Provisionally Approved 4/25/02
PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY ACTION II
Level II
RATIONALE: It is important that graduates of the College of Public and Community Service have direct experience in providing service to community agencies or organizations. Learning first-hand about organizations provides students with the opportunity to develop necessary skills to assume service and leadership roles later on within their communities. The Public and Community Action II competency is a demonstration of the student’s knowledge and skill in working with a community organization in a service role. The competency requires that the student participate in the implementation of a strategy for service within a real-world setting. This competency adds to a student’s life skills by offering a framework for providing service within an organizational setting or as a citizen accepting the shared responsibility for the community in which he or she lives.The competency builds on the Public and Community Action I and is a conduit to the Public and Community Action III. It is necessary that the student is directly involved in the establishment of a service project rather than simply serving as a member of an ongoing service group or agency.
COMPETENCY: Can participate in the implementation of a strategy for service or change in collaboration with community organization, assess the effectiveness of the strategy, and reflect on one’s individual contribution to the project.
CRITERIA:
1. Identify and define a project:
a. Select a service agency or organization with an unmet community need that is feasible to address within an academic term (or terms).
b. Review the range of tasks that need to be performed and negotiate your role in and obligations to the project.
c. Examine the background and present realities pertinent to the identified need and to the implementation of the project designed to address that need.
d. Describe the desired outcomes and steps that will be taken to accomplish them.
2. Implement the project:
a. Develop an implementation plan, task, and timeline.
b. Revise the strategy and modify the implementation plan as needed.
c. Complete the obligations negotiated with the organization.
3. Analyze the project:
a. Assess how well the project goals were met.
b. Assess the effectiveness of the project work time allocation.
c. Assess your individual role in the project.
d. Assess the teamwork and cooperative aspects of participating in this service project.
e. Prepare a written report to summarize your service project and present the outcomes derived from your work.
PORTFOLIO LINKS: You are expected to use the Writing Portfolio criteria
and standards as guidelines for the written products required by this competency.
Papers written for this competency may be considered for submission to the
Writing Portfolio.
STANDARDS:
1. For Criterion 1, the project must:
a. Involve an intervention that impacts more than one individual and is not one-to-one direct care;
b. Be based on an issue that is important to the agency or community; and
c. Involve ongoing interaction with representatives from the organization or agency regarding the negotiation of project tasks.
d. Address a community need of sufficient depth that merits an understanding of the prior attempts to address that need and current barriers that may present challenges.
2. In reviewing possible strategies and techniques to accomplish the project, the student must examine the project activities and tasks related to the overall goals of the organization and where the project fits in addressing unmet needs in the community.
3. In developing a project task proposal and timeline in Criterion 2, the student must:
a. Provide an equitable and rational process for the division of labor, if this is conducted as a group project; and
b. Analyze the resources necessary to complete the tasks, assess available resources for the project, and examine whether the scope of the project is matched with resource availability.
4. For Criterion 3, the written analysis of the work performed must:
a. Identify any unforeseen events and describe how they were handled;
b. Examine the consequences of choosing some directions over others;
c. Provide recommendations to consider for future projects;
d. Review what was learned from the project that could be used in another setting;
e. Provide a written assessment of your reflections on the group process and cooperative aspects of participating in this project (group in this sense may be other students involved in the project or agency staff, clientele, and community representatives).
EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATION:
1. Prior Learning: Based on prior experience, you bring in documentation of your participation in a community project. Prepare a statement that demonstrates how your prior experience addresses the criteria and standards of Public and Community Action II. For example:
a. You may have been a member of a community group that assessed the health care needs of women in your hometown. An actual needs assessment was undertaken to identify and measure the need for a women’s health center.
b. You may have been a member of a grassroots group working to promote resources for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in Cambridge. Part of your assignment was to implement a project in cooperation with the Cambridge Public Schools to provide intergenerational programs that addressed the needs of the grandchildren, the grandparents, and the biological parents. For demonstration of prior learning, you bring in documentation of your participation in the project. Also describe the specific strategies or techniques used to accomplish stated goals. Your description should include an analysis and evaluation of the actual tasks performed. Provided that the student is the primary author of a final report, this document may be submitted for consideration of the Advocacy Essay of the Level II Communications Portfolio.
2. Independent Project: You propose an independent project to the competency evaluator. You are part of a community group entitled “Increased Housing Opportunities Committee” that is concerned about the lack of affordable housing in your town. You identify other town committees and departments that are concerned with this issue such as the Council on Aging, Property Tax Relief Study Committee, Board of Health, School Committee, Board of Selectman, and Board of Assessors. You work with a group on the design and implementation of a study of elder households to assess how many residents are concerned about short- and long-term housing plans and their ability to afford to remain in town. You contribute to the preparation of a report that is distributed to Town Meeting members as well as a press release that highlights the major findings of the study for the neighborhood papers. Provided that the student is the primary author of the final report or a significant portion of the report, this document may be submitted for potential consideration of either the Analysis or Advocacy Essay of the Level II Communications Portfolio.
3. Course: Complete a CPCS course addressing the competency or an appropriate transfer.
4. Field Project: As part of a CPCS field or action-research project, you and several other students work as a team to assist a community group that opposes the construction of a trash-to-energy plant in its town. The project involves not only assessing the impact that the mass incinerator may have on the larger community, but also developing a strategy for providing an alternative solution to the proposed plant. The student team agrees to complete an educational component that can be used to inform decision makers and the general public about possible alternative solutions such as composting and recycling. In addition to completing the various negotiated tasks, the team prepares a project report with an executive summary that is shared with the advisory group members. You may choose to do an independent analysis of one of the aspects of the study and prepare that analysis for potential consideration of either the Analysis or Advocacy Essay of the Level II Communications Portfolio.