/collaborators may have different strengths and weaknesses, which can best inform the aligning of work teams to achieve effective action. Share an example of a group/team problem – academics, professional, community, etc. (you can refer to list on page 83). Based on your experiences and newfound textual knowledge, discuss what you think are the most important characteristics of organizing effective work teams amongst community partners/collaborators.

Module Eight

• Read Chapter Seven: "Focusing on the Vision"
• View EdPuzzle Videos (two videos this week): "What Questions Did You Ask Today?" and "Start with Why"
• Complete Module Eight Discussion Question: Simon Sinek "Why": Upon viewing the EdPuzzle video, what are your thoughts about the Golden Circle model - how does it explain how leaders and organizations are able to inspire? What do you think is meant by "People don't buy "What" you do, they buy "Why" you do it? Have you ever worked with a person or organization who lost their "Why"? What impact did it have on the collaborative process and vision building? What is the "Why" for your leadership development?

Module Nine

• Refer to Chapter Seven: "Focusing on the Vision"
• There is NO EdPuzzle this week
• Complete Reflective Essay on Vision: What is your definition of vision? What is the power and necessity of having a clear vision as a focus in building strong collaboration amongst diverse, potential community partners? As an emergent leader, how do inquiry versus positionalism affect the potential for community partners/collaborators to undertake complex challenges to achieve success? How will you cultivate the ability to inquire deeply for effective leadership

Module 10

• Read Chapter Eight: "Searching for Solutions"
• View EdPuzzle Videos (two videos this week): "Nominal Group Technique and Multivoting" and "Effective Remote Brainstorming"
• Complete M10 Quiz
• Begin initial preparation/organization for Final Research Project

Module Eleven

• Refer to Chapter Eight: "Searching for Solutions"
• There is NO EdPuzzle this week
• Discussion Question Assignment—Solutions: Once a problem/issue/need is identified, what are the challenges of maintaining the collaborative process while addressing real and potential conflicts amongst collaborators/community partners for effective solution-oriented outcomes? How will you, as an effective leader, search for solutions through collaboration (and ensure they're aligned with the established vision)? And what is your perspective of taking risks (i.e., "creative courage") when searching for solutions? NOTE: Aside from referring to Chapter 8, meld/cite/augment discussion with prior module content (e.g., prior chapters, prior modules, EdPuzzle videos).
• Continue collaborating on final project

Module Twelve

• Read Chapter Nine: "Reaching Effective Agreements"
• View EdPuzzle Video: "Leadership Tutorial: Building Consensus"
• Complete Module 12 Quiz
• Continue collaborating on final project

Module Thirteen

• Refer to Chapter Nine: "Reaching Effective Agreements"
• There is NO EdPuzzle this week
• Submit Reflective Essay: Consensus—Do you consider yourself a good listener? Why? Have you ever been in a conversation with someone or in a group situation and you are waiting anxiously for your opportunity to state your opinion, thought, perspective, etc., but while you're gearing up to speak, you were no longer listening (i.e., you were 'reloading'). Have you ever interrupted someone while they were still speaking to offer your opinion? Has someone ever interrupted you so they could speak? How do these scenarios affect the potential for polarization in group settings (e.g., "either/or" perspectives)? Share/elaborate on a personal, academic and/or professional experience when this occurred. What does the notion, "draw the circle around the team" mean to you in terms of fostering openness and shared meaning to reach effective agreements as a leader?
• Continue collaborating on final project.

Module Fourteen

• Read Chapter 10: Bringing Coherence to the Entire Organization
• View EdPuzzle Video: "What Great Leaders Actually Do"
• Respond to Discussion Question - Applying Collaboration + Coherence: Effective change agents apply learning principles to the enterprise of leading. Based on the final chapter, what specific tools and strategies will you use to evaluate coalitions and community partnerships? How do plan to utilize and apply these principles to build community partnerships and ensure sustainability?
• Work on final research project, due in Module 15

Module Fifteen: FINAL Research Project due during finals week

• Research Project: Who's Who – Mary Parker Follett. Mary Parker Follett is a significant woman in the realm of organizational management. The purpose of this assignment is for you to gain a broader appreciation for the context in which her important accomplishments and contributions were achieved, as well as document the work group/team's approach for collaboration to complete the project.
   

  Research component:

  1. Introduction: basic information on Mark Parker Follett (e.g., who is she, why is she relevant)
  2. Contributions
  3. Legacy
  4. Follett works: books, publications, etc.
  5. Student resources/references
  6. Student contact information

  Collaboration component:

  1. Modes of technology used to foster communication, organization, time-management (e.g., Google Docs, Skype).
  2. Issues/problems/conflicts/perils of coherence and collaboration.
  3. Tools and strategies used to lead to coherence and collaboration.
     NOTE: textual elements should be referenced.

Congratulations on completing the course.